Relaxation of restrictions Part II

LiquidZeb

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

To think we managed to get through the emergency during WW2 where electricity and food were scarce.
I think as you were saying, it's 2 extremes on these threads. I don't know anyone who isn't just mostly complying with the rules right now and getting on with things with little complaint. My parents are in proper lockdown for weeks abroad and didn't get to meet their only grandchild for the first time because of all this, and have no idea when they will now, but they're not complaining, they're getting on with things.
You would think we're all a bunch of whiney soft mentally ill people going by these threads.

Well the problem is if people don't get back to work soon theres a chance they won't have any jobs to go back to. What's your master plan then or are people concerned about that just whiners?

growleaves

To think we managed to get through the emergency during WW2 where electricity and food were scarce.

Also very few cars on the road at that time due to petrol rationing.

You would think we're all a bunch of whiney soft mentally ill people going by these threads.

Nope. All objections to the lockdown - political, scientific, economic etc. - can't be seen as a dearth of stoicism because they aren't.

Social media addiction is a little more difficult to overcome when everyone is segmented into separate units with internet access.

Thelonious Monk

LiquidZeb wrote: »

Well the problem is if people don't get back to work soon theres a chance they won't have any jobs to go back to. What's your master plan then or are people concerned about that just whiners?

I don't know if I'll have work myself, but it's out of my control. I just don't see the point in complaining about it all day, it wont achieve anything. The Gov are hardly making these decisions lightly, for me what we're doing now are the least bad options.

BanditLuke

Cork Boy 53 wrote: »

This is what the brigade who constantly claim that Ireland is in strict lockdown can`t or won`t acknowledge. If the same measures were implemented here as in China, Singapore etc. they might have a point. We are not now nor are likely to be in strict lockdown no matter how high the rise in deaths and ICU cases. Also some posters on the forums here clearly have issues with conforming with rules and regulations along with the usual cohort of trolls and wind up merchants.

I've said a few times now but a lot will genuinely be cracking up having to spend time with their families and i feel genuinely sorry for them, i mean that guys who are reading this and are finding that difficult.

We've found it fantastic tbh and we are all very relaxed about the situation doing our bit for the country and supporting the health service.

I'd advice the ones "suffering" under the current soft lockdown to get out early in the morning for a walk 7am or so. Listen to the birds sing, breath in the lack of pollution and be thankful to be alive. This to will pass.

Support the frontline.

facehugger99

BanditLuke wrote: »

I've said a few times now

You're right, - it's getting boring.

You need to up your game and come up with some new stuff to trigger responses.

Cork Boy 53

Breezin wrote: »

Anyone who considers the current regulations as not strict must have lived a very constrained existence to start with. Our whole society has been effectively closed down.

As someone who had a mother who experienced life throughout the WW2 Blitz in the London area let me assure you that society being closed down is not what is happening in Ireland now at all.

BanditLuke

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

I don't know if I'll have work myself, but it's out of my control. I just don't see the point in complaining about it all day, it wont achieve anything. The Gov are hardly making these decisions lightly, for me what we're doing now are the least bad options.

That's it pal. The same folk who moan about the"gubbermint" all year round will be moaning at them now about this. C'est la vie

BanditLuke

facehugger99 wrote: »

You're right, - it's getting boring.

You need to up your game and come up with some new stuff to trigger responses.

Not attempting to "trigger" anyone.

Just a person with an opinion, much like you.

growleaves

Cork Boy 53 wrote: »

As someone who had a mother who experienced life throughout the WW2 Blitz in the London area let me assure you that society being closed down is not what is happening in Ireland now at all.

There was no shutdown during the London Blitz. Schools and universities, examinations, arts (theatre, opera, music, dance), museums, book shops, scientific research, live sports etc. were all kept going.

Londoners could have shut these things down and hid in air-raid shelters for the duration but choose not to for reasons of morale mainly.

Nermal

HBC08 wrote: »

At the same time (if you were to take this thread as an example) its shocking to see people crumple at the first sign of adversity.

