Easing Lockdown

We who are retired can choose when we wish to return to normality.We are privileged.However we worry about our children returning to work.We do not want them or our grandchildren to be put in harms way.I hope the lockdown will end in stages with Health and Safety adhered to in the workplace.I shall be praying that we all stay safe.

I think it is impossible for people to return to work when the schools are closed - who is going to look after the children

Gingergirl I hear what you are saying but I work in the care sector (as an adminustrator primarily but had been stepping into care role when short staffed). Even if I don't do any more cate work for the foreseeable, in my admin role I share a tiny office with two other workers where it's impossile to keep 2 meters apart. Also, before I was furloughed, I was being pressured into not wearing a mask as it frightened some of our residents.

I live 2 miles from a hospital with a covid ward ,last night there was a continuous stream of blue lights passing my bedroom window from the road 100 feet away .No sirens during the night but the lights wake us much more regularly than we would like.
This isn't a big town so we hear daily about deaths,and I can see many more if lockdown is lifted too soon.I know people are scared for jobs but they need to put their lives first ,no life. is far worse than no job.
I am scared ,and not ashamed to admit it ,my OH and my AD both have health issues I would prefer lockdown stays in place until the numbers are much much smaller .

I think that if the government want to ease lock down they should , with their families plus elderly relatives, go out and about for a couple of weeks prior to the easing . Then we can look at the results and find out if it is safe. That seems fair ,it's their idea so they should be the first dip their feet in the water.

The thing most people are forgetting is the relevance of the numbers. The UKs Population is much higher I believe here. So there fore we would have more deaths. The figures we need are percentages and ratios compared to other countries. Not head count. The other figure you need is for the are you live in.
I’m in London. So the London figures of who is infected is more important.
Just because the lock down is eased does not mean you can go back to normal. I for one will visit my brand new grandchild. But everything else will continue for me as if the lockdown hasn’t been lifted. I’ve recently retired from the NHS. So that’s where all my friends are and still working. So I won’t pop in to see them. I for one will not be happy until this thing is eradicated or a vaccine is found. You must only do what you personally are happy with.

I know it is a worry, but unless we start a slow return to work economically we will really struggle. As an employer we have arranged full PPE, desks and tables far apart and hand sanitiser. Visitors not allowed over the doorstep and handwashing control. I feel we need to trust ourselves and employers to work together to return to something like normal.

I live in the New Forest, we have one of the lowest rates in the country at the moment. As soon as lockdown is lifted we will be inundated by people wanting to come here. I am in the Vulnerable group, so is my son. I really wish everyone would stay in their own areas and keep their bugs to themselves!

I have to agree with blue sky. I am retired and am very grateful that I can now choose when I can ease my own lockdown so long as social distancing is still in place in supermarkets. Feel very sorry for people having had to work and those returning to work with no choice bearing in mind that they still need an income. That is the flip side of being an auld yin in these worrying times.

Definitely concerned, not for me but for loved ones who may have no choice but to return and then may bring back the virus to infect us. I am MOST concerned about schools reopening too early as I have two nine year old grandsons living with me who may well catch it and then kill me and my wife when they come home from school

It is a dreadful situation, but there is no real choice, only one of my two sons who lives with me can work from home, the other is a marine engineer, can’t really bring a destroyer boiler home to work on in the garden !

Am resigned to the fact that it is highly likely I will, eventually be caught out by Covid, just hope it is not too painful

The government really is in an unenviable position and it is a fact that whatever they do will be criticised by some.

It’s such a fine balancing act but I feel a compromise would be to continue to isolate the vulnerable, those with serious medical conditions, and allow the rest of the population (which of course is the majority) to go back to work to restart the economy.

We are already predicted to be heading for a serious recession which could impact the whole population for decades.

Desperately sad though the deaths are, it’s worth remembering that the vast majority of people who get the virus have very mild symptoms and make a complete recovery.

If only people would REALLY observe the lockdown perhaps the death rate would decrease. But there are still some who think that it doesn’t apply to them. I saw a group of about 15 ‘serious’ cyclists (complete with lycra) out on a ride at the weekend. There’s no way they were all living in the same house!

I don't think we should worry. It will be just small things to start with. Seems the government will be damned if they do damned if they don't I really get fed up with complaints about them. They are doing a good job.

I'm a bit worried. My husband is still employed and although he can work from home and has been doing so since lockdown I worry about when the offices go back to work and what he might be bringing home with him.

Americanpie, WE are the virus hotspot (other than the US). I think the world is more at risk from us than to us.

Ah, NfkDumpling, I'm from Norwich. Haven't lived there for a long time, but I'm still a Norfolk broad!

I will wear a mask, BUT I've got to fly back to work, because I came home for the pandemic because my school closed. I'm not helped because they are out of lockdown there and therefore want all staff back, even though I'd have to go into 2 weeks of quarantine. The plus side of going back would be that I'd be tested for the virus AND get an antibody test. Although given I've had NO health issues for months, I'm pretty sure there's no way I'll have antibodies.

Exactly Froglady. Except I doubt we'll go back into lockdown even if we do get a 2nd wave.

Yes, I'm worried. I know that we cannot be in lockdown forever but I fear for my husband as he has to commute to London 3 days a week by train and tube. He is furloughed at the moment, very anxious about going back. I must admit I have ordered some face masks in preparation. Just hope the government do this slowly and with plenty of common sense.

Agree BlueBelle- the government are using public fears to lockdown and control a situation that the GOVERNMENT exacerbated through ineptitude? I agree- we are mostly all sensible people who will do the right thing? We need to make the personal decision about social distancing- ?

We cannot stay living like this until a vaccine is available. The reason we were asked to stay home was not to overwhelm the NHS and expose its weaknesses. The old have been sacrificed in care homes by not being admitted to hospitals in many cases. I honestly think its going to run its course and all we can do is protect ourselves as much as we can. Stay at home if you can and protect yourself if you can't.
Whilst flights are still landing from virus hot spots Covid 19 is here to stay. Germany had the right approach, lessons to be learned from them.

Shouldn't we wait until the easing is announced rather than speculating?

I’m not sure the easing of restrictions imminently, will be as much as people are getting excited...or worried about....There will be people flouting that...but there are now, so there may not be that much difference in a sense. I can see why the government wants the economy started up but that needn’t affect you if you’re retired and you can go out or not as you please. If you’re working, your employer is bound to provide social distancing as a working condition and if not, you can make that more widely known (because they must provide a safe environment) and refuse to work if it is unsafe in that respect. As a therapist working from home, I can do distance work and have no ideas to change that this year, although opinion is that for one to one personal work, there will be another six months to wait I believe. I don’t see how the figures bear out lifting restrictions fully and that’s why I think it will be very, very gradual.

I think a slight easing of restrictions would be ok if people can work from home or at a safe distance Gaga jo make sure before you go back to work make sure your employers have correct safety measures in place . I think that being able to see family and close circle of friends would be good for our Mental health

I know exactly what you mean GagaJo. I was finally furloughed on health grounds on 17th April after waiting for my shielding letter since 23rd March. It was a very scary time. I'm dreading being made to go back while the death rate is still so high, but, like you, I need my salary. (Or at least 80% of it as I only earn about £1 an hour over minimum wage)

Latest study shows that closing schools has the biggest impact. Way more than lockdown apparently.

Might be a bit mercenary but shouldn’t we wait to see how the countries that are ahead of us fare first? And I agree with @MawB. Although it may seem like forever to some people, 6 weeks is nothing if it means saving lives in the future. Here in Scotland the restrictions aren’t being lifted yet and most are very happy about that.