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Original poster

Another 5 yesrs?

79 replies

refraction · 03/12/2021 23:22

SAGE had said ths covid situation may last another 5 years. The NHS may struggle for this long.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nhs-will-be-plagued-by-covid-for-at-least-five-years-7v90l05l6

Really? It just feels like at this moment. It will never be ' normal' again.

OP posts:
MarshaBradyo · 04/12/2021 11:33

@Delatron

Unfortunately it’s the impact of the restrictions that will be having devastating impacts on livelihoods for years. Not the actual virus. So it’s our response to the virus.

When faced with a novel virus you need to react with restrictions. It shouldn’t be an issue 5/6/7 years later as the virus is not novel anymore.

I say this as someone who has just lost another 2 weeks of work due to having an asymptomatic child at home. Who did not spread it to the rest of the family despite no distancing.

In April or whenever testing stops this won’t happen. We won’t be testing and isolating healthy people.

I hope so
hotmeatymilk · 04/12/2021 11:38

I reckon around ten years before we can be carefree going about our daily lives.
Only if you think climate change and further pandemics and post-Brexit austerity aren’t going to happen. Ten years in the future we’ll be looking back at the halcyon days of Covid as the high point…

(Aware this makes me sound like a raving loony fashioning my tinfoil hat.)

Bobholll · 04/12/2021 16:37

Well, life feels pretty normal now so I’m not particularly concerned. The odd restriction such as masks, vaccines & testing are fine. But life’s been completely normal since August. I imagine it’ll be up & down but it’ll be fairly normal for the most part. We’ll eventually calm down & stop freaking about every little thing. Life is short. When you can, get out & enjoy it!

Schulte · 04/12/2021 16:43

@Bobholll

Well, life feels pretty normal now so I’m not particularly concerned. The odd restriction such as masks, vaccines & testing are fine. But life’s been completely normal since August. I imagine it’ll be up & down but it’ll be fairly normal for the most part. We’ll eventually calm down & stop freaking about every little thing. Life is short. When you can, get out & enjoy it!
Where is this normal life you’re talking about? My children still have school events cancelled, medical services are hard to access and we can’t see the grandparents because they live in a different country. We’re struggling, actually.
Bobholll · 04/12/2021 16:44

Even my CEV mum is getting on with life. She sees her grandkids every week, she’s been to a santas grotto with us today. She does the school run. She goes shopping. 🤷🏼‍♀️

She said she’s done everything she can to protect herself. She’s triple jabbed. She’s said since June 2020, if she’s going to die, she doesn’t want to do it having spent 18 months away from everything they makes her happy. Particularly her grandkids. That’s her choice & I get it. I do worry about her but I understand her point of view.

AlecTrevelyan006 · 04/12/2021 16:56

I’d rather invite the four horsemen of the apocalypse round for Christmas dinner than listen to any more doomongering nonsense from SAGE.

Kjcf · 04/12/2021 17:01

So finally people are coming to the realisation that this isn’t going away. First it was lockdown to save the nhs, then Christmas, then all get vaccinated as they are the way out, and now the realisation that actually no as this virus mutates just like the flu.

If we lockdown again for this new virus, we will be doing every time!! Life isn’t getting back to normal

PrincessNutNuts · 04/12/2021 17:19

Does the article say if they expect covid to continue killing 75,000 to 100,000 of us each year, or do they expect it to be more or less?

megustalacerveza · 04/12/2021 17:25

@Bobholll

Well, life feels pretty normal now so I’m not particularly concerned. The odd restriction such as masks, vaccines & testing are fine. But life’s been completely normal since August. I imagine it’ll be up & down but it’ll be fairly normal for the most part. We’ll eventually calm down & stop freaking about every little thing. Life is short. When you can, get out & enjoy it!
It definitely hasn't been normal life. Spontaneity is completely gone. I was lucky enough to finally get away on holiday for a week in August, but I had to spend £100 on tests and have the anxiety of hoping for a negative antigen test so I didn't get stuck abroad. The time for quarantine needs to be factored in for absolutely any plan where you might get contact traced. So you end up wishing weeks if your life away....can't go to that concert because someone's wedding is 2 weeks later, can't go on holiday in case you miss Xmas...it's never ending stress and worry. And that's for someone who isn't old or vulnerable.
Userevermore · 05/12/2021 11:15

Life will not be normal while we have mandatory isolation.

Cornettoninja · 05/12/2021 11:24

@Userevermore

Life will not be normal while we have mandatory isolation.
Tbf mandatory isolation isn’t a new concept (norovirus, chickenpox off the top of my head), it’s having such an impact because we’ve got such high levels of infection.

I agree isolation is at the same level of concern as about the actual virus for most people but I blame high levels of infection as opposed to the isolation itself.

manolantern · 05/12/2021 11:28

Saw this posted earlier, think it's from the report quoted in the first post!

