When will this shit end?

[Zoo Music Girl]

17 minutes ago, FakeEmpire said:

Hancock talks about "the great British Summer" which is obviously a typically vague term.

For most people, I think that's packed beaches & parks, festivals, football, BBQs, beer gardens and Wimbledon.  Hard to push for a "great British summer" without mass events.

To be fair they called it a great British summer last year and all, didn't they?

11 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

I'm doing ok with this lockdown...loving not having to go into the office...but getting a bit of cabin fever stuck at home with the family all the time...and can't wait to go to a pub/cafe/cinema...and can't wait to see some friends and family....but overall I'm ok with it...because I can see it ending over the next few months.

This is broadly where I am with it. I'm bored of living in this pretty restricted way for most of the year - we didn't do loads in the summer but going to the gym and seeing the odd friend or family remember definitely broke it up - but I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

Trying to focus on the positives: that I have a job and my health and I'm not having to work on the front line dealing with all this shit. And that the vaccines are coming. 

One of the biggest worries for me throughout this past year has been the vulnerable people in our lives and am delighted that the first of them (my partner's dad) is getting his first jab on Friday! He is 75.

Sorry @steviewevie - hope your mum gets the call soon! 

[zahidf]

16 minutes ago, JoeyT said:

 

Allegra's husband wrote that. So definitely something to it

[Ozanne]

They also said ‘enjoy summer safely’, like people just go out to be unsafe 😂

[steviewevie]

1 minute ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

To be fair they called it a great British summer last year and all, didn't they?

This is broadly where I am with it. I'm bored of living in this pretty restricted way for most of the year - we didn't do loads in the summer but going to the gym and seeing the odd friend or family remember definitely broke it up - but I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

Trying to focus on the positives: that I have a job and my health and I'm not having to work on the front line dealing with all this shit. And that the vaccines are coming. 

One of the biggest worries for me throughout this past year has been the vulnerable people in our lives and am delighted that the first of them (my partner's dad) is getting his first jab on Friday! He is 75.

Sorry @steviewevie - hope your mum gets the call soon! 

yeah man, she's still waiting. My dad got a call yesterday and he's getting his first jab today, but he's my 2nd fave parent.

I think it helps not being a very optimistic person with all this, and then you don't get knocked about so much by all the bad news...but I do think spring and summer will be a lot better and mostly normal. Still don't think Glastonbury will be on unless maybe they delay it, but you never know.

[JoeyT]

2 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

This will definitely end, we are so close to it all ending. Give it another few months and we’ll be nearly back to normal doing the things we all love again. It’s not long now!

I think the issue I've been having and i'm sure countless others are having is with the generalisation of when this will end with words such as "few" or "soon" or "in the coming months"

The fact is there isn't an end date really, which makes the current stage we are at all the more frustrating.

Western Australia for instance had a very clear road map which shows what you could / can look forward to. I've attached below for reference (albeit now out of date). Why can't our government produce something similar? It would certainly give us all something to work towards.

 

[Zoo Music Girl]

1 minute ago, steviewevie said:

yeah man, she's still waiting. My dad got a call yesterday and he's getting his first jab today, but he's my 2nd fave parent.

I think it helps not being a very optimistic person with all this, and then you don't get knocked about so much by all the bad news...but I do think spring and summer will be a lot better and mostly normal. Still don't think Glastonbury will be on unless maybe they delay it, but you never know.

Good about your dad but that is frustrating! Hope she gets it soon. Is he in a different area?

And yeah I agree. I'm probably more on the negative side but it's protective for me because I don't get my hopes up too high. I think I'll be back in the pub and seeing the people I love this summer and am happy with that thought for now.

[eFestivals]

Just now, JoeyT said:

The fact is there isn't an end date really

I reckon we'll be able to see (ballpark) where the end date is about 6 weeks from now, when we've got a measure of the effect of the vaccines.

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

2 minutes ago, JoeyT said:

I think the issue I've been having and i'm sure countless others are having is with the generalisation of when this will end with words such as "few" or "soon" or "in the coming months"

The fact is there isn't an end date really, which makes the current stage we are at all the more frustrating.

Western Australia for instance had a very clear road map which shows what you could / can look forward to. I've attached below for reference (albeit now out of date). Why can't our government produce something similar? It would certainly give us all something to work towards.

 

They did pretty much that in the summer, but I think with the new variant and the vaccination rollout do you think something like that is possible? I don’t unfortunately. Obviously Australia had much lower levels of virus, so a road map was easier, just as we did as we came out of the first lockdown. We’ve got such high levels of virus I don’t think it’s possible.

Edited January 21, 2021 by Deaf Nobby Burton

[Ozanne]

2 minutes ago, JoeyT said:

I think the issue I've been having and i'm sure countless others are having is with the generalisation of when this will end with words such as "few" or "soon" or "in the coming months"

The fact is there isn't an end date really, which makes the current stage we are at all the more frustrating.