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

You would think we're all a bunch of whiney soft mentally ill people going by these threads.

Olympic-level mental gymnastics.

Those of us who want this economic hara-kiri to end are 'soft'.

People who want us all to stay indoors, because of a virus with the same chance of killing under-65s as a nine-mile car journey, are 'brave'.

End this madness now. Waiting till May 5th is just compounding our error.

LiquidZeb

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

I don't know if I'll have work myself, but it's out of my control. I just don't see the point in complaining about it all day, it wont achieve anything. The Gov are hardly making these decisions lightly, for me what we're doing now are the least bad options.

You must be in a better economic position than me and a lot of people if you can have that cavalier an attitude towards your employment status so.

Thelonious Monk

Nermal wrote: »

Olympic-level mental gymnastics.

Those of us who want this economic hara-kiri to end are 'soft'.

People who want us all to stay indoors, because of a virus with the same chance of killing under-65s as a nine-mile car journey, are 'brave'.

End this madness now. Waiting till May 5th is just compounding our error.

I don't know about you but I haven't been staying inside, I've been out more than ever the last few weeks with the nice weather. No one is asking you to stay inside.

Thelonious Monk

LiquidZeb wrote: »

You must be in a better economic position than me and a lot of people if you can have that cavalier an attitude towards your employment status so.

I have a few grand in savings, that's all. Cavalier or not, what are my options here? There's no point in panicking.

polesheep

Cork Boy 53 wrote: »

As someone who had a mother who experienced life throughout the WW2 Blitz in the London area let me assure you that society being closed down is not what is happening in Ireland now at all.

As someone who had a mother who was a great baker, let me assure you that her cakes were the best in the world.

LiquidZeb

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

I have a few grand in savings, that's all. Cavalier or not, what are my options here? There's no point in panicking.

Well people who have mortgages or other financial commitments are definitely panicking. The covid payment, which is likely to be reduced in the coming month won't meet the mortgage and other living expenses. How long do you reckon the banks and building societies will give people?

Cork Boy 53

growleaves wrote: »

There was no shutdown during the London Blitz. Schools and universities, examinations, arts (theatre, opera, music, dance), museums, book shops, scientific research, live sports etc. were all kept going.

Londoners could have shut these things down and hid in air-raid shelters for the duration but choose not to for reasons of morale mainly.

That was true to some extent but there were frequent disruptions for the duration of the Blitz after air raid warnings were given when they did have to take shelter.

tobefrank321

Breezin wrote: »

Anyone who considers the current regulations as not strict must have lived a very constrained existence to start with. Our whole society has been effectively closed down.

If that is the case, then why are we seeing new cases effectively at an all time high?

Something doesn't add up.

With an extreme lockdown, you'd expect at this stage, to see numbers going down.

And before someone says we were going down, its obvious that was because of testing limitations. Once they sorted out the testing logistics and ramp up testing, they got and will get a true measure of the spread, which appears to be very high.

But if the numbers are high and hospitalisations low, then this may be more manageable than we first thought.

Its important to get an accurate picture of how many people are really infected.

Nermal

growleaves wrote: »

There was no shutdown during the London Blitz. Schools and universities, examinations, arts (theatre, opera, music, dance), museums, book shops, scientific research, live sports etc. were all kept going.

Londoners could have shut these things down and hid in air-raid shelters for the duration but choose not to for reasons of morale mainly.

Indeed. 43,000 Londoners died in the Blitz, a fatality rate of 0.54%. Higher than current best estimates of that of the virus!

polesheep

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

I have a few grand in savings, that's all. Cavalier or not, what are my options here? There's no point in panicking.

Panic is precisely what we've had for the past six weeks. Time now for some reasoned thinking in order to save society from further damage.

Thelonious Monk

LiquidZeb wrote: »

Well people who have mortgages or other financial commitments are definitely panicking. The covid payment, which is likely to be reduced in the coming month won't meet the mortgage and other living expenses. How long do you reckon the banks and building societies will give people?

