Is Covid over? To what extent have you gone back to 'normal'?

[Steel Icarus]

One thing I have been continuing to do quite obsessively is sanitise whenever I see a bottle or dispenser. Also keep a bottle in the car and in my work bag. I'm not sure why but that seems to be ingrained into my psyche now and I do it without thinking.

I've got a little bottle attached to my work lanyard and have a squirt pretty much every time I touch something I'm not sure anyone else hasn't touched. Still wearing masks in communal areas of college though not in the classroom, and mask wearing in all public buildings.

I think Mrs SI is getting frustrated at my inability to change my mindset to "you've been jabbed so you'll probably not die" from the "I have to not get it otherwise I'll die" I've had so far. And tbh I'm frustrated with it, too. I want to be unafraid while still taking reasonable precautions. I've moved from masks more likely to protect others to masks more likely to protect me but I'm still very jumpy about close calls, for example a colleague who sits in my office (5m away admittedly) has a partner who almost certainly has it following several positive LFT tests but who is yet to have an LFT return a positive himself. And I'm nervous around him, staying out of the office, etc. (Her PCR result is back Mon or Tues, but until he tests positive he's still going to the gym and coming to work.)

I'm tired of worrying about this but I don't know how to accept it.

 

[StoneRoad]

Double - jabbed (all four in the household) and all with something that increases the risk of a poor outcome if infected with the plague ...

All either retired or largely WFH. And staying that way, although I need to be visiting the workshop far more than I do at present. I have done several trips away for work, but carefully timed to avoid risky contacts.

Still shopping on t'internet, with some "Click n Collect" - almost zero shop or other interior visits.
No "social" visits to museums or heritage railways since before March 2020 - they are the things I really miss.

Avoiding public transport so using the car a lot. Work trips involved staying in hotel type accommodation and visiting motorway service areas (that felt scary). All pre-July 19th so mask compliance was quite high.

Several birthday / anniversary celebrations have been severely curtailed, although we have managed some decent "take-away" meals instead.

Recently, the increases in cases have made me more cautious about masking up in crowded places, even outside. And even less willing to go indoors.

We did manage a few days staying on my friend's boat last week. The first time I've stayed on there since early March 2020. And we did visit our "local" for several times, but apart from one coffee, we were always sat outside ... That's the nearest to the old normal for my friends I can recall.

 

[steeplejack]

I have been in the pub twice since restrictions lifted, and the curry house the same amount of times. Not planning going back again until the current surge in numbers abates.

I am really enjoying going back to football again on a Saturday. That was the hardest thing for me during lockdown- that all being cancelled / behind closed doors. I go to lower league games so it's easy to find my own square hectare of terracing.

I think the sooner we realise that "normal", meaning pre-Covid, life, isn't coming back, the better for us all. We are going to be living 80% of our old lives with 20% Covid mitigation / restricted behaviour for the foreseeable. Even once the pandemic has reduced in threat to being like getting a yearly flu jab, we are also going to be battling against rich sociopaths who have used the pandemic period to increase their advantage at the expense of the rest of us.

 

[marshall]

Double-jabbed, but still mask up when shopping, although, increasingly, I appear to be in the minority at the local supermarket. Only really socialise outdoors, haven’t been to a gig/pub/festival yet, but everyone I live with has, so… oooh, i did go to London for the day recently and was pretty horrified by the number of maskless on the tube, and the V&A was a bit busy in places/certain rooms. But guess it’s just what you’re used to on a daily basis. My visit was a couple of weeks ago now, so probs OK, but at the time I was thinking ‘this ain’t good’. Oh yeah, I had a week in hospital in July and thought if I was going to get something it might have been then/there. But nope. So, no, not back to normal, just muddling through tbh, but that’s cool, it’s not the end of the world.

 

[RubyToogood]

Life isn't normal at all for me atm for other reasons. But I still don't feel particularly thrilled about the idea of eg going to the cinema. I always wear a mask indoors (except sitting at a pub table or whatever) as a courtesy to people who have to be there, as much as for myself.

I don't understand my own risk levels as I never conclusively got to the bottom of why I was offered the jab straight after the 90 year olds and although jabbed I am fat so no clue really.

