I feel like crying I've had enough

[LifesTooShortYOLO]

I made a conscious decision to try and switch off from the media stories and coronavirus news and just try and get in with our lives.
I had been feeling mentally a lot better and almost forgot about covid in the sense of not seeing it in your face every where you turn on social media etc.
Now it's everywhere again 'Plans for plan c' 'lockdown imminent' 'data suggests this wave will be the worst one yet' 'modelling shows new strain could cause 75,000 feather in 5 months'
Are just some of the headlines I've seen today and I just feel so fed up.
Why are we still talking about lockdowns 2 years on?
I'm just so done with it all, it feels like there never will be a normal again, just when we start to get back to doing normal things you get taken back to square one again and told we may have to lockdown or have further restrictions brought back in. It's just so draining 😩

@festivefuschias

There aren’t walk in centres everywhere. I’m in my 40s, it’s been 5.5 months since my last AZ jab, I can’t book a booster and I can’t walk in for one either (Wales).

Well, if I were you, I'd be exhausting every single last possibility I could to make sure I got jabbed ASAP.

Dr John Campbell is not a medical doctor

@HesterShaw1

rrhuth, you persist in misunderstanding the points I make.

I am talking about the communications issue. As I said, the population - who are so tired and cynical and weary - have heard all this before. Slow the spread, just a few more weeks.

When it was apparent that there was very little infection in summer 2020, restrictions should have been eased a lot more, because it was obvious they would need to return in the autumn.

Trust has vanished, and this is why compliance will be an issue this time.

But then cases would have gone up very quickly and made things even worse. There was little infection precisely BECAUSE people were being cautious. It's easy to say in hindsight what should have happened!

@Lussekatt

If only there were walk-in centres where you could get jabbed right now if you wanted to

Not for me, I am very far from 40. Doesn't look like I will get it until the new year at this rate.

I know two people who have gone to queue up at the walk-in centres and not walked away with their boosters. One was told she couldn't have one even though it had been 5 or so months since her last. The computer just wasn't allowing it. The other one was turned away after hours of waiting because they ran out. Can't really blame people for wanting an actual booked slot so they know it will actually happen, especially this time of year when life is so busy.

Would it be possible to try London? Take-up is so low here that they are pretty much doing anyone anywhere near 5 months post second jab.

@bordermidgebite

Yet

Typical cases to hospital 2 week lag , deaths one or two weeks later

So first deaths Christmas?

I guess we will have to wait and see.

Can’t believe the “stop moaning”/“show some backbone” are still here yet again.

OP, this is shit. We should acknowledge it’s shit and not let people gaslight us into convincing ourselves it isn’t. Most people find this kind of uncertainty a really negative experience. It’s completely understandable.

I don't know if this will help anyone, but I wanted to try and shed a bit of light where I can.

But early data from scientists show that Omicron is much milder in terms of symptoms than previous variants. The WHO have not received reports of any deaths from Covid yet (as of yesterday!) which is promising.

I completely understand the need for caution, but I wonder if the panic will be a storm in a teacup, so to speak.

Remember that the media do like to keep us all in a panic. I just hope and pray that the restrictions aren't too severe and we aren't kept apart at Christmas again.

Sending un-mumsnetty hugs to those that need it. And wine.

I hear you op. It's a shitshow and a relentless one.

Yep, it's really shit, I've had a good cry about it myself and I'm one of the lucky ones who still has a job, happy marriage, and hadn't suffered crushing health outcomes. I totally hear where the OP is coming from. Living with this fear all the time, and missing out on so much for so long really blows.

But early data from scientists show that Omicron is much milder in terms of symptoms than previous variants. The WHO have not received reports of any deaths from Covid yet (as of yesterday!) which is promising

I suggest you do some more reading on this - lots of informative posts on various threads, which show why a small percentage of a large number can be a bigger issue than a larger percentage of a smaller number.

Also, as the variant was only identified in the last week in November, and with previous disease patterns it takes 3 weeks for deaths to occur, so it's too soon to attach any meaning to absence of deaths in a shorter period than that.

@rrhuth

What I’ve read about the studies in South Africa is that the Omicron variant is much more spreadable, but very much milder and less deadly than Delta. This means that the dangerous Delta is being killed off and replaced by the new mild Omicron mutation. So with vaccines/boosters/infection and antibodies, infections will be high for a while, but lockdowns defeat the point of a careful spread of milder infection.

The problem is, for the 1000th time, it would have to be VERY MUCH milder for the increased infection rate to not end up overwhelming the NHS.

We all hope for the best but I do see a lot of over-optimistic spinning. The reality is - we do not know yet, because we do not have accurate data, but we should have more soon.

