Does anyone know what things will be like come April?

[Wednesdayafternoon]

... I.E when the tests are no longer free.

Will the guidelines still be to isolate until you have 2 negative tests or is that all going to go?

My family have all had Covid apart from me and my 2 sons. I don't know how we have been spared, but I am so glad we have this time around. I'm anxious though, the isolating is what makes me nervous. I'm looking forward to a time where, if you have it, it's ok to go for a little remote walk or out in your car if need be like you would with any other illness.
I'm aware you can do that now, but everyone around me is so against it because of the guilds ones it's just not socially acceptable!

As far as I'm aware the advice will be to stay home if you feel ill with possible Covid symptoms, go about your business if you feel well. My work have been extermely cautious throughout and this is the approach they have adopted.

I don’t know what you are waiting for you are able to go out now if you have it so be an adult about it and do what’s right for your family regardless of what others around you think. If you go for a walk and meet no one there is no risk is there? The thing you are hoping for is already the situation so you have nothing to be anxious about?! Come April unless you pay for a test you won’t know if you have it anyway

You can go for a remote walk now, in fact many people are expected to go to work.

Best this is to not tell anyone, then you can't be judged! I'm positive at the moment and have only told a handful of people. I have taken DD to school (arriving later than normal to avoid crowds, only stay outside anyway and kept away from others). I haven't broken any rules but I'm sure if people knew, I would have been judged.

@usernotfound0000

Best this is to not tell anyone, then you can't be judged! I'm positive at the moment and have only told a handful of people. I have taken DD to school (arriving later than normal to avoid crowds, only stay outside anyway and kept away from others). I haven't broken any rules but I'm sure if people knew, I would have been judged.

Oh bless you I hope you're ok!

See this is what's bothering me. My family and social circle and area I live it and so judgey about the guildlones. It's only socially acceptable to isolate at home so I feel SO much external pressure. If and when I get it I would like to be able to drive for a walk somewhere quiet or down the prom. I would do this with anything else and feel happy I wasn't spreading anything.

Also the pressure of school drop offs etc. I could drop him off later or last and realistically that be ok. But everyone would hunt me down 🙈

I would never put anyone at risk knowingly. I just feel of me or my sons were unwell fresh air and scenery would help us get better. Staying at home would not!

Let me get my crystal ball…

Nope, not working…

@TheBigDilemma

Let me get my crystal ball…

Nope, not working…

What's with the sassy reply?

I was just wondering if anything had been said as normally these things get leaked before hand.

Jeez hope your day improves 👍🏼

If I would have mild covid I wouldn't tell dc that I have covid. I need to do school runs and knowing them they would tell they friends that mummy has covid. And those kids would tell their parents.

Well, Boris is good at making Crystal ball predictions that every body believes even without having any fundament so I would say that you can do as you please as “officially” covid is no longer a worry.

I doubt very much they will come with more restrictions when so many people are due to struggle financially this year so my take is that the government will go back to the departing point: If it is your turn to die… you die.

Now when it comes to how we are going to behave going forwards… with so many people no longer following any rules, it is unlikely that any precaution that a few take is going to make any difference at all. So for the first time since this pandemic started, I am accepting that nothing I can do can alter the outcome, I am no longer wearing a mask or testing but will continue to wash my hands all the time just because I have got used to it.

Many people won’t be testing as test are no longer going to be free. So if you don’t test you won’t know if you have Covid and can go about your day as normal.

Hard to know by how much but numbers testing will likely fall as tests won’t be free.

Even small changes in cost change behaviour

It's my guess that most testing will go when it's no longer free meaning most people won't know whether they have Covid or not and will just go about their business as they did before i.e. too ill to work or go out then stay home, feel fine other than a sniffle or other mild (or none at all) symptoms then go about your day as normal.

What's "guildlones"?

Also the pressure of school drop offs etc. I could drop him off later or last and realistically that be ok. But everyone would hunt me down

You don't need to test
You don't need to share the outcome of the test with anyone
You don't need to share anything medical about yourself with anyone.

i have noticed that when a forthcoming change/relaxation of the rules is announced, a good proportion of the population pre-empt that and change/relax their behaviour ahead of time...so we have already been impacted if you like in terms of increased spread, which in a way is good news ....Denmark is ahead of us in the game both in terms of when the BA-2 version of Omicron hit them and rule relaxation, and it can be seen that their cases went through a wave, peaked and then dropped back down again. We are in a process of increasing our case numbers but I think in northern island they have perhaps crested the peak. ....and the sun is shining ! An improvement in the weather is always a positive for reducing respiratory bug prevalence.

April will be a mess. Schools are struggling at the moment. Hospital admissions will start going up soon as the elderly unfortunately take a hit before their fourth boosters are properly rolled out.

@TheBigDilemma

Let me get my crystal ball…

Nope, not working…

Everything will go back to normal (which it mostly has anyway round here).

This obsessive testing (with all of the resultant plastic waste) will end or drastically reduce once they are no longer free in April, and about time too. We will have to rediscover the good old common sense approach of stay at home if you are ill, go out and about as you need to/wish if you are not ill.

Not before time.

Same as all the other months, I've never tested.

Unless you pay for tests you won't know you have it. Just use common sense in the same way as you would have done in 2019.
I am not sure who all these people are that would be judging you but how would they even know if you were unwell. I don't tell anyone outside of my immediate family that I live with if I have a cold for example. Do you tell everyone you know if you feel a bit unwell?

The only thing I feel we can predict is that Mr Johnson will be beholden to a group of his backbenchers, because he will not have sensible discussions with all other political parties and seek a consensus.

From boris statement:

"Until 1 April, we will still advise people who test positive to stay at home. But after that, we will encourage people with Covid-19 symptoms to exercise personal responsibility, just as we encourage people who may have flu to be considerate to others."

www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-statement-on-living-with-covid-21-february-2022

Does anyone know what the schools plan to do? Will they demand children with symptoms stay away and get tested / get sent home?

It’s going to be hard going, for 2 years now we’ve had to do everything possible to stop the spread of covid and we are now expected to carry on as normal. Even behaving normal is difficult for a lot of people. We’ve all just had covid here and whilst we have mainly recovered, don’t want it again any time soon. I do wonder what will happen with GP and hospital appointments after 1 April.

I think you just go about your day as normal from April. Maybe you’ll be able to take a PCR if you’re exhibiting symptoms. Otherwise, if someone in your house has it, you’ll still have to go to work if you’re well.

That’s what I think anyway. As usual, the shit show government haven’t given us any advice what to do, so it’s left to people to decide what’s best.