I have a mortgage, but I really don't think anyone is going to get evicted over this, it's rare anyone gets evicted by banks anyway in Ireland and they wont stand a chance in the post covid environment, that's my take on it anyway.

LiquidZeb

tobefrank321 wrote: »

If that is the case, then why are we seeing new cases effectively at an all time high?

Something doesn't add up.

With an extreme lockdown, you'd expect at this stage, to see numbers going down.

And before someone says we were going down, its obvious that was because of testing limitations. Once they sorted out the testing logistics and ramp up testing, they got and will get a true measure of the spread, which appears to be very high.

But if the numbers are high and hospitalisations low, then this may be more manageable than we first thought.

Its important to get an accurate picture of how many people are really infected.

I'd say a lot of the increase is down to the ravaging of the nursing homes by the virus. Whatever else holohan and the government have bollocksed that side of things.

polesheep

tobefrank321 wrote: »

If that is the case, then why are we seeing new cases effectively at an all time high?

Something doesn't add up.

With an extreme lockdown, you'd expect at this stage, to see numbers going down.

And before someone says we were going down, its obvious that was because of testing limitations. Once they sorted out the testing logistics and ramp up testing, they got and will get a true measure of the spread, which appears to be very high.

But if the numbers are high and hospitalisations low, then this may be more manageable than we first thought.

Its important to get an accurate picture of how many people are really infected.

It always was. Full societal lockdown was a knee-jerk reaction. We should have calmly locked down the nursing homes and taken measures to protect the vulnerable while keeping the economy moving as best as possible.

LiquidZeb

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

I have a mortgage, but I really don't think anyone is going to get evicted over this, it's rare anyone gets evicted by banks anyway in Ireland and they wont stand a chance in the post covid environment, that's my take on it anyway.

I know evictions happen rarely in ireland compared to other EU countries but Id say in the event tens of thousands are defaulting they might become a bit more ruthless.

normanoffside

Cork Boy 53 wrote: »

That was true to some extent but there were frequent disruptions for the duration of the Blitz after air raid warnings were given when they did have to take shelter.

Therefore you posted a false equivalence in your previous post.

Strumms

BanditLuke wrote: »

Decisions are always going to be taken on medical advice and yesterday seen the highest number of recorded new cases nationwide so at the minute no chance of a relaxation of anything. People have had the chance to be responsible but they've ruined it for everyone by not being.

Varadkar will now be asking for another 2 weeks imo and will plead with people to actually stay home. He may well ask the army to help with the measues as it's become clear the Gardai aren't capable enough or haven't got the respect of the general public to enforce the measures.

Sad times.

100%. All people were asked to do was tone down their lives and movements. Not ideal but the prize was lives saved and a great opportunity for the country to come together and succeed by staying away from each other, by sitting in front of the tv, by staying close to home, by walking in your local park and that happens it’s lives saved and back to normality sooner..

Even with the prize of helping to save lives large swathes of Irish can’t manage it. If saving lives isn’t a motivator we’ll, you won’t find another one, ohhh wait, maybe getting back to earning shït loads of cash might be.... but hey.

seamus

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

To think we managed to get through the emergency during WW2 where electricity and food were scarce.

I think comparisons with World Wars and rationing are very limited.

In lockdown we are deprived of a primary pillar of survival; society. This is the one thing that sets it apart from other crises. Sure in some areas there were curfews or rules about lighting, but this was regional. A countrywide lockdown was never done. Social contact was available, community support was available, while food and other resources may have been scarce.

In this regard, we're in an oppostite issue; food and other resources are plentiful, but social contact and community supports are being rationed.

Many people would pretty gladly go through six weeks of food rationing and power cuts if it meant they could spend the time in the company of family and friends.

Yes, people will get through this, but I wouldn't minimise it by claiming that rationing was "worse". It's fundamentally different.

LiquidZeb wrote: »

I know evictions happen rarely in ireland compared to other EU countries but Id say in the event tens of thousands are defaulting they might become a bit more ruthless.

