How are you all dealing with coronavirus and the restrictions many of us have to live

Wow, I'm sorry Nammu. If she were here she would have at least gotten a first vaccine by now, no appointment needed, just showing ID. 90+ was the first priority along with health workers. Yeah, the vaccine here is the less effective type, but for someone with her risk profile it still sounds like it would provide protection from a serious case and having to go to the ICU at least.

Interestingly, here, it's some of the smaller, remote towns that got more vaccines than they needed for their priority populations and ended up vaccinating the rest of the people in town because the logistics of getting the doses to other areas was complicated.

That is shocking @Nammu, I hope you can get her immunized soon. I wonder if contacting your local political representative would do any good?

Complaining works!!!!! The local pharmacy she uses just called!! Someone canceled so she has an appointment tomorrow! Yeah! Finally. But I’m still holding my breath. I’ll let it out when she’s had both shots. Oh I’m so happy.

That's fabulous news! Yes complaining does work, well done being persistent, it's good she has you to argue her corner for her.

I’m very happy for your mum and you.

I'm actually not looking forward to life going back to the way it was before covid
I'm actually scared of it
I mean I'm glad that in time hopefully we all can be vaccinated ...I lost a friend to this and its sad people keep getting infected
I'm just scared of life going back to the way it was ......I don't know if its wrong to feel this way or not and I know it sounds confusing
Tho last year I wasn't doing well ...losing two friends ,1 to covid ,1 to suicide ....
This year I have been doing a bit better even quit smoking cigarettes....
I can get terrible anxiety being agoraphobic,..... Maybe its why I'm scared of life after covid I don't know
Thank You for letting me share all.this I just needed to write about it ya know
Keep staying safe everyone ....

I’m honestly tired of it, but I’m naturally a homebody so it’s alright. Get outside pretty much daily to walk my dog and drive into town 1-2 times per week to shop. Occasionally meet my mom to get food to go and maybe shop some.

Thank you for.posting that! It is sad and shocking to hear what it's doing to my health. But it's good that it's being written about. More people should read this.

I feel like I'm the other way around to some of the people in the article. For me, I did okay last year. I started a running programme and finally got in shape. I made the most of the time I saved by not having a commute to the office.

But now as it keeps dragging on, I'm at the end of my rope. I'm struggling to even get out of bed in the morning. If I manage a walk, that's already a big thing. A run feels like something from a different life. A completely different person.
I've started piling on the pounds. I'm trying to eat healthier but when I'm sad when I go to the supermarket I end up with way too much chocolate. Again.

I do wonder if people in our government realize what it's like working from home. It's not having video conferences all day. It's sitting at my computer, doing my job by myself, not talking to anyone. We communicate by chat but mostly people just do their own tasks. I listen to the radio to at least hear someone talking.

My work is pretty solitary too. My last job was mostly remote, but I had to deal with co-workers more through chat and online meetings. Unfortunately, the atmosphere with co-workers there was pretty toxic. It felt like junior high, lots of catty backstabbing, so it wasn't ideal either. Here it's mainly just chat/e-mails with one of the owners and the operations manager but the advantage is they are nice to deal with. My husband is a lawyer and he's always on Zoom calls, Zoom court hearings, calling clients, talking to the other lawyers, I sometimes think it might be nice to have more interaction like that.

The way it has dragged on for so long, has definitely made it tough, hasn't it? These constant threats of being sent back to full quarantine, which is has even MORE restrictive rules than last year, is doing my head in. I obsessively look at the local active cases here in fear of getting some bad news that we are going to be locked down.

Yes, I also think a bit more interaction would be nice. We have the occassional meeting on Teams, maybe once a month, but it's usually pretty short. A lot of people in the team - like me - have started when we were already in home office, so we never met. It does make for a different atmosphere, I think. Everyone is super nice but you don't really get to know anyone. In my last job, our team was pretty close knit. Everyone had their own tasks and we communicated about work stuff through chat, but obviously it's different when you see each other at the office every day.

Yes! Especially now there's talk about losening restrictions. As much as I want life to go back to normal, I'm worried the numbers are going to rise again and then we'll be back to square one. They're losening up quite a bit back home, I'm glad they seem more sensible here. For me personally, nothing will change with schools opening or people under 27 being allowed to do group sports again. I'll still be in home office and concerts are still a good while off. But I'll suffer if numbers go back up and this keeps lasting longer and longer or we go back to stricter lockdown.

Just gotta hang on tilll most people are vaccinated. Yeah, masks are a pain and not being able to do what ya want is a pain but there is a game plan. Biden is right, this is a war. But the end is in sight.