Another 5 yesrs?
Justgivemewine · 05/12/2021 11:58

@Bobholll

Well, life feels pretty normal now so I’m not particularly concerned. The odd restriction such as masks, vaccines & testing are fine. But life’s been completely normal since August. I imagine it’ll be up & down but it’ll be fairly normal for the most part. We’ll eventually calm down & stop freaking about every little thing. Life is short. When you can, get out & enjoy it!
Life isn’t back to normal, people have just got so used to living with various restrictions it’s become the new normal but certainly not pre-2020 normal.
Userevermore · 05/12/2021 12:03

Tbf mandatory isolation isn’t a new concept (norovirus, chickenpox off the top of my head), it’s having such an impact because we’ve got such high levels of infection.

I didn't realise that T&T rang you if you had chickenpox or Norovirus and you were fined for leaving your house

Moonface123 · 05/12/2021 12:14

It could be a hell of alot worse, we just need to learn to live alongside it and adapt. Imagine if this virus had been around a few hundred years ago, humans could have been extinct, at least now we have the vaccines and research is ongoing all over the world. We' ve been very fortunate something like this hasnt come along sooner , but its led to naievity and entlitlement.

Cornettoninja · 05/12/2021 12:16

There’s no need to be facetious @Userevermore. I was using long standing infection control examples where people are expected to keep themselves away from others during their illness, and in some cases, places like hospitals routinely close their wards to visitors due to outbreaks.

Clearly those aren’t comparable to a pandemic situation but we do have a precedent that has only become an issue because so many have been affected personally.

I feel you’re just being petulant tbh.

Userevermore · 05/12/2021 12:23

I feel you’re just being petulant tbh.

No, just keeping to the facts, you stated mandatory isolation, which it clearly isn't then

VikingOnTheFridge · 05/12/2021 12:36

Since when did we have mandatory isolation for norovirus?

Silverswirl · 05/12/2021 12:36

@Moonface123

It could be a hell of alot worse, we just need to learn to live alongside it and adapt. Imagine if this virus had been around a few hundred years ago, humans could have been extinct, at least now we have the vaccines and research is ongoing all over the world. We' ve been very fortunate something like this hasnt come along sooner , but its led to naievity and entlitlement.
Oh dear. You have got it way way out of proportion. People hundreds of years ago would be rolling about laughing if you told them the world had stopped for a virus that had a death rate 0.01 and mostly in 80+ Year olds. Back then a simple cut on your arm or an infected toe could kill you. It wasn’t uncommon to loose 3/4/5 children before they reached 5 years. You would have been very lucky indeed to have your parents survive into adult hood to see their grandkids grow up. Jesus wept. ‘Wiped out the human race’ lol. That’s made my day. This is just about the mildest ‘pandemic’ we’ve ever had and there have been many!!
vickyc90 · 05/12/2021 12:38

It's not the stress of catching COVID again it's the threat of more restrictions or isolation. As a country we have a choice in that we can accept it exists and it is going to kill some people (as Borris tried to do for the start) or we can live like this for 5 years+!

Personally I think an online vote should be organised for no restrictions (let nature take her course), mild restrictions (testing and isolation of positive cases everything else to go on as normal), harsh restrictions (current mess) or lockdowns. Let the country decide what they want to do as a majority.

trappedsincesundaymorn · 05/12/2021 13:05

@VikingOnTheFridge

Since when did we have mandatory isolation for norovirus?
Or chicken pox. I remember when "chicken pox parties" were encouraged.
Cornettoninja · 05/12/2021 13:37

@VikingOnTheFridge

Since when did we have mandatory isolation for norovirus?
Depends what you mean by mandatory. There are workplaces and education settings that require you to stay away for a set period after your symptoms have ended for both and in some cases care homes/hospitals isolate their patients/residents due to outbreaks. Isolation/quarantine isn’t a new ‘thing’. As I said, prevalence of disease is skewing the perception of what is and isn’t reasonable.
VikingOnTheFridge · 05/12/2021 14:31

By mandatory isolation, I mean mandatory isolation.

Workplaces and schools asking you to stay away from their specific premises only with no ability to influence what you do elsewhere is nothing remotely approaching it. Even in the care home context there's no legal requirement as with covid. There is absolutely no comparison.

megustalacerveza · 05/12/2021 15:19

@Moonface123

It could be a hell of alot worse, we just need to learn to live alongside it and adapt. Imagine if this virus had been around a few hundred years ago, humans could have been extinct, at least now we have the vaccines and research is ongoing all over the world. We' ve been very fortunate something like this hasnt come along sooner , but its led to naievity and entlitlement.
I'd rather be extinct than living a life where I feel guilty for doing absolutely anything at all, the rare times I'm actually allowed to do things. What's the point? Genuinely what is the point? No holidays, restricting movement, barely meeting anyone new...this isn't living.
Teateaandmoretea · 05/12/2021 16:40

There’s no need to be facetious @Userevermore. I was using long standing infection control examples where people are expected to keep themselves away from others during their illness, and in some cases, places like hospitals routinely close their wards to visitors due to outbreaks.

Facetious = pointing out you are talking nonsense.