 

[weltweit]

I am still taking precautions even though I am double jabbed. I would prefer not to get delta if I can avoid it. In practice that means masking up when indoors, (shops work offices etc) and avoiding massed gatherings and public transport.

 

[existentialist]

I've got a little bottle attached to my work lanyard and have a squirt pretty much every time I touch something I'm not sure anyone else hasn't touched. Still wearing masks in communal areas of college though not in the classroom, and mask wearing in all public buildings.

I think Mrs SI is getting frustrated at my inability to change my mindset to "you've been jabbed so you'll probably not die" from the "I have to not get it otherwise I'll die" I've had so far. And tbh I'm frustrated with it, too. I want to be unafraid while still taking reasonable precautions. I've moved from masks more likely to protect others to masks more likely to protect me but I'm still very jumpy about close calls, for example a colleague who sits in my office (5m away admittedly) has a partner who almost certainly has it following several positive LFT tests but who is yet to have an LFT return a positive himself. And I'm nervous around him, staying out of the office, etc. (Her PCR result is back Mon or Tues, but until he tests positive he's still going to the gym and coming to work.)

I'm tired of worrying about this but I don't know how to accept it.

I get that. Only the "or I'll die" is "or I'll get long Covid and not be able to work, and be unwell for ages". One of the ways I manage that has been to turn it into a kind of game - a mindset of "whatever you do or don't do, I'm going to keep on doing my bit to not catch the thing". Which makes it a lot easier to defiantly wear a mask when hardly anybody else is, etc. And I try, mostly successfully, not to get emotionally involved around what other people aren't doing - I can see how easy it can be to get into an ever-tightening spiral of righteous indignation, and I can't spare the blood pressure.

 

[Elpenor]

Went to a party at the weekend and let’s just say there were no covid restrictions, people sharing notes for lines etc, hugging, kissing, lots of people in a sweaty unventilated kitchen dance floor which reminded me of being at the Cross.

Felt a bit odd but mostly because so long since I’ve had such a similar experience.

 

[chainsawjob]

my inability to change my mindset to "you've been jabbed so you'll probably not die" from the "I have to not get it otherwise I'll die"

This is the thing isn't it, it feels like the world's gone a bit strange/mad (well, it has!) because now we talk in terms of 'probably not die' from doing x. Whereas before none of this had to be factored in to daily living, not in this way.

a mindset of "whatever you do or don't do, I'm going to keep on doing my bit to not catch the thing"

Yeah, I feel quite bloody-minded, I keep telling myself I don't gaf what others are doing, I'm gonna do what feels safe to me. And then... a little bit of peer pressure, or feeling awkward at being the odd one out, and I sometimes relax my own rules. Or alcohol

 

[chainsawjob]

I've had a conversation with a friend today where we were both saying we've not really sat down with ourselves and worked out where our individual lines in the sand are as regards risk assessment of what to do and what not. I've been voting with my feet and tried an indoor gig for the first time, (<100 people across 2 performance spaces + exhibition space + outdoor space), with the proviso I'd leave if it seemed to rammed. And at one point it did a bit (and wasn't particularly well ventilated, but I was masked) & as I wasn't enjoying the performance that much I went in the garden. It's like 'am I enjoying this enough to take this level of risk. If not, then leave. A sort of cost-benefit analysis.

 

[kebabking]

Mix and match...

We're wearing masks in shops and stuff, we're not going out to pubs and stuff to eat much - probably more having fallen out of the habit as the 'rona - but we all went to an open air festival at the weekend, we've had a couple of self catering holidays in the UK, we've been to a couple of indoor exhibitions at musuems, but the overwhelming emphasis is on outdoor stuff: castles, wild swimming, picnics etc...

Wouldn't consider going anywhere like a soft play pit, or a nightclub (far too old for that nonsense anyway), crowded pubs don't appeal but we'll sit outside, I'd rather lick the floor in A&E than use public transport, and overseas holidays are off the cards simply because of the hassle, faff, and uncertainties.

I'm mostly working from home, but I'll usually do one day a week in work, and another day elsewhere, meeting folk, chatting about ideas and stuff - lots of that is outside, with meetings and sessions being either in the open air or with gazebos or open sided marquees.