Quite the opposite. Eviction from the family home is a long and complicated process in Ireland, that frequently ends up with the person staying in their home paying rent to the bank.
Even coming into this year we've had a massive arrears backlog - people who cannot catch up on their mortgage and banks who didn't have the appetite to attempt to repossess it legally; because it would cost a lot of money and gain very little.

In the event that this gets even worse again, there is zero legal capacity to deal with it. If the banks started proceedings against lots of people, each case would take the guts of a decade to come to completion.

There is both safety and power in numbers in this regard. If tens of thousands of people end up in arrears or default, a new NAMA-like process will be required to take on these mortgages because the banks will be paralysed.

Mic 1972

polesheep wrote: »

Panic is precisely what we've had for the past six weeks. Time now for some reasoned thinking in order to save society from further damage.

Panic is what you have, at lease going by your daily posts

LiquidZeb

Strumms wrote: »

100%. All people were asked to do was tone down their lives and movements. Not ideal but the prize was lives saved and a great opportunity for the country to come together and succeed by staying away from each other, by sitting in front of the tv, by staying close to home, by walking in your local park and that happens it’s lives saved and back to normality sooner..

Even with the prize of helping to save lives large swathes of Irish can’t manage it. If saving lives isn’t a motivator we’ll, you won’t find another one, ohhh wait, maybe getting back to earning shït loads of cash might be.... but hey.

Yes if only all those stupid selfish Irish people could be just like you.

Cork Boy 53

polesheep wrote: »

As someone who had a mother who was a great baker, let me assure you that her cakes were the best in the world.

I have no doubt you consider they were.

Strumms

Is it that different ? What we have no is access to our loved ones ok but entertainment in the most technological advanced time ever. WhatsApp, Skype, hundreds of tv channels, Netflix...we can still be in contact.

Mic 1972

tobefrank321 wrote: »

If that is the case, then why are we seeing new cases effectively at an all time high?

Something doesn't add up.

With an extreme lockdown, you'd expect at this stage, to see numbers going down.

And before someone says we were going down, its obvious that was because of testing limitations. Once they sorted out the testing logistics and ramp up testing, they got and will get a true measure of the spread, which appears to be very high.

But if the numbers are high and hospitalisations low, then this may be more manageable than we first thought.

Its important to get an accurate picture of how many people are really infected.

Correct, we are seeing new cases everyday because people are still going around spreading it

hopalongcass

Genuine issue i'd appreciate if someone could explain to me about this whole thing,we are getting infection rates and death rates on a per daily basis but as was proved in the case of Mary Lou it takes a while to get results back,so are the rates of deaths and infections from previous days averaged out?

How are they proving so many are infected/dying per day?when they haven't got tests that come back that fast.

donaghs

Strumms wrote: »

Even with the prize of helping to save lives large swathes of Irish can’t manage it. If saving lives isn’t a motivator we’ll, you won’t find another one, ohhh wait, maybe getting back to earning shït loads of cash might be.... but hey.

Sensible people are asking at what point do the restrictions do more long-term damage to human life than death from the virus, and what can be done to chart a new course, e.g. phased opening up, going back to work and maintaining some social distancing, continuing to protect the elderly. Its actually the most humane way of looking at the bigger picture.

Takes slightly deeper thinking than posting a "#StayHome" pic on Facebook.

seamus

hopalongcass wrote: »

Genuine issue i'd appreciate if someone could explain to me about this whole thing,we are getting infection rates and death rates on a per daily basis but as was proved in the case of Mary Lou it takes a while to get results back,so are the rates of deaths and infections from previous days averaged out?

How are they proving so many are infected/dying per day?when they haven't got tests that come back that fast.

The short answer is that lots of the numbers up to this week have been historical; that is the x00 cases revealed may have been from swabs collected in the past 7-10 days.
It means that realistically we don't know how we're doing today, we can only see where we were a few days past and extrapolate based on that.

