How do you picture this virus finally ending

[Timandalicia]

Killer Bee Murder Hornet Zombies

 

[nicolita3]

with polio there were school closings, public park/pool closings...while smaller in magnitude than the more famous 1918–1919 spanish flu, the polio epidemic started in new york city and new jersey, but then spread across the usa, resulting in mass quarantines and prolonged school closures at the start of the 1916–1917 academic school year. from 1937-1953 there were terrible annual epidemics of polio that caused states to move to close schools, parks and swimming pools. picnics and parties were discouraged.

one of the key differences between the polio epidemics and covid is age of victims/timing of recurring outbreaks-because most of polio’s victims were young public health officials didn’t advocate total quarantine of all nonessential businesses, polio was also a very seasonal disease striking in the warm summer months. it was a known threat that parents planned annually for-i heard stories of how day to day life for my older siblings changed as kids once the weather turned warmer (no more playing out in groups with neighborhood kids, no more going to the parks, much more 'keep to yourself'), early summer birthdays were celebrated with kid's parties either in early spring or fall.

polio was considered a kid's disease so it was largely kid's that saw their lifestyle changed (but given it took decades to come up with an effective vaccine there were/are generations born during that time that grew up knowing no different than spring signaling an overall shutdown on their activities.

Whats crazy is that children who did not have marjor symptoms as they got older can get post polio syndrome. I see many older folks who are now having symptoms of polio flare up many many years later. Hopefully this virus does not do the same years later to peoples lungs.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

That is truly bizarre!! Hard to imagine.

And its not just one, its multiple? "Coworkers" with a S!!

We have a huge circle of friends/co-workers/hundreds of contacts and literally everyone we know is planning to return to normal life as soon as they get the vaccine.

Oh and I am guessing that since they work with you, they do actually leave the house?

Yes, work and that’s it. They don’t go visit family, go out to eat, visit friends, nothing other than work. One has been VERY vocal about not doing anything this entire year. The other I thought was doing stuff but she said today, when talking to a third coworker, that she only goes to work and essential shopping trips.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Must be nice! No birthday or grad parties here.
We’re still in lockdown.
my husband’s work is still closed due to the pandemic.
I think of it daily. All day,

Everywhere is different. We had strict lockdowns, flattened our curve and started opening back up but still not 100%. As things opened up we loosened up. A year in and I’m pretty comfortable with life as it is now.

I feel for those that have lost their jobs. I work in a very poor area and see how these Lockdowns are ruining lives. I’m one of those that thinks the cure will be worse than the disease.

 

[Kae]

Same. We don’t talk about it in my day to day life. I do work at a hospital and get a daily covid dashboard update but that’s it. I don’t watch the news so I don’t hear it there. I have vacations planned. Today is my sons bday and we’re going to a local pub and having some drinks and dinner with friends (there is reduced capacity and we can’t sit at the bar) but we’re going on with life. My life hasn’t changed much (well we did lock down from March-May) except we can’t go to things that are closed (clubs, sporting events, etc) and we wear masks where required. I still have brunch with my friends, I still visit family, I still attend bday parties and grad parties and all that. When I’m out I never think “I might catch covid if I do this.” It doesn’t cross my mind.

We are about the same we did bubble with a small group. We did a lot of bonfires this fall and lake gatherings and outside stuff this summer. BIL who is a DR told us last spring chance we will all get it, things will get worse in the Fall and Holidays. If you go somewhere and are uncomfortable leave , wash your hands a lot or use hand sanitizer often, Wear a mask. And don't be a maskhole walk away or right on by if someone is not wearing a mask or not wearing properly.

 

[VandVsmama]

How will this virus finally end?