I find that I've settled into the new reality quite well - I enjoy working from home, and I enjoy going to work. We've found productivity has rocketed because we're doing far more talking to each other in a pleasant environment than relying on tech like PowerPoint or whatever while sitting in some stuffy conference room...

 

[Dystopiary]

Just really disappointed with how selfish people have been. I know a lot of is because of how slack the government has been, but it's still upsetting.

I hardly go out, yet people go to pubs, gigs, restaurants, the footie, don't bother wearing a mask, don't keep their distance. I can't see an end to it really.

 

[Supine]

I’m feeling pretty relaxed about it all. I still wear a good mask in shops, work and public transport.

Started enjoying outdoor gigs but not fussed about indoor pub drinking or gigs just yet.

Place i work at voted on relaxing the rules. 75% voted to keep masking etc so thats what they are all doing

 

[Riklet]

Ive been double jabbed and had covid... still got long covid unfortunately, but on the plus side I'm pretty unlikely to catch covid again for the moment. I certainly dont worry about dying. I am still social distancing when possible, eating and drinking outside only, wearing a mask inside, doing LFTs twice a week (especially before I go visit my parents) and since I got my bike back ive not bothered using the bus, just cycled.

I'm not drinking alcohol so that makes things easier cos I dont have much desire to go and sit in pubs and bars etc. Just a few pub gardens every now and then.. making the most of good weather.

I went for a ride in a mate's new BMW and round his house last week - first time for me since the pandemic began - and hung out inside with him and met his brother etc. Both unvaxxed (friend had covid recently tho) and his bro had been at a gig the night before so I did keep my distance!! I'm being careful but certainly trying to worry less.

Not been to many local shops cos theyre mostly a bit shit but ive been to the local Spar, had a haircut, been to the farm shop and today to the big Morrisons in town for the first time in what feels like forever. I still haven't been into the city centre this year!! I certainly dont think I'm back to normal in this regard, I loved charity shops, pubs, exhibitions and pottering about in town before. I wouldnt want to go back to finish my masters at the moment, even if I felt up to it. Im trying to find new work and happy with doing that mostly remotely online, and just part time until I get more stamina.

 

[Badgers]

It is totally over

 

[weltweit]

That doesn't look like it is over to me Badgers

 

[weltweit]

For me I think delta is running riot but so many people being vaccinated is holding down hospitalisations and deaths. That does not mean that I would be happy to get delta as I still could be very ill.

So I am continuing with mask wearing when near people at work and when shopping. And I am avoiding public transport (not hard for me) and indoor gatherings of most kinds which includes one of my regular social events which is a shame.

Anyhow, don't want to get delta, or give it to anyone else.

 

[Badgers]

That doesn't look like it is over to me Badgers

Deaths are low and staying low. Cases went up and are still sneaking up/down but slowly, so could say they are flat ish

 

[Puddy_Tat]

started a new job 2 weeks ago, which involves train commuting to central london again (at the time i was offered the job - some months ago - it wasn't clear at that time just how much office / home based it was going to be, but it's going to be office based)

train noticeably busier today than the last 2 weeks.

blargh.

 

[Dovydaitis]

Still working from home, office has opened up slightly using bookable hot desks and very solid COVID restrictions (desks have gone from 150 to 18, masks to be worn everywhere apart from sat at you desk, all desks minimum of 2m distance, only just got use of the microwave back). It makes my job very tricky but we have only had 3 cases in a workforce of 190.

Still wearing masks in shops although others wearing is dwindling. Not had anyone in the house since last year. Had a holiday earlier this month that was a cruise seacation, thoroughly enjoyed it and everyone on board was double jabbed with compulsory mask wearing for all. Still doing the in laws weekly shop. First camping trip was this weekend in a field (never really done campsites so field and portaloo is my standard), usually had 5-10 by now with large groups of friends.

Never really been big pub goers but did occasionally go for a meal.

I miss my old life, I miss people, this is hard. I want to go back to how it was but that won’t be possible. However the current situation is not tenable, the longer this goes on the more of me I am losing. Still, whilst there is a high risk, it must continue. It does make me really appreciate the small steps back to how it was but the nagging worry is constant.

