How much longer will social distancing go on for in the UK?

[takno]

With more time even if you are not into spending a lot of time cooking, this includes me, there is no reason to buy unhealthy microwave and oven ready meals rather than for example putting a chicken breast portion in the oven, grilling a pork chop, baking fish etc. Vegetables can be frozen and even potatoes out of a tin. Depending if your main meal is daytime or evening the second meal can be healthier too, not similar to a takeaway from Greggs, McDonalds etc.

If now burning less calories than 12 months ago balance that by eating smaller portions.

I'm not a gym person but now on days not at work unless the weather is awful all day get a least a half hour brisk walk around the estate, sometimes I take a larger loop to make it an hour. 12 months ago I might not leave the house all weekend.

Good for you. If only everybody was exactly like you we'd all be in fantastic health. We aren't of course.

Incidentally, plenty of oven and microwave meals are extremely healthy.

 

[Cdd89]

People can go for a brisk walk around the block.

They can cook themselves healthy meals with their extra time.

They can take up a productive hobby and come out of it brighter and more fulfilled.

But in too many cases, it is evident that they will sit on the sofa, watch TV, and eat junk food.

If a government prevents people from meeting their friends, shames them for taking exercise in nice places, and leaves them depressed and unmotivated, with one day blurring into the next and little to look forward to, they shouldn’t be surprised at the results. Only a minority take active exercise. Saying people can do positive things (and that it’s their fault for not going so) is a cop out - the only thing that matters is that they will do.

I know for a fact that for a lot of my colleagues, the only exercise they got was the walk to and from the train station at both ends to commute to work. That may not be much, but 5000 steps per weekday is now gone, and unless they’ve had a brain transplant they haven’t been replaced.

 

[kristiang85]

People can go for a brisk walk around the block.

They can cook themselves healthy meals with their extra time.

They can take up a productive hobby and come out of it brighter and more fulfilled.

But in too many cases, it is evident that they will sit on the sofa, watch TV, and eat junk food.

If a government prevents people from meeting their friends, shames them for taking exercise in nice places, and leaves them depressed and unmotivated, with one day blurring into the next and little to look forward to, they shouldn’t be surprised at the results. Only a minority take active exercise. Saying people can do positive things (and that it’s their fault for not going so) is a cop out - the only thing that matters is that they will do.

I know for a fact that for a lot of my colleagues, the only exercise they got was the walk to and from the train station at both ends to commute to work. That may not be much, but 5000 steps per weekday is now gone, and unless they’ve had a brain transplant they haven’t been replaced.

The thing is, it's one thing going for brisk walks in the rain or the dark because you have to get to work and back. I'm sat here right now looking at rain streaming down the window and there's no way I'm voluntarily going out there for a walk...

Then there's walks to the pub, walks to other transport links for days out, walks to friends' houses, etc. - if you're in the habit of doing a lot of your own walking to get from A to B because you're a busy person, you've never had the mindset to allocate time for a more formal 'exercise only' time as you're easily doing a lot every day. It is hard to change habits when all those normal things are taken from you.

Also many people do have very uninspiring local scenery - there's only so much motivation you can have to walk/run around a faceless town and the same park (luckily I have some decent greenery within a long walking distance so that's what I do at weekends, but it's too far for a lunchbreak during working from home, and it's too dark to do later on).

And also don't forget the mental health aspect. When people are deprived of the things they enjoy, they do tend to get withdrawn and demotivated. And some will seek solace in junk food. Especially those who live on their own with nobody else with them to help do something else.

 

[Simon11]

Recently I've got into the phase of walking a mile to my local gas station to buy a can of beer and then walk back late evening. Gives me a purpose to get out and enjoy a pint on the way back. Not really necessarily, but you need to have something mental stimulating you and getting you out the house!

 

[westv]

"Gas" station?!

 

[Jamesrob637]

American in exile?!

 

[greyman42]

In the 80s we didn't have the net, online shopping, or the ability to log into the office from home.

I was not really referring to internet, more that in general people seem to be less social than they were a number of decades ago.

 

[brad465]

And there goes Glastonbury for this year:

Glastonbury 2021: Festival axed 'with great regret'

The Worthy Farm event has been scrapped for a second year running due to the global pandemic.

www.bbc.co.uk

Glastonbury Festival has been cancelled for a second year running due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The news was announced on Thursday on the Worthy Farm event's Twitter page.

"With great regret, we must announce that this year's Glastonbury Festival will not take place," they said.

"And that this will be another enforced fallow year for us. Tickets for this year will roll over to next year. Full statement below and on our website. Michael & Emily."

 

[DB]

And there goes Glastonbury for this year:

Glastonbury 2021: Festival axed 'with great regret'

The Worthy Farm event has been scrapped for a second year running due to the global pandemic.

www.bbc.co.uk

Understandable - they can't spend a fortune on organising it all without knowing what arbitrary restrictions the government will be making.

 

[roversfan2001]

I expect many more festivals scheduled for May/June to follow suit now the cat is out the bag. Many of which won't return for 2022. The Goverment have failed the events industry.

