Life in 5 months??

LJP1, I fear your comments are overly optimistic. Saw recently that Carnival Cruises had received tentative bookings for next year, 600 times over capacity, and they are one of the worst polluters. Also traffic around here, Notts, is virtually back to 'normal'. The riverside yesterday resembled 'Brighton on Trent', and local parks are littered with tons of plastic packaging and used barbecues. In an area that is supposed to have a well educated population. But, listening to Boris Johnsons ramblings does not let me believe that expensive education necessarily qualifies anyone to even speak in coherent sentences.

The cafe/restaurant manager at my local (quite large) Garden Centre told me on Friday that he does not think they will be able to open the cafe/restaurant until next year.

I will so miss popping in cafes when I go out and about.

I think in five months we will possibly have a bit more freedom, but we will be suspicious of all around us. There will be traffic jams as we use our cars instead of public transport. I so look forward to a vaccine 'cause the idea of getting Covid 19 scares me.

I’m interested in how UK death rates compare to other countries and UK recovery is pitifully slow. Germany is easier to explain, they followed WHO on January 23rd and started planning ( UK did nothing much until March) Germany hospitalised people fast, concentrated on testing, people observed lockdown, and even now no one would walk into a shop without a mask , and Angela Merkel is a scientist and surrounded herself with doctors plus Germany started with 29000 beds against UK 4000 ( reduced from 6000 a couple of years ago. But even little Croatia , poor country , is now Covid free. They had a very strict lockdown! People do as they are asked to do and it works.

Here in France we are on the third week of 'déconfinement'
and yet it still feels strangely not normal. People go out to
shop but don't linger, its still quiet everywhere. Hopefully
this week when the bars and restaurants can open it will
start to feel better, Hopefully.

We cannot go back to things as they were last year.

We already have a recession / depression. Several large companies are already bankrupt except for furloughing and others have bought automation facilities and so will not be re-employing all their staff. Care homes will have fewer occupants and were already having financial problems, so along with other low paid jobs, there will be fewer opportunities for employment. How many people will risk going on cruises, take long haul flights, want to go on coaches for a day out?

However it does give us the incentive to go greener and establish a more effective, renewable energy mix. Many people have found new interests and have more locally focussed shopping habits so, although there will be less money around because of a new austerity, there will be more time with families, less need to travel, air will be cleaner and the world we can hand on to our children and grandchildren will be more sustainable and stable. The global birth rate is already stabilising and human reproduction is below 2 per couple in much of the world, so, like the virus, our population will drop and the demand on natural resources will drop.

Long term the outlook is good but the next five years will need some endurance.

Good luck everyone, keep safe and smiling!

At my age I wonder whether I shall ever go out again. I have a brand new wheelchair in the garage and before all this happened my home help was going to take me to the coast. I haven’t seen the sea for years.

My gut feeling is that it will take one whole year for things to get back to a tentative ‘normal’.
I have concert and theatre tickets to big events we were looking forward to in March, and I reckon we are not going to be able to redeem them at least until next Spring.
I think that lots of people are fed up and behaving irresponsibly which is not going to help the infection rate.
People are not thinking logically....just because Dominic Cummings broke the rules, doesn’t mean that every tom, dick and harry can do it.
The guidelines are there to protect not only the NHS but all of us as well.

@DottyDots
Why not start planning a break for next year, it's nice to have something to look forward to.

I've booked a holiday on the understanding that if we're not allowed to travel I'll get a refund of my deposit and they aren't going to ask for the balance until 10 weeks prior to departure date (by then we'll know where we stand)

Go for it...... start looking forward and planning :-)

Re comments about higher death rate here in UK than other countries. I have read that other countries do not report all covid 19 deaths...only hospital ones. I also read that Germany often puts an underlying health problem as reason for death not covid19.

Social distancing seems to have been thrown out the window where I live on the South coadt. Never social distancing in supermarkets and packed beaches.