Western Australia for instance had a very clear road map which shows what you could / can look forward to. I've attached below for reference (albeit now out of date). Why can't our government produce something similar? It would certainly give us all something to work towards.

 

I think the main reason they haven’t put a solid date on things here is because the situation is so fluid that they might not be able to stick to that date if things don’t go as planned which would then create more anger or disappointment. So they use those vague phrases as it’s easier for them to change that if the situation warrants it.

I personally don’t agree with that and would like set dates as I think most people are mature enough to realise if the situation changes then so will that date. But I think that’s why they do it that way.

I’m using the ballpark of Easter as a rough date for when things might get noticeably better which is partly based on an estimate from me and also partly on what the government have said too. 

[Crazyfool01]

Mentioned this last night ... but superspreading cruises are back from may if you’ve had the jab ... SAGA .... now if these are allowed then surely the chances of outside festivals increases ? 

[vintagelaureate]

32 minutes ago, JoeyT said:

Does anyone's mood currently go from massive peaks to massive troughs with almost no inbetween?

I currently find my mood literally going from "we could potentially have a festival and pub beers this summer" to "this shit is never going to end" on a near hourly basis.

All based on stuff I read on here / see in the news.

Hugely. 

Since March, I've seen two people from outside my household (not including work). I have massive fluctuations in the way I feel, which are impacted by an array of things. 

I had to shield last year - I've not had a letter yet this time - but my daughter has been pretty much on the highest shielding list the entire time. So, the only places I've seen are work and the house.

It's tough - this place and some of the people here can be a safe haven at times!

[JoeyT]

1 minute ago, Deaf Nobby Burton said:

They did pretty much that in the summer, but I think with the new variant and the vaccination rollout do you think something like that is possible? I don’t unfortunately. Obviously Australia had much lower levels of virus, so a round map was easier, just as we did as we came out of the first lockdown. 

I think it is possible. If they were transparent about what thresholds the figures had to hit to move in to the next "phase" then we'd all have a much clearer idea of the situation. The whole "ease the pressure on the NHS" is far too broad in my opinion.

I don't know if it's just me but all of the information released in Western Australia for instance seems much more "reader friendly" and easier to digest than what our government produces. 

[JoeyT]

2 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

I think the main reason they haven’t put a solid date on things here is because the situation is so fluid that they might not be able to stick to that date if things don’t go as planned which would then create more anger or disappointment. So they use those vague phrases as it’s easier for them to change that if the situation warrants it.

I personally don’t agree with that and would like set dates as I think most people are mature enough to realise if the situation changes then so will that date. But I think that’s why they do it that way.

I’m using the ballpark of Easter as a rough date for when things might get noticeably better which is partly based on an estimate from me and also partly on what the government have said too. 

I think my main issue is that we are treated like children a lot of the time. I may not speak for everyone but I think we all recognise how fluid the situation is but by giving us a date surely that only encourages everyone to work harder to get our ducks in a row and hit the target.

If the date then changes its a bit like "okay we take that on the chin, we've got to work harder"

Perhaps just my view on it, I don't know.

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

6 minutes ago, JoeyT said:

I think it is possible. If they were transparent about what thresholds the figures had to hit to move in to the next "phase" then we'd all have a much clearer idea of the situation. The whole "ease the pressure on the NHS" is far too broad in my opinion.

I don't know if it's just me but all of the information released in Western Australia for instance seems much more "reader friendly" and easier to digest than what our government produces. 

I think you might be right as far perhaps people giving people a target and some hope. Equally if you look at where we are at this point in this wave (1800 deaths a day) and look back at the same point in the first wave we didn’t have a road map then either. It wasn’t until numbers had come right down they released the five alert levels and some dates for opening certain sectors up.

Obviously there is a balance between giving people something to aim for and also giving people a false sense of security and they start to relax.

Either way, the higher the levels of virus you have circulating the harder it is to work to set dates for things to happen.

Edit: this was one of the things they released last summer:

Edited January 21, 2021 by Deaf Nobby Burton

[Crazyfool01]

 

[Ozanne]

4 minutes ago, JoeyT said:

I think my main issue is that we are treated like children a lot of the time. I may not speak for everyone but I think we all recognise how fluid the situation is but by giving us a date surely that only encourages everyone to work harder to get our ducks in a row and hit the target.

If the date then changes its a bit like "okay we take that on the chin, we've got to work harder"

Perhaps just my view on it, I don't know.

Yeah I agree, they should treat us like that and just be honest by saying they don’t know how things will go but if they go to plan then by x date this will happen. But they are afraid of people being angry at them for changing those dates and worried about how compliance would be effected that they just stick to vague, unhelpful phrases.

We had this in lockdown 1, in the briefings the media would ask all the time for dates and they wouldn’t get them for a long while. 

[st dan]

I still really believe they should have allowed two households to bubble and mix throughout all of this. 
Yes, there would have been increased transmission in some cases, but it would have given many the much needed mental boost to get through all this more comfortably. And if your bubble was careful and not mixing elsewhere then the risks of transmission would have been pretty low still. 