40-50 years from now, there will be some random person who holed up in his family's bug out location out in the woods, kind of like that guy in Japan who lived on his own for decades in the forest in Japan...he was still convinced that WWII hadn't ended and that he was still fighting the Americans. There will be some news report that will go viral and we'll see photos of some weird looking mountain man person who looks like he hasn't bathed in 100 years...he'll have an underground bunker, a whole self-sustaining farm where he doesn't hardly have to barter or purchase a thing. He'll use his own poop to help fertilize the crops. He'll make his own clothes, grind his own wheat into flour, hunts with bow & arrow so he doesn't have to go to a gun shop and interact with people to buy ammo for his hunting rifle.

And there will be, like, ONE person in the nearby podunk little town who will say, "Oh yeah, that old hermit guy? He's been talking for decades about how COVID is going to kill us all and since we won't wear masks around him, he stays away from everybody."

And we'll all kind of laugh about it. He'll be moved to an old folks' home and will be mad as heck about it. Everyone will think he's nuts. And he'll yell at everybody else about stuff like "I remember when you could practically get ARRESTED for not wearing a mask back in the Pandemic of '20!"

 

[tvguy]

I think the next two weeks will have a huge impact on how long the virus will be an issue.
We are at the same point we were before the December spike, and states are reopening now or at least loosening restrictions.
The good news, some people in some parts of the nation are getting vaccines. We have an extreme shortage of the vaccine here however.
If in the next two weeks we don't have a spike, we may be on the road to recover.
If we have a spike, lockdowns have to come back, and maybe this time with consequences.
But Dr. Fauci is alarmed at the reopening, and I don't recall a U.S. President accusing a Governor of "Neanderthal thinking" before, so not everyone in the know agrees with what is happening.

 

[hsmamato2]

Exactly how our lives are. I barely even remember there is a pandemic until Disboards reminds me

Wow..... well I have an old friend who lives a few states away who's currently hospitalized with some pretty horrible breathing problems due to Covid...this is not the same close friend who was in the hospital for 10 days last month due to Covid....Or DH's coworker who had it last November and is now dealing with significant,life threatening 'long hauler' problems..... I could go on but do I need to ? I can't forget. It's still happening.

 

[hsmamato2]

I only know one who still won't go anywhere. She lost a sibling to COVID and has a child who is immunocompromised. She is a nurse and is fully informed but I can understand her apprehension.

She has a good reason for staying home then,vaccinated or not,until this (hopefully) dies down a bit and the risk is less.

 

[Heather07438]

I didn’t like hearing Neanderthal Thinking used negatively. Neanderthals hardly ever get the credit they deserve.

 

[hertamaniac]

It will end with record breaking taxes making up for the stimulus checks.

 

[MrsPete]

In my area the vaccine is going like gangbusters -- more and more people are protected every day, but it takes time to get two shots, followed by a waiting period.

So I think things are going to gradually, gradually open up as more and more people are "safe".

I think the real "we're done now" moment will be when school opens in the fall and we have no restrictions. (Obviously I'm assuming some things here.) School affects a whole lot of families, even if they don't have school-aged children. A lot of people work in schools, buses affect traffic. I think that's going to be the "back to normal" moment.

We probably won't be 100% done at that point, but we'll be "close enough" that it will feel normal again.

 

[barkley]

I think the real "we're done now" moment will be when school opens in the fall and we have no restrictions. (Obviously I'm assuming some things here.) School affects a whole lot of families, even if they don't have school-aged children. A lot of people work in schools, buses affect traffic. I think that's going to be the "back to normal" moment.

well our area is in a tizzy b/c of schools reopening. it's been gradual but the largest district in our area increased the number of face to face classes within the last month or so. there were some cases, some quarantining but 'all is well' was the constant byline on the news until last week when it was after the fact publicly announced that 28 school bus company staff members had tested positive and 60+ have been quarantined during periods time over the past month. we've largely learned of it because one of the staff members-a bus attendant has died. many parents/staff members feel it's a breach of trust to not have been put on notice when individual bus drivers/monitors tested positive, and it's an indicator that there's become an unspoken tolerance level for student/staff exposures.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The virus ending? Dunno if/when that will happen

The pandemic? By definition that will end eventually when it no longer affects a large enough population

The way we are living with restrictions, mask wearing, sanitizing stuff? Not sure but our memories are usually short-lived enough that most of us will carry on as if this is but a distant memory eventually, some will retain memories of loss but not necessarily everything else. We'll get to the point where a mask in our purse (or person) is no longer a thought or consideration, you won't feel strange being around a large group of people, etc.