We’ve got ENCOURAGING data coming from South Africa. It’s not over optimistic spinning to not be shouting “let’s all commit mass suicide because this situation will never improve”

rrhuth

It was the fact that op did exactly what she’s accusing others of doing, look at the worst, take only the highest figures and be the bearer of the biggest doom and gloom

It’s really shit and depressing OP. I’m a GP so haven’t been able to escape having COVID in my face all day every day through the whole thing, arguing with people about booking a PCR, having had some patients die, and dealing with the relatives left behind who are traumatised, dealing with others who were in ICU or who have long COVID, and also dealing with the impact of the pandemic on everyone’s mental health etc. while constantly taking more risks than I naturally feel comfortable with seeing people with symptoms who haven’t bothered to test but insist on being seen etc. So I haven’t really even had a period of being able to relax about it enough to try and live anything approaching a normal life since the beginning. I feel like I have so much human contact at work, especially with sick people, that I can’t risk for me or my patients doing much at all outside of work and I’m a single parent so it’s been very isolating. I forced myself to go abroad in the summer for a week but honestly I found it really anxiety making being in big crowds of people even though they are better at mask wearing than here, there was no social distancing at all. I also found the whole freedom day thing really anxiety making, I’d just started to get to the point where if some restrictions like mask wearing had stayed in place I might have been able to relax a bit and go out a bit more again but instead I felt it too overwhelming and continued to stay at home more than usual. I have bipolar disorder myself and my mental health has taken a bad hit especially in the past 6 months as this situation was entirely predictable and the whole thing is just grinding me down. I’ve spent the last decade getting over domestic abuse, being sectioned after giving birth, divorce, a custody battle including my ex kidnapping mg child and a close and young relative’s sudden death, and so feel I wasn’t able to make the most of life pre COVID. I’d really wanted to try to build up more of a social life for myself but how can I under these conditions? I can’t take much more of this although I know we don’t really have a choice. I’m thinking of moving to at least be closer to family, especially if they part putting loads of travel restrictions in place in the UK again.

I can’t take much more emotionally or financially
Some days taking myself out of it seems the best option then I manage to pull myself together again enough to carry on
I’m back to comfort eating and drinking again - go to bed early just to not be awake and aware
Today’s media scaremongering has wound me up even further - I don’t even belief it but am scared that others will and then we will be back to plan C through to Z fairly quickly
Currently researching other countries I could travel to where I might feel more at home

My heart is in my mouth thinking of my little boy, who is turning six in a few weeks and so excited about his birthday party that I genuinely fear it will cause him some emotional damage to have it cancelled. But it's in January and things seem to be more and more gloomy. I can't bear the thought of having to tell him that he's not having a party when it was all he asked for.

@CaputApriDefero

My heart is in my mouth thinking of my little boy, who is turning six in a few weeks and so excited about his birthday party that I genuinely fear it will cause him some emotional damage to have it cancelled. But it's in January and things seem to be more and more gloomy. I can't bear the thought of having to tell him that he's not having a party when it was all he asked for.

My Dd is four soon too and so excited

Her friends had birthday parties this year so she knows all about them

I'm so sorry to all of you who are in a bad place for whatever reason ❤️ I have down days and anxious days but I know I am very fortunate and remind myself everyday to be grateful for what I have. Definitely have moments though of thinking wtf has the world become and really struggling with christmas festivities because I can't stop thinking of people who are sad, sick, alone etc and for who christmas will be the tipping point 😔

@SivvyPlath

It's not the end of civilization to wear a mask for a few weeks in crowded places

Do you really think that's all that's bothering people?

A few weeks? It's been 2 years

I agree I’m totally fed up with those words test test test!

We all have different levels of tolerance. Some people claim they will be happy to wear a mask for the rest of their lives to protect others.
Well, good for you. Just don't berate others who don't share that opinion.

@megustalacerveza There isn’t an option to here. You have to wait for a letter with an appointment date on it: that’s the only option unless you’re over 65.

I don't care about masks, vaccine passports, or anything like that.
I am worried about our jobs. And about getting the new variant and being off sick again for a few weeks. My DP is self-employed and was off sick with covid for 5 weeks. We still haven't made up that financial loss. And his business will go down the tube.
It just seems so hard at the moment. It is totally shit.

And we are in a City. I had real problems getting an appointment for a booster. The one walk in has very long waits. People have told me they waited 2-3 hours to get the booster.

@Prinnny

I think at this point people are self inflicting their own misery slightly too. On another thread I can’t believe how many have cancelled their Xmas parties without that ever being mentioned as a restriction. It’s like we’ve all become joyless robots! So I’ll be out tonight and at the works party next week enjoying my freedom as long as it lasts

Lots of people have had their works Christmas parties cancelled by the company.... at my NHS trust we got an email on Friday telling all staff to cancel Christmas gatherings both in works time and out of works time and postpone until next year....people are not inflicting misery on themselves ....others are doing it to them....maybe your ‘do’ won’t go ahead next week?

My work and DPs work cancelled work Christmas parties. Not self-inflicted, simply work decisions. My work cancelled it to protect staff. DPs cancelled it because almost everyone with kids was dropping out because they were worried about getting infected and having to isolate over Christmas.