Have people's opinions changed?

[MassiveOverthinker]

Just wondering really, if the last few months have changed people's opinion on how we managed covid in this country.

Anyone wondering if maybe fewer restrictions would've been better and if more draconian ones (often called for) were unnecessary. Anyone wondering if we needed to close schools, swab and isolate our kids, test and trace etc etc.

Or do people generally feel we did what was necessary at the time and are only okayish now because of weaker variants and higher vaccination levels?

Anyone feel less angry at the rule breakers, those who don't want to be vaccinated etc?

If it all happened again, do you think your response to restrictions would be the same, or would you be a bit more inclined to think "sod that for a laugh".

(Asking for a friend).

I do think more and more people are starting to look back and think we collectively lost our minds.

Not if you worked on the front line. NHS staff are still traumatised by what they have seen and dealt with in last 2 years. V easy if WFH the whole time to think it was wrong. Not so easy if you were watching people die every day in ICU.

You're in danger of opening a can of worms with this thread OP as some people have extreme views around covid/lockdown from those who think others who aren't vaccinated should not be allowed out, to those who think covid was over-exaggerated.

Thankfully most people fall in the middle and are a bit more sensible and measured.

I'm not sure how I feel about the UK response TBH. We've faired better than some, but worse than others. I am happy that vaccines weren't mandated in the UK and I am shocked that they were in other European countries.

I do think closing schools wasn't a great idea and has caused untold damage to students. I never liked the scaremongering aspect of first covid (eg encouraging people to report their neighbours which was shocking IMO) and then the widespread reporting of how you'd die if you didn't have the vaccine or at the very least end up on a ventilator.

I read all news now, no matter the source, with a massive dose of side-eye from health news to Ukraine to political news.

Unfortunately, I suspect it will all start up again in September when winter boosters/vaccinations are launched and I expect a 1984-esque Month of Hate to begin reigning down scorn on anyone not complying.

The nhs nurse that I had in icu a couple of months ago disagrees

So do I.

I was never particularly fussed about rule breakers. I'm not a party person or a keen socialiser, but nor am I a snitch.

As for whether people are vaccinated or not (I am triple jabbed and I still got Covid)), that is their choice. I wouldn't have remained unvaccinated, but it is a valid choice open to people.

I'm uncomfortable with lockdowns and have seen nothing to persuade me otherwise. We should not be destroying people's legitimate business interests and livelihoods. There's nothing good about that at all.

You have been exceptionally unfortunate though, which you do acknowledge I think.

I think the first lockdown was proportionate, if only because we didn’t really know what we were dealing with. The 2021 lockdown should not have happened, IMO.

I don't know anyone IRL who has changed their mind... except me, maybe. I feel more comfortable & less worried now, about the very strict controls that we had then, than I did at the time.

Everyone else seems to have the same opinions as they ever did.

I didn’t follow any rules at all. Didn’t die from not having the vaccine and didn’t kill anyone around me because of it.

I thought everyone went crackers over it - I never did and thankfully never lost my mind or had any opinion or care about anyone that : didn't wear a mask / wasn't vaccinated / saw family over lockdown

because we had such a shitshow government we could never really trust what they said could we. I think that added to the stress of it all

The only thing that stunned me was the way people acted on here, like savages with their pitchforks!!

I think the jury's still out on whether lockdown was the best course of action or not, and will be for a while. Can't see how it can be called at this point. We do need to make sure that's thoroughly investigated though, because there'll be other pandemics in the future and we need to know whether lockdown is an appropriate part of the toolkit or not. It did pretty much come from nowhere in early 2021, it wasn't part of our pandemic planning before that.

Honestly can't remember what I thought about the rights and wrongs of lockdown itself at the time, I think I didn't really interrogate it because my focus was more on how I'd manage things, if that makes sense?

It was clear at the time that the legislation was badly written and the governance would be piss poor. That's been proven correct. For this reason, and because the power of the state is always applied disproportionately against people with less power, I never gave a shit about rule breakers. That too has been proven to be the right approach, when we look at the way our political class has been treated wrt possible breaches compared to the way ordinary people have.

Me and my family were non-compliant with restrictions pretty early on, which is another decision that's been vindicated. I regret having denied my DC access to other DC in the initial lockdown, and wouldn't do that again. Rules about not seeing other people don't apply to me and mine. In particular, they didn't apply when the state decided my children were not amongst those worthy of schooling.

I did always wear a mask when it was a legal requirement, no particular regrets there as it wasn't something I regarded as important. I am triple vaccinated and would be again.

You're talking in the wake of (a) widespread effective vaccination and (b) attenuation (becoming milder) of the virus.

So we did about average I think.

Some of it was nuts, like the not sitting down rule, didn't you have to keep walking because it was 'exercise'. Also all the business about essentials.

That wasn't exactly a rule, in England anyway. I know Wales had bigger (and stupid) restrictions on exercise. People having rests whilst out were moved on due to the interpretation of various police forces and officers rather than the wording of the regulations. Which is worse, in some ways. Excluded anyone who might need a rest from getting exercise and fresh air.

The stuff about essentials was complete invention.

It seems we are not happy with one of the highest death rates in the world , but would rather have had fewer restrictions and even more deaths

We really do need to think about the whole issue more critically than this.

I always thought the lockdown was unnecessary but stuck to most of the rules.

A lot of it was poor police interpretation, our CC went on Twitter and said that shopping trolleys would be checked for essentials, he then retracted it but it was a bit late then.

inews.co.uk/news/uk/police-chief-u-turns-after-threatening-to-check-shopping-baskets-for-essential-items-during-coronavirus-lockdown-417168

Yes, that was appalling. There really should've been more consequences to that. I think the experience of restrictions eroded many people's trust in the police.

It was a huge, HUGE overreaction! Most people can see that even now. In decades to come it will be legendary.

I think it was necessary for a few weeks at the beginning but wasn’t necessary in winter 2020/2021. Lockdown caused damage far beyond what Covid does. Thankfully people are getting on with life again now and we won’t have further lockdowns.

@MassiveOverthinker

did you intend to offer yet another opportunity for some people to deny covid was an issue, because the same old voices will!!

...but to answer your question, no, I think we did what we needed to do (but never quickly enough) with the knowledge, variants & information we had at the time.

I do wonder how differently it would have been handled if it hadn't originated in China with the draconian measures taken there. The rest of the world seems to have taken the lead from that.

I am a rule follower by nature and adhered to the rules but with hindsight some of them seemed ott and even at the time the interpretation of some of them was bonkers. Drones over the Peak District was a particular low light, as was roping off our local swings with police tape.

I do wonder how differently it would have been handled if it hadn't originated in China with the draconian measures taken there. The rest of the world seems to have taken the lead from that.

Yes.

I'm not sure people realise how much of a new and untested thing it was. Lockdown was never part of our pandemic planning. If China hadn't gone down that road, I can't see where the idea would've come from.