Nextdoor and eNeighbors are at least getting back to normal neighborhood gripes so that's something lol.

 

[MrsPete]

well our area is in a tizzy b/c of schools reopening. it's been gradual but the largest district in our area increased the number of face to face classes within the last month or so. there were some cases, some quarantining but 'all is well' was the constant byline on the news until last week when it was after the fact publicly announced that 28 school bus company staff members had tested positive and 60+ have been quarantined during periods time over the past month. we've largely learned of it because one of the staff members-a bus attendant has died. many parents/staff members feel it's a breach of trust to not have been put on notice when individual bus drivers/monitors tested positive, and it's an indicator that there's become an unspoken tolerance level for student/staff exposures.

Wait, what? You're saying your school district knowingly allowed bus staff who currently tested positive to interact with students in a confined area like a bus?

The mind boggles.

 

[godisney14]

The Spanish flu pandemic ended with herd immunity after about 18 months. While Flu is endemic the pandemic ended and the fear and restrictions ended. The vaccines seem to be reducing transmission and hospitalisations, we may all need boosters regularly but I see no reason for this to be different it ends with herd immunity, hopefully this year or next year.

Just a perspective since you’re comparing the Spanish Flu:

The Spanish Flu pandemic infected an estimated 500M people, about 33% of the worldwide population, even with limited international travel (as compared to now).

SARS-COV-2 has infected about 116M people confirmed, which is less than 2% of today’s global population.

 

[Mysterian]

I didn’t like hearing Neanderthal Thinking used negatively. Neanderthals hardly ever get the credit they deserve.

THANK YOU. I was vocalizing many crestfallen unga bungas reading those comments and feeling just a little Neandershamed!

 

[aprilchem]

I still have brunch with my friends, I still visit family, I still attend bday parties and grad parties and all that. When I’m out I never think “I might catch covid if I do this.” It doesn’t cross my mind.

Everywhere is different. We had strict lockdowns, flattened our curve and started opening back up but still not 100%. As things opened up we loosened up. A year in and I’m pretty comfortable with life as it is now.

I'm guessing you are outside the US? I don't know anywhere in the US where you might say that. In the state where I live COVID restrictions would prevent pretty much everything you say you're doing right now.

Im so envious. I wish I could do that, but I am WAY too scared of killing someone by giving them the virus. I couldn’t live with that. So I wait for my turn with the vaccine. I wiil not kill someone just to have my freedom

This is how I feel. We've followed all the guidelines to protect others this far, and we're seeing it through. I have friends who are "jumping the line" by going to another state to get vaccinations, and I told my DH that as much as I really, really want my freedom back, I'm not getting this far just to do something that I'll regret later.

To answer the OP's question I've felt like maybe things would get back to normal a bit this summer, but with Texas opening up 100% I feel now like the faster-spreading variants will get out of control there and spread to the rest of the US faster than we can vaccinate people, and we'll all be back in lockdown because of it. I know a couple of other states have opened, but TX is our second largest state so it's going to have a big effect.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I think it will slowly fade as more and more people are vaccinated, and restrictions will ease. Eventually we’ll reach the point where local outbreaks occasionally happen, but the average person on an average day isn’t in much danger.

I think some things will stay - like more work from home options, masks when you’re actually sick, and proper hand-washing.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I'm guessing you are outside the US? I don't know anywhere in the US where you might say that. In the state where I live COVID restrictions would prevent pretty much everything you say you're doing right now.

I’m in NJ. It’s all allowed but there are limits. It’s not a free for all. We can even have weddings.

https://covid19.nj.gov/faqs/nj-info...-the-limits-for-indoor-and-outdoor-gatherings
Some states have had zero restrictions throughout covid.