If you are cancelling plans/think we should have another lockdown

[Maddymorphosis]

Would you be prepared to do the same next winter, and the one after that and so on?
Last December I heard a lot of "It's just one year"
People not seeing family for "just one Christmas".

Are you prepared to do it again, and going forward maybe every time there's a new variant in winter?

Wait for December 2022 and see if people are prepared to go a third Christmas without seeing anyone

Not keen on another lockdown AT ALL. But have cancelled some plans, because seeing my family at christmas means more to me than my office christmas party or drinks with friends, and I won’t risk catching covid at this point and not being able to see them.

Have a few things on this coming week (theatre, nativity and dinner at the weekend) and whilst I won't cancel any of them, I really cannot see them all going ahead (the theatre is a school trip)

Yes my school is still letting parents in

I don't think it's a black or white situation.

As others have indicated, some are cancelling 'minor' plans/seeing friends to increase the safety of seeing family, and many may decide to do that for the next few years,

I don't celebrate Christmas so it's kind of a non-issue for us so I don't have that many plans and don't have to worry about 'ruining Christmas'

OP, I think just because people are cancelling this year doesn't mean they'll never do it again - yes it's possible there could be another year or two of it but all indications is it will reach a point of being just another winter virus. But we're not there yet.

I've never made any social plans and I've postponed some DIY and a non urgent eye test until the new year. I'd like to see family at Xmas and not have a lockdown.

@Maddymorphosis

Wait for December 2022 and see if people are prepared to go a third Christmas without seeing anyone

Why is it all or nothing? We've had a great Christmas get together,in the garden, around a fire pit last December.

If I can stay in to help prevent vulnerable people from dying, it's OK with me.

Where has it been said that we’re going back into lockdown? Other than the sensationalist press who have been just as irresponsible over this pandemic as the government.

Masks are not a lockdown, in fact I think they should have stayed a legal requirement for the duration. Only in the UK are people so up in arms about masks. Every other country seems to manage to do it, but here people wine and shout and cry about why they should have to wear one.

Technically I am exempt due to the fact I have a serious heart condition and often associated breathing issues. When I first put one on I had flashbacks to when I was in hospital with an oxygen mask, and then I was told by a consultant that I am exempt.

Except I choose not to exercise that exemption because, having been on a ventilator and oxygen in my lifetime, I neither wish to repeat the experience or to inflict it on someone else should I catch COVID and be spreading it around without realising.

And I never stopped wearing a mask, it never occurred to me not to.

Personally I think they should be a legal requirement every winter, as with flu season and nitro virus season it can only be a good thing if people are wearing masks and not spreading those illnesses around either.

*norovirus

@Maddymorphosis what are you on about? A limited amount of mixing was allowed across most of the country last year, and as far as we know people will be able to mix freely this year. If some people want to skip their works do this year to prioritize seeing family, or not see family because they'd rather party, what difference could it possibly make to you? Why are you equating a government imposed lockdown with people exercising personal choice?

No and no.

Loved the no pressure to go anywhere last year & looking forward to having a no pressure few days off work this year

I can do it again, this year, but I am very concerned about when I will ever be able to carry out plans (not leisure related) that I was about to begin before covid started.
I am certain that I won't be the only one who has changes on the horizon that are just well and truly stalled. I can't get my head around how we can go on like this indefinitely, with both vaccines and restrictions. It feels punitive and a bit disturbing, to me. Saying this, I have no idea what to suggest, either.
I am concerned about services, local councils, backlogs, more and more towns falling into deprivation and crime - and this IS happening.

If you live somewhere 'nice' you may never witness what I have seen throughout the north in the past 6 months. Visiting friends in Greater Manchester was eye opening. Many councils have simply downed tools and give up on the most struggling postcodes.

How can we sustain this across the board? I know people who have been waiting to learn to drive for nearly two years now and it will strongly affect their relationship with employment :(

There's so much emotional and human carnage here, both due to Covid and the restrictions. I have no idea what I feel anymore, and I have been very pro-restrictions and pro-vaccines so far. I just feel flat.

But yeh, I will stay in this xmas if i have to. My mum passed away last xmas, the darkness just never seems to end at the moment, does it? Most of us saw this coming, it can leave you feeling cynical and not even know why.

I think there is a huge amount of middle ground.

No I don’t think another lockdown would be adhered to well especially in view of this last week and what has come to light. Also the economy would be shattered.

But I’m perfectly ok with restrictions if they are necessary to buy time for more people to get boosters and the young to receive vaccinations.