Hope for the best.
Everything to play for.......

We should have had a much tighter lockdown about 2 weeks before we did. Too late now though that horse has bolted. I just hope we can get back to normal as soon as possible, but I think face masks, hand sanitizer etc. are with us for a while yet. Funny thing when I go shopping on my own and then come back in I keep social distancing from my DH without even realising I'm doing it! We have to look for the humour in this situation to keep us going

Dreading a lockdown Christmas

Just look at other countries like Italy and Spain who have been badly affected and now they are almost back to some sort of normality with all the new safety measures in place of course. We have got to be hopeful.

I certainly hope things will be back to some sort of normal by late November, or I shall have to find other homes for the things I’m making for Gdcs’ school fairs.
And I definitely hope to be able to give them all a proper cuddle well before then. ??

I think back to this time last year when we were planning the visit of my son and family from NZ for Christmas and now wonder if we will ever see them again. I can't see us ever doing long haul travel again and would be very concerned about them coming back this way. Life will certainly be much different this winter and many of us will think twice about venturing into huge shopping centres.

The hot weather must be hell for those stuck in flats especially the ones not fit enough to get outside for regular exercise. I feel for them and also the Italians who weren't allowed out even to exercise in the beginning. I have quite enjoyed lockdown as I am happy on my own. I have a nice big garden near the south coast and have had almost daily facetime with family so I appreciate it's easy for me to say that and know I have been very lucky

Dottydots

We were still getting e mails from Shearings after they had gone belly up.

There is no evidence of a different strain of the virus here to countries that have had so many fewer deaths. What they have, and we have not - is a a different government and attitude of that government to this virus.

At present UK has the highest death rate per population of any country - great chart for us to top!!!!

Must say I have been commenting how good that this has been at its worst during the summer -and we have been blessed with such wonderful weather. Cannot imagine the queues outside supermarkets, etc in cold, dark and wet weather.

Not putting too many of my hopes on a vaccine, none have ever been found for any Covid virus - and they are still working, after three decades, on one for HIV. However, all around the world money is being thrown at this, so perhaps somewhere a group will make that break through,

However, there has been lots of advances in medical aid to fight the virus when someone has it. Hopefully, this area will continue to progress and eventually turn it into something like just a very bad dose of flu.

I do worry about what is going to happen over the next year. When will the shielded people be permitted out? I worry about the fear being engendered in everybody about everyone else. The longer social distancing continues, the greater this will be - and do wonder if we will ever get back to the time of being able to go the theatres, cinemas, sports events, etc. etc.

However, when our leaders totally ignore the advice they have helped to sculpture and give out - it is totally understandable that so many members of the public are just following his lead. Unfortunately, it is likely that these actions will just mean everything here has to go on for so much longer - well into the winter. It is to be expected a further peak alongside the usual annual winter flu increase.

You’re right Ladymuck! I sat next to a doctor on a flight 4 years ago and watched him clean everything he touched with alcohol wipes. He said that if I did the same with everything I touched in public, the chances were I wouldn’t catch colds etc.

I did and haven’t had a cold, flu or any other bug since and have travelled more than most on trains and planes in that time.

Friends and family have openly laughed at what they call my OCD over the last few years but I’ve been proved right in the last three months. You can’t stop other people spreading germs but you can go a long way to not getting them yourself.

It will be much the same as now - only colder.

Unless someone comes up with a vaccine.

No idea!

It seems to me, looking at other countries' stats, that we have been affected more than they have except possibly Spain and Italy. Could we have had a different strain? I don't think that Europe has a smaller BME percentage than we do, so why the higher morbidity and infection?

I have a feeling that we shall be socially distancing, 2m etc., for many, many moths to come.

I'm with Teetime - let's stay hopeful!!

I keep wondering if life will ever be quite the same again.
I don't feel confident enough to re-book my holiday with
the credit note (plus a bonus) which the holiday company have given me. We need to wait and see, I suppose.