It's also why we've only been able to say things are flattening or have peaked, when a few days have passed since flattening started.

This is the same everywhere, not just an Irish thing.

The government have been publishing normalised figures - that is, graphs showing case numbers and death numbers based on the day they occurred, not on the day the result came back.

The statistical analyses and planning done by the NPHET have been based on these normalised charts, not on the day-to-day new case figures. But for the rest of us the day-to-day numbers are a decent rough guideline as they still balance out on average.

Strumms

donaghs wrote: »

Sensible people are asking at what point do the restrictions do more long-term damage to human life than death from the virus, and what can be done to chart a new course, e.g. phased opening up, going back to work and maintaining some social distancing, continuing to protect the elderly. Its actually the most humane way of looking at the bigger picture.

Takes slightly deeper thinking than posting a "#StayHome" pic on Facebook.

The ultimate damage to human life is death. Sensible people are ascertaining how to minimize casualties while plotting a return to some degree of a safe normality, in time.

My thinking is in fact deeper than having my face buried in Facebook,

Spencer Brown

Strumms wrote: »

Is it that different ? What we have no is access to our loved ones ok but entertainment in the most technological advanced time ever. WhatsApp, Skype, hundreds of tv channels, Netflix...we can still be in contact.

Honestly who gives a **** about having Netflix etc. People enjoy socialising, face to face human contact, playing sports with their friends, informal chats with colleagues in the canteen.

We're genetically programmed to derive pleasure from these things and technology will never replace them.

I presume you are in tip top condition physically and mentally as you are so vociferous about following the advice of experts? Or like everyone else on the planet do you only follow advice when it suits you?

Thelonious Monk

Spencer Brown wrote: »

Honestly who gives a **** about having Netflix etc. People enjoy socialising, face to face human contact, playing sports with their friends, informal chats with colleagues in the canteen.

Right, but we can't have those things for a while! You just have to deal with it for now. It wont be forever.

gauchesnell

Padraig Mor wrote: »

Through work as well have also seen plans for certain public sector workplaces (currently working from home) to be back in on the dot of May 5th at 50% capacity - i.e. people working alternate days etc. They'll all be classified as essential workers (which they're not) if necessary.

ohhh exciting. no progress yet on us returning but its possible

Spencer Brown

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

Right, but we can't have those things for a while! You just have to deal with it for now. It wont be forever.

No it won't be forever but it's completely acceptable that people are not comfortable with the idea that it will be for months more. Anyone who suggests they aren't is being lambasted for it.

Strumms

Spencer Brown wrote: »

Honestly who gives a **** about having Netflix etc. People enjoy socialising, face to face human contact, playing sports with their friends, informal chats with colleagues in the canteen.

We're genetically programmed to derive pleasure from these things and technology will never replace them.

I presume you are in tip top condition physically and mentally as you are so vociferous about following the advice of experts? Or like everyone else on the planet do you only follow advice when it suits you?

People enjoy all of that correct, I do to, I have more to loose from this potentially then most. But I’m not such a fûcking needy me feiner that when the shît hits the fan I’m all about disregarding the bigger picture.

Tip top mentally, well pretty good and chipper, tip top physically, no, not quite...I’ve been living with a medical condition that is only recoverable in its entirety by about 12% of those afflicted, I’ve been added to the 12% club but it involves me being in a gym, 5/6 days a week and has done for over a year. Great strides have been made, but now I’m stuck at home, without my doctor/physio/trainer. I know dozens of others at the gym in the same situation, with various issues hoping and praying that people cop the fûck on so this gets to be over. Hard yards and sacrifices made now so we ALL get our lives, dreams and aspirations and health back on track...

hopalongcass

seamus wrote: »

The short answer is that lots of the numbers up to this week have been historical; that is the x00 cases revealed may have been from swabs collected in the past 7-10 days.
It means that realistically we don't know how we're doing today, we can only see where we were a few days past and extrapolate based on that.

It's also why we've only been able to say things are flattening or have peaked, when a few days have passed since