Getting recreation and leisure up and running again.

This is not flu-like. This is the major mistake made early on and some people are still dangerously fixated on that, including the UK government it seems. It starts out as respiratory but then rapidly turned into something much wider.

Much damage is done to the cardiovascular system. If yours is already compromised then you can expect serious consequences, from further deterioration to death. If it isn’t then a serious response will cause CVD. Only now are those who have had limited symptoms finding this has affected them. There is also growing concern over long term neurological damage. 

This is not “flu-like”. Nowhere near.

There are many though, that are not scared to gather, or to be in crowds.
Download all the Merlin theme parks apps and check the queue times
Look at the load factors on European flights.
Look at the 100 or so people queued outside Wagamama on Tuesday night waiting for a table.

A lot of people are very happy to go out and about, and if you're not one of them then that is your choice.

For me it will be when cases are way down from where they are at the moment. New Zealand managed to get to 1 or thereabouts.

The conversation has moved on since I tried to get my head down and do some work (for a change...!) - but I wanted to take issue with this. I've seen before this attitude that people who don't like lockdown are being selfish/superficial. For me, what I am missing most of all - and what at my worst has driven me to some very dark thoughts - is any sense that life is actually worth living. I have felt crushed by isolation and by the sense that there is nothing at all to look forward to or any light at the end of the tunnel, and by the fact that there is no end in sight to all this.

Yes, theatre is part of that - as well as being simply a pleasure, theatre has always been a way that I've managed my mental health, because it helps me to have a broader perspective, to forget what I'm anxious about, and gives me a communal experience when I'm feeling lonely. At the moment, I'm in a really bleak place and the thing that would make me feel a lot less bleak isn't there. It's not simply a case of being bored and wanting to go and shout "it's behind you" because I'm after a laugh.

Lockdown isn't free - there are massive mental and physical health costs. I'm not for a second saying we shouldn't have focused on covid; but we can't focus on it forever. If for no other reason, then because there's a limit on how long many of us can get up every morning to face another pointless, meaningless day before we decide it's just not worth it.

For the apparently large section of the population that never wanted to do anything apart from sit in their pants and watch Netflix, I understand that this will be less of an issue.

They will given it is their choice to go or not. For every person who still doesn't feel safe there will be someone who feels that with masks and sanitiser it is about as safe as theatre can ever get without a vaccine, so why not give it a go.

I'm afraid you are in for a very long wait then.

Given the government's actions at the start of the pandemic in failing to close the borders, we are nowhere near New Zealand in terms of ability to get the infection levels down that low. That is a pipe dream without a vaccine, and if everyone were to base their risk assessment for participating in society on that level of cases then whole swathes of the economy will collapse - they cannot sustain multi-year closures.

Each to their own of course, but if people are happy to take the (relatively minimal compared to four months ago) risk with appropriate precautions, then those people need to be given the opportunity to help save all parts of the economy, including theatres etc.

I have to agree with sf that this is a very low blow @abby - before the pandemic I was out 4-5 nights a week, but with both of us with underlying health conditions that are likely to make Covid infection a bit more serious than the flu, I have to be careful about how to reintegrate with society. I am absolutely supportive of those who want to restart now, going out and partying, watching theatre in a non-SD way, going back to work or whatever. You want to do it, you go for it, believe me I understand the mental health issues around lockdown and if someone can help jumpstart the economy then I'm all for that.

But if I can be respectful and understanding of those who do want to take the risk, maybe I can ask for some consideration in return? The risks are different for everyone - whether they be health risks, financial risks, to those and others around you. Implying that we are lazy or irrationally scared is an equally abhorrent view to those that say we should stay in lockdown forever. The risks are out there, we see that in Leicester, in Aberdeen, in Manchester. I'm monitoring what's going on, I'm dipping my toe in the water of life again whilst keeping an eye on the national and international trends on infection. I'm not ready for non-SD theatre yet, maybe I will be next month, or in November, or maybe it will be next year. I'll see how this virus evolves and what reopening society does for infection rates, and if we can get our damn track and trace system functioning in a meaningful way.

I really hope you get to see the theatre you want to see soon, But maybe don't portray those of us who aren't willing to get out there in such an enthusiastic way as any less passionate about theatre and the economy and any more lazy or disinterested in society than you are. Thank you

Great post Abby, I totally get all of this.

Summed up beautifully. There seems to be a lack of reality, or perhaps cognitive dissonance in the general public since lockdown.