 

[Throbbing Angel]

I didn't do a lot of indoor socialising pre-covid tbh. Coffee shop once a week. Meal out maybe once or twice a month, same for cinema.
I have been back in the office since July 2020 as we were Tier1.

WFH affected my MH a great deal, especially in light of the fact that all other 'release' outlets were blocked/closed (for good reasons).
Feel better now as I can go out, wander about, look for a place I can sit/eat/drink/read if I need to decompress or hide away from 'it' for a bit.

Been to Edinburgh and back recently on a third full train. Felt fine (to me).

We're all still masked, sanitising, hand washing, staying apart if we can, meeting over Teams etc. when at work.

 

[Epona]

Can I raise an objection to the "it's just the flu!" poll option?

In pre-covid times, flu was (and still is now) a significant health risk especially in the most vulnerable sections of society, causing thousands of deaths annually.

Anyone who has ever been through a bad case of swine flu or other A strain will likely agree that flu is not some minor sniffle that is insignificant, I was very seriously ill in 2018 and it took me a couple of months to properly recover.

On that note, I hope to be getting my flu jab later this week.

(And if I don't come out the other end of Autumn feeling like a pincushion with Flu jab and COVID booster shot, then I will feel let down by the government's vaccine programme)

 

[Elpenor]

Went to a party at the weekend and let’s just say there were no covid restrictions, people sharing notes for lines etc, hugging, kissing, lots of people in a sweaty unventilated kitchen dance floor which reminded me of being at the Cross.

Felt a bit odd but mostly because so long since I’ve had such a similar experience.

Text from party host. “X has been feeling a bit rubbish today, had a positive LFT, has gone for a PCR”.

I definitely gave X a hug. X has been living down under, and only back in UK for a few months - presumably jabbed up by now though given the role her partner does. Their kids had it currently but are in a boarding school as military brats.

 

[marty21]

I am going into work more , 3-4 days a week , slightly more people there (but most can & still do wfh) . I could still wfh , and am doing that today as a neighbour asked if I could help with a delivery (a shed) .

 

[Mrs Miggins]

The busses to and from work are getting super full again. There are even people standing now as all the seats are filled. I don't like it

 

[Teaboy]

I'm still working from home. I sense the irritation of my manager that I'm not getting out and meeting more people but I can actually do the meetings easily enough on Teams, if anything its a much better use of my time.

The continuing fine weather means when I do get out and about its all outside so I suppose I'm still being careful. It'll be different when teh weather changes I guess.

 

[Reno]

I've been vaccinated twice and Germany is slowly getting back to normal for those who are vaccinated and those recovered and so far for those who are tested. Tests will stop being for free by the 10th of October, with the exception of children and those who are pregnant or who have medical exemptions.

I abide by all the rules we still have. That is, I still wear a mask on public transport and in shops, I digitally register at every bar and restaurant I enter. That will stay with us till some time in 2022 and i'm fine with that. The clubs were allowed to open again a couple of weeks ago for the recovered and the vaccinated, though most of them haven't opened as they have to get new staff and train them, so many venues plan to open in October. I believe venues can decide whether to also allow the tested but many won't. I will go out to clubs and gigs again and have been going to bars and restaurants since the lockdown got eased and I was fully vaccinated.

I never had the luxury to work from home, but that also means I got vaccinated relatively early for my age, as I work in the health sector. I'm not one of those who have adapted well to the pandemic. For the first time in my life I've entered a deep depression. It comes in waves and I still haven't managed to dig my way out of that. After a life long struggle with alcohol, which I'd gotten under control a decade ago, that's a hole I've fallen back into as I started to drink at home again to cope with loneliness and boredom. Also something I'll still have to deal with. I've always relied on the social and cultural life of a big city to keep me mentally and emotionally afloat, I still love art, gigs, theatre, clubs and bars. I'm 58, I still feel relatively young, but I know my years are numbered and I've just lost nearly two of those years.