I understand, Nammu, for many countries, but here with the severely punitive lockdowns and a less effective vaccine being used, I think we still have a ways to go here. We were already being subjected to military controls and curfews when the protests started in October 2019. I don't know if the government is going to give up that power any time soon. My area is currently on weekend lockdown with one permit to go out and we saw 10 military guys with guns checking last weekend when all we wanted to do is go to the grocery store. If they relax restrictions and the protests start up again, they may use the virus numbers to implement new lockdowns even though the hospitals aren't overwhelmed. The vaccine being used here mostly reduces the severity of infection, so there will still be positive cases, but fewer people in the hospital, supposedly.


I am trying to hope I am wrong but everything we have been through in the last year and a half doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling. For countries that don't even have access to the less effective vaccines, the panorama is more complicated.

Even in the EU we are not getting nearly enough vaccines. There is no end in sight. If we keep vaccinating at the current speed, it'll be YEARS before everyone is vaccinated.

And it's not about having to wear a mask or not being able to do what you want. Extreme isolation is HARD.

<weird post coming up>
This morning I was out for a walk. On two occasions I passed a guy in the street close enough that I could smell their Cologne. (Which wasn't even that close, they were just wearing too much ) but it was like it triggered a very very distant memory of being in the same room as other people - in a classroom or at the office. Like I suddenly very clearly realized "other people still exist!" I know that sounds super weird, not like I haven't seen anyone on the street before but they do say smell ia a very strong trigger for memories.
Suddenly I miss just sensing other people's presence. And it's so weird because I don't even LIKE other people. In my previous job (the one that lasted 2 months) I was overwhelmed by having too many people around me in this cramped open plan office. I'd come home from work feeling extremely tense every day.

Guess that just shows what isolation does to you and how much it can affect you.

The state of catastrophe and health emergency expires on March 13th. This time if it is extended the congress has to approve it. I am still 90% sure it will be extended again. They can't enforce the quarantines without it.

I’m not surprise that you are now feeling worse. I heard about how the lockdown is being in Germany now and it’s pretty much severe, similar than the total lockdown we suffered last year here in Spain since the beginning of March. I was little by little suffering the effects and came into a deep depression until next Autumn.

Since then, the lockdowns suffered here have all been partial but necessary with the exception of festivity times when we undid what we have gotten. This is what makes me so upset. As long as we get the vaccines enough to reach a certain level of safety, we must be consequent and keep in time reasonable safety measures.

Now, people here are discussing about whether demonstrations for equality of women on March, 8th are or not convenient.
Still I’m wondering about whether people realised we are in the middle of a pandemic.

Ok, let’s defend equality and all we need but let’s do it every day with different acts online or by other means, but for goodness sake, let’s avoid crowds for a time. Until we get a better situation.

I’m very happy for you @rechu and your good environment in your current job. I knew from other of your posts you had a bad time in the former job and I realise how hard it can be.

I’m also scared of going back to a total lockdown like last year. It was so hard. But, I think we are now keeping reasonable long term safety measures and unless we **** it up again on the next vacations (Easter), we are gonna to be able to keep some kind of “normality”. Fingers crossed!!!!

Sorry for your loss. It must have been very hard. Both of them.
I can understand than you being agoraphobic will find even harder than most of people to come back to some kind of normality.
I don’t know how the future will be but I think we still have long years forward of being very cautious against this virus but also in regards to other infections.
In spite of the difficulties and your illness, are you being able to keep some kind of contact, unless online?

@AzulOscuro. Thanks! It was definitely a relief to get out of that hellhole. My current freelance work can be a bit boring, but I am earning more money and I am treated well. I even got a 10% raise in my hourly rate a few months ago.

I just want to say thank you to everyone on this thread. We all have different lives and circumstances and come from different countries and cultures but every one of you have been such a consistent comfort to me.

I just hold on to hope for all of us, that things will get better.

@Discombobulated. I feel the same way. Virtual group hug!

You’re very welcome, dear. It must be very hard to be in an environment when you are bullied or abused.
In my case, because of my issues, social anxiety and such, I always felt really apart on any school I worked. As an outcast, but I never was bullied. I can’t even imagine how it could feel like.
It’s one of the things I can’t stand abuse or bullying.
You deserve the best. It’s obvious through your posts that you are a great person.
With a difficult English for me to understand, sometimes, but...Maybe you could be my English teacher from time to time?

I feel the same.
Thus, you are such a lovely girl that I think you should be a virus and be spread everywhere.

I want to say more. I would like that most of you, the people who are here apart from being a support you should be the real virus that spreads here and there.
This would be a better world without saying it.

@AzulOscuro - If you ever have questions about English, I'd be happy to help!