At the end of the day it’s all about not overwhelming the NHS and at what level of deaths per day is deemed acceptable.

Sadly I think that we are somewhere in the middle of all of this and there is a way to run. It’s a global pandemic and until more of the globe is vaccinated this will be a recurring theme until the pandemic has run its course.

At the end of the day I will do whatever is necessary with my mind constantly on the end goal. I don’t say this lightly either as my business that I own operates within the hospitality sector so I’m directly impacted. But all the whinging and ranting in the World isn’t going to change what the World is sadly having to live through.

[quote Porcupineintherough]@Maddymorphosis what are you on about? A limited amount of mixing was allowed across most of the country last year, and as far as we know people will be able to mix freely this year. If some people want to skip their works do this year to prioritize seeing family, or not see family because they'd rather party, what difference could it possibly make to you? Why are you equating a government imposed lockdown with people exercising personal choice?[/quote]
I cant remember most the country, but I was certainly locked down for Christmas.

Same as London, I would have to google, but I am sure it was most of the south east and eastern England.

I thought Wales was also restricted, but maybe they were two households?

Scotland was slightly freeer but not by much

@Maddymorphosis

So you're prepared to give up any sort of social events or celebrations every year in December?

Yes - if it helps to keep people safe. Seems a small price to pay tbh.

Yes, I love christmas but can see friends and family at other times too. People whinging about not seeing their family just don't make enough effort the rest of the year.

To answer the question, last year affected me, this year it doesn't so on purely selfish reasons, it wouldn't make any difference to me, if we locked down for Christmas.

But, no I dont think we should have another lockdown, its getting stupid now

I don't get the obsession with seeing people at Christmas being so much more important than seeing them rest of the year. So having to stop social events in December, whilst allowing them the rest of the year doesn't seem such a bad thing. For every person that love Christmas there seem to be 3 that find it a chore, so perhaps making Christmas less of a "thing" is a positive decision!

Does many people actually think we should have another full lockdown? It’s not something I’m seeing people calling for.

People deciding that drinks with work colleagues etc aren’t worth the risk is a totally different thing.

Another lockdown? No.

Cancelling plans? Looks like we will have to cancel travel plans because of all the new testing requirements, which is a shame. Other than that neither DH, the kids or I have had to cancel any of our (local) plans. Obviously if we were planning to see the one vulnerable relative in the family then we’d be a bit more cautious, as we would any year.

[quote Porcupineintherough]@Maddymorphosis what are you on about? A limited amount of mixing was allowed across most of the country last year, and as far as we know people will be able to mix freely this year. If some people want to skip their works do this year to prioritize seeing family, or not see family because they'd rather party, what difference could it possibly make to you? Why are you equating a government imposed lockdown with people exercising personal choice?[/quote]
A large proportion of the country (was it 25%?) had virtually no mixing outside the household for most of December and no inter-household mixing on Christmas day. and as most people mix with others who don't live in their area at Christmas, this would have had an impact on many who lived in areas where some mixing was allowed.

It's not a small price though is it? If 'staying safe' means no-one leaving the house unnecessarily, never going to the cinema, theatre, a pub, a restaurant again then that's not living. I'm massively looking forward to our work party. We work side by side every day, it's no riskier. My elderly and vulnerable parents are triple jabbed and fully OK with mixing daily with me and my kids because to do otherwise at this stage is not living.

I also think it is very, very easy to love the 'lack of pressure' when it doesn't affect your kids, your bank balance, your vital plans and your future. I really feel for young people right now.

I am protected in my ivory tower, too, to an extent, but i can still perceive this. I also think many love an excuse not to join the rush hour traffic, let's be honest. It suits many of us to stay at home (I am wfh) if we are introverts. I was great with this last year, it felt refreshing, but now I am worried that a good segment of the UK is going to end up in a sort of Mad Max situation.
Honestly, when visiting a relative last month, her local town centre which used to be lovely was strewn with rubbish and signs of vandalism. It really is going on, even if may of is don't see it.

@RedskyThisNight

I don't get the obsession with seeing people at Christmas being so much more important than seeing them rest of the year. So having to stop social events in December, whilst allowing them the rest of the year doesn't seem such a bad thing. For every person that love Christmas there seem to be 3 that find it a chore, so perhaps making Christmas less of a "thing" is a positive decision!

I think this is a really good point! There’s always so much angst about the work required for Christmas, how it is (or more often isn’t) split across families… last Christmas was blissful for us and we always planned to repeat it this year. It was a bit of an eye opener for me who always went overboard hosting in previous years.