Every adult in Germany now had the chance to get vaccinated, the vast majority of those who won't get vaccinated, do so for reasons which are irrational and in Germany we have a fairly large number of those. We are heading into an election and our political parties don't want to alienate those who won't get vaccinated, so there is a lot of talk about about a two tier society. I think that sends to wrong message to those who refuse the vaccination. There is a small number of people who can't get vaccinated for Covid and they have to be protected, but we will have to come to live with Covid like with every other disease, we have to learn to live with a rest risk, like we do with so much in life. While the flu comparisons were wrong when we didn't have the vaccines, now they are appropriate because the vaccinations have lowered the risks to similar if not lower levels.

I can't quite relate to a some of the extreme anxiousness around Covid which I still encounter here, it's like people got vaccinated for no reason. I don't see that in Germany. I have many friends who are immune compromised due to HIV/AIDS but none of them has been hugely worried since they got vaccinated. I suspect some of it has to do with how our politicians have dealt with it ? While Boris Johnson has frequently been reckless and incompetent and patriotic announcements like a "freedom day" are abhorrent, Merkel and Co. have made mistakes (a too late lockdown last year, the EU vaccination bungle) but our government has acted far more cautiously, many here feel excessively so at times. Our health system has never been close to not being able to cope. The attitude to Covid here is very different to that in the UK and since a reasonable amount of people have been vaccinated, I haven't heard anybody describe people who want their life back, as selfish here in Germany. The only ones who I hear that from now are Covid deniers and anti-vaccers, because they claim we are selfish because we want them vaccinated, so life can return to normal.

 

[LDC]

I can't quite relate to a some of the extreme anxiousness around Covid which I still encounter here, it's like people got vaccinated for no reason.

I've thought about that as well Reno, I think worry does seem to be higher among those on here and doesn't match my peers outside this place (even those who were very cautious pre-vaccine and at the height of the pandemic have eased off now mostly). Think it's something to do with age and risk factors/underlying conditions maybe? Or maybe the work people do makes them higher risk, or there's higher than average levels of generalized anxiety, or just those that are worried post more so we get a false impression of it?

Sorry you're having a hard time btw, hope things improve.

 

[Badgers]

I've thought about that as well Reno, I think worry does seem to be higher among those on here and doesn't match my peers outside this place (even those who were very cautious pre-vaccine and at the height of the pandemic have eased off now mostly). Think it's something to do with age and risk factors/underlying conditions maybe? Or maybe the work people do makes them higher risk, or there's higher than average levels of generalized anxiety, or just those that are worried post more so we get a false impression of it?

Sorry you're having a hard time btw, hope things improve.

I probably come across as a bit of Covid-19 misery on here

Thing is at the testing/vaccination centres I see some of the worst of humanity. Also I am privy to government and local councils 'plans' etc.

Great example last weekend...

Couple want to be tested. Said they had no symptoms but both tested positive. They then went to Sainsbury's for Isolation supplies.

 

[xenon]

I've thought about that as well Reno, I think worry does seem to be higher among those on here and doesn't match my peers outside this place (even those who were very cautious pre-vaccine and at the height of the pandemic have eased off now mostly). Think it's something to do with age and risk factors/underlying conditions maybe? Or maybe the work people do makes them higher risk, or there's higher than average levels of generalized anxiety, or just those that are worried post more so we get a false impression of it?

Sorry you're having a hard time btw, hope things improve.

This is pretty much my experience too.

I'm still working at home, they closed the office. I would actually like to go in now and then if we had one, just for a change of scene.

I wear masks on transport, cabs, buses, trains.
Sometimes in shops, mostly not.
Use hand sanitiser when out and about but that's pretty normal for me.
Not taking any LFTs as I can't do them independantly. I could get someone to look at the indicator via video call but the placing swab in solution I wouldn't be able to do with out touching the parts and risking voiding the result I imagine anyway.

Been going out. Friend's houses a couple of times. Not really a club person but gym, pubs, cafes. Sitting outside where possible but mostly that's because it's still warm and I don't have a garden. Don't wear a mask when going to the bar / loo, though would if asked by staff. not been to a gig or the cinema yet but only mild qualms about doing so when I get round to it.

Concerned about upcoming visits to family soon in terms of possibly infecting them but everyone I'll be seeing is double jabbed. Will obviously not go if feeling ill. Yes, I know do a test blah, blah.