[Mimo]

One thing I’ve come to accept about the pandemic is the need to be patient. We have no choice really. Impatience to return to normal is a big part of what has led us to our current predicament, we can’t just wish the virus away we have to put the work in.

Good to hear that the government is looking to adopt the Aussie model, in combination with the vaccine hopefully we can eliminate the virus here this year and go into 2022 planning our summer with confidence.

[Ozanne]

 

[eFestivals]

1 minute ago, Mimo said:

Good to hear that the government is looking to adopt the Aussie model

What's the Aussie model?

Those graphics show a gradual open-up, which is what the UK did last summer and what we'll be doing again via tiers (and then something below the current tiers).

I know Aus is currently (almost) covid-free, but I also know that NZ is planning to let covid in once people have been vaccinated and I'm guessing Aus is the same.

As we already have covid here and won't get to covid free we don't need to start letting it in.

I suspect the stuff about the Australian model is an attempt to disguise Spaffer and co's shitness by pretending they're operating a plan that's been widely praised.

[Crazyfool01]

8 minutes ago, st dan said:

I still really believe they should have allowed two households to bubble and mix throughout all of this. 
Yes, there would have been increased transmission in some cases, but it would have given many the much needed mental boost to get through all this more comfortably. And if your bubble was careful and not mixing elsewhere then the risks of transmission would have been pretty low still. 

The problem with this is that if on current levels 1 in 8 people have had the virus then if 2 families were allowed to group then at some point one of those people would have had the virus ... and risks are a lot higher with household transmission ... keeping the numbers lower massively reduces risk ... it’s one of the fortunate things about being in a 1 person household you control your own destiny somewhat ... although obviously there are risks outside that ... in a group of maybe 8 there is likely to be someone who isn’t quite able to stick stringently to the rules or might become infected through work and pass it on to both families ... 

[jannybruck]

36 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

Mentioned this last night ... but superspreading cruises are back from may if you’ve had the jab ... SAGA .... now if these are allowed then surely the chances of outside festivals increases ? 

Extremely different demographic to festivals unfortunately. SAGA are aimed specifically at over 50s/60s, so much more likely to have access to vaccines by late spring/summer than younger people.

[efcfanwirral]

3 hours ago, RobertProsineckisLighter said:

This is the lockdown fatigue in lock down 1.0 I guess. 

Personally I'm so busy at work times flying buy. Weekends are a drag though - thank god for football manager. 

I'm similar- not enjoying the weekends all that much, and a returning football manager addiction is helping! 

 

36 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

yeah man, she's still waiting. My dad got a call yesterday and he's getting his first jab today, but he's my 2nd fave parent.

I think it helps not being a very optimistic person with all this, and then you don't get knocked about so much by all the bad news...but I do think spring and summer will be a lot better and mostly normal. Still don't think Glastonbury will be on unless maybe they delay it, but you never know.

Some people I know were completely blindsided by the november and december lockdown announcements. I know it's not healthy to spend as much time looking at the news as we all do, but I can't believe so many bury their heads in the sand so much.

Surely even a cursory glance at the news around those times will have shown them it was getting worse? I know mental health affects a lot of people and the news depresses  people (and I'm not the most sensitive to that a lot of the time) but shutting off from reality and then getting even more depressed when it becomes undeniable doesn't make any sense to me. 

34 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Good about your dad but that is frustrating! Hope she gets it soon. Is he in a different area?

And yeah I agree. I'm probably more on the negative side but it's protective for me because I don't get my hopes up too high. I think I'll be back in the pub and seeing the people I love this summer and am happy with that thought for now.

I'm in a weird situation with it all - I work freelance and from home anyway, and have completely backed myself into a corner where travel and events were my main escape in the "old normal".

If we get a summer like last year without those things (which I think is the best case scenario) I'll still feel locked down. Will see my dad obviously but likely won't meet up with friends until everyone is vaccinated

I still have zero confidence in gigs happening- that isnt the type of normal they are talking about. If masks are needed anywhere, mass events can't happen because transmission is still a concern 

[FestivalJamie]

Something we ought to be wary of and i realised yesterday, is the UK gov are now including lateral flow tests in their overall testing figures on the dashboard and positivity rating (this apparently started a couple months back). As we know these aren’t the most reliable, it is making me take the test positivity rates with a pinch of salt. Some other countries do not do this and base their positivity rates and number of positive cases on PCR only... I didn’t actually realise any of that because it looks like we are doing significantly more testing now than other countries but that’s just down to us counting use of lateral flow tests when in reality our PCR testing is similar to other countries.

Edited January 21, 2021 by FestivalJamie

[SamJ]

Parents in law, over 70, 1 extremely vulnerable due to multiple health issues, got the call for vaccines yesterday in London.  They will get a home visit due to said vulnerabilities.  Fingers crossed.  Lack of contact has been extremely difficult as they are very tech phobic so cannot (will not) even FaceTime. Honestly they and my OH were crushed not to be able to go for a walk outside to meet up at Xmas.  Holding out hope for spring now.