 

[HSTEd]

Festivals are not aimed at baby boomers, and so are of no value in the new openly gerontocratic society.

 

[brad465]

I don't know how true this is, but many of those against the Government, especially on the hard left, believe that the Government has been deliberately letting down the arts and events industry because their culture and teachings goes against right-wing beliefs, and thus is a step towards fascism.

 

[Class 33]

Not a surprise atall about Glastonbury being axed. I was expecting that, along with I expect most if not all festivals that are intended to take place in May and June. The government has indeed failed the events industry. So much for Oliver Dowden saying he expects the events industry to be back to normal by April! I am hopeful though that some of the smaller festivals during July/August/September may still be able to go ahead.

 

[Simon11]

American in exile?!

Haha, spent two years living in the US from 2017-19!

 

[DorkingMain]

Not a surprise atall about Glastonbury being axed. I was expecting that, along with I expect most if not all festivals that are intended to take place in May and June. The government has indeed failed the events industry. So much for Oliver Dowden saying he expects the events industry to be back to normal by April! I am hopeful though that some of the smaller festivals during July/August/September may still be able to go ahead.

This government loves to make promises, and then hopes nobody remembers when it comes to the time to deliver. I suspect with the intention of getting people to spend money speculatively.

That being said, it's hard to see what the government could do for the events industry other than continually throwing money at them (which has admittedly been their solution for just about everything else). Most events aren't viable with the numbers social distancing would allow, and even then it has to be at the upper end of transmission risk to have 100s - 1000s in a fixed area for hours.

 

[joncombe]

Not a surprise atall about Glastonbury being axed. I was expecting that, along with I expect most if not all festivals that are intended to take place in May and June. The government has indeed failed the events industry. So much for Oliver Dowden saying he expects the events industry to be back to normal by April! I am hopeful though that some of the smaller festivals during July/August/September may still be able to go ahead.

And Hancock saying we can look forward to a summer doing the things we enjoy. But then very little if anything that man says is true.

 

[HSTEd]

And Hancock saying we can look forward to a summer doing the things we enjoy. But then very little if anything that man says is true.

You can look forward to doing the things we enjoy*

*As long as you enjoy remaining in your hovel, clapping when the party orders you to, and otherwise serving the will of the gerontocrats.

 

[Bishopstone]

I don't know how true this is, but many of those against the Government, especially on the hard left, believe that the Government has been deliberately letting down the arts and events industry because their culture and teachings goes against right-wing beliefs, and thus is a step towards fascism.

I don’t mind people believing this, so long as with their next breath they’re not demanding the Government introduce tougher restrictions: including those on the arts and events sectors they claim to cherish.

 

[takno]

I don’t mind people believing this, so long as with their next breath they’re not demanding the Government introduce tougher restrictions: including those on the arts and events sectors they claim to cherish.

The government is systematically overstating the risk and building up terror in the population. At the same time they are clearly spending hundreds of billions on keeping whole sectors of the economy alive. I don't think in that context it's unreasonable for people to believe that the restrictions are necessary, and that the solution is that their industry should be bailed out as well.

I'd rather people saw all the way through it and rejected the government's messages completely, but I don't expect it of people. It's the government that needs to be better and stop creating the climate of terror

 

[HLE]

I don't know how true this is, but many of those against the Government, especially on the hard left, believe that the Government has been deliberately letting down the arts and events industry because their culture and teachings goes against right-wing beliefs, and thus is a step towards fascism.

Hard left to me are the Jeremy Corbyn loving socialists who love the idea of state control, have been the ones clamouring for tight lockdowns, as far as I'm concerned they've got their wish with the state imposing these measures. I'm actually waiting to call out the hypocrites I know of who were shouting for this latest lockdown. They'll soon start whingeing about how long it's gone for.

It's the poor sods in that industry that keep it going in the background that I feel for. Many are self employed.

 

[HSTEd]

Hard left to me are the Jeremy Corbyn loving socialists who love the idea of state control,

Hey I'm a socialist who loves state control - but state control to no real purpose is quite another thing.

 

[WelshBluebird]

I don't know how true this is, but many of those against the Government, especially on the hard left, believe that the Government has been deliberately letting down the arts and events industry because their culture and teachings goes against right-wing beliefs, and thus is a step towards fascism.

While I don't specifically agree, I think it is more a show of incompetency if nothing else, I can see where people are coming from, especially when at the same time you have the insanity around Brexit happening which is going to severally hurt that industry too (and especially when live music as an industry generates more for the UK economy than fishing does, yet it was fishing who got all of the big news stories regarding Brexit).

I don’t mind people believing this, so long as with their next breath they’re not demanding the Government introduce tougher restrictions: including those on the arts and events sectors they claim to cherish.

You can absolutely want both - that isn't a contradictory view. Infact I'd say anyone who supports tougher restrictions specifically should be expecting the government to support those industries affected by those restrictions. If you support restrictions but don't support government support then you are just signing the death warrant for those industries.

That being said, it's hard to see what the government could do for the events industry other than continually throwing money at them (which has admittedly been their solution for just about everything else). Most events aren't viable with the numbers social distancing would allow, and even then it has to be at the upper end of transmission risk to have 100s - 1000s in a fixed area for hours.

Just some things off the top of my head:

• Ensuring that there was useful for support for individuals who fell between the gaps of the existing furlough scheme and the similar scheme for those self employed (for reasons to do with how a lot of the industry is run, many people simply fell between the gaps of those schemes so didn't have the same support as most of the working population did). Of course this would also affect other industries too who no doubt have similar issues.
• Ensuring the the support given to venues was given out fairer (I still can't understand why how long a venue has been open for was a criteria for if they got government support or not - why does it make a difference if a venue opened in 2016 or 2017? The Lantern in Halifax which opened in 2017 still needed support as much as any other venue, but because it opened in 2017 it didn't get anything).
• Not beat the industry with a stick when it is already down on its knees (e.g. the lack of any special provisioning for touring artists in the Brexit agreement).
• Having a documented and thought out plan on how to return to relative normally in terms of events being able to be hosted. I guess this gets into the wider issue where it feels like the government have been making all of this up on the spot rather than having a specific plan. But even having specific levels of deaths / hospital capacity / cases etc where we say "ok, now we can start thinking about the return of events" would be good. Hell, they even published something like that right at the start of the pandemic but pretty much abandoned it right away.

You say "other than throwing money at it" but honestly, until events can happen on a semi normal basis again, for the most part that is exactly what is needed. Venues still have to pay rent and bills, individuals still have to pay their own rent and bills too. Support in the form of money would generally be hugely useful in both camps.

 

[Class 33]

One thing I've noticed in the news today is that the cinema release latest James Bond film which was originally scheduled for late last year but then put back to April 2021, has now been put back again until 8th October 2021. Is this a clue that this nuisance social distancing is expected to drag on all the way until October??!! I really hope not. We need to start getting this country back to normal way before then!

 

[DB]

One thing I've noticed in the news today is that the cinema release latest James Bond film which was originally scheduled for late last year but then put back to April 2021, has now been put back again until 8th October 2021. Is this a clue that this nuisance social distancing is expected to drag on all the way until October??!! I really hope not. We need to start getting this country back to normal way before then!

Possibly they are just being cautious - would be understandable given the way the goverment carries on.

 

[joncombe]

Possibly they are just being cautious - would be understandable given the way the goverment carries on.

It is also, I believe, the date for the *global* release. So perhaps it might be that whilst they may expect the situation to be better in the UK earlier, it won't be in other countries. I hope so, anyway.

 

[WelshBluebird]

They may also be considering how long it will take for people to be comfortable enough for a full cinema showing to be a realistic proposition. After all the main reason these are being pushed back isn't because they can't be released atm, it is so they can make as much money as possible from them. So they may well be building in a few months after they expect restrictions to be lifted to give time for people to start to come back in the normal way / number.

 

[takno]

One thing I've noticed in the news today is that the cinema release latest James Bond film which was originally scheduled for late last year but then put back to April 2021, has now been put back again until 8th October 2021. Is this a clue that this nuisance social distancing is expected to drag on all the way until October??!! I really hope not. We need to start getting this country back to normal way before then!

I don't think it's a sign that the producers of the film know more than anybody else. Ultimately they are talking about a worldwide release which involves a huge amount of planning, which you don't want to be redoing more often than every 6 months.

The release will be affected by the state of lockdown in a bunch of different countries across the world. Many of them are at a different place in their infection, and almost all of them are behind us in terms of numbers vaccinated.

Finally, it depends on cinemas being allowed to open and geared up to show films. Even if we reopened most things tomorrow, it's not clear that we'd be allowed to fill cinemas for a couple of months at least. With several large chains having effectively shut down and laid off all their staff, it could be a couple of months even from full reopening of cinemas to a decent number of screens actually being usable and staffed.

So no, hopefully this doesn't tell us that much about our own lockdown.

 

[kristiang85]

One thing I've noticed in the news today is that the cinema release latest James Bond film which was originally scheduled for late last year but then put back to April 2021, has now been put back again until 8th October 2021. Is this a clue that this nuisance social distancing is expected to drag on all the way until October??!! I really hope not. We need to start getting this country back to normal way before then!

I guess as it's a global release, they want the best chance of as many countries as possible being able to show it.

 

[Dave91131]

To answer the question of the title of this thread, quite possibly until next winter and beyond according to Sit Patrick Vallance.

Link to article below;

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13794867/face-masks-indoor-restrictions-next-winter-covid/

 

[DB]

To answer the question of the title of this thread, quite possibly until next winter and beyond according to Sit Patrick Vallance.

Link to article below;

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13794867/face-masks-indoor-restrictions-next-winter-covid/

He's one of the Doomsters. Hopefully he won't get his way. Next winter should be no worse than any following winter provided they get a decent percentage vaccinated by the end of the summer, and we really do not want the slipperly slope of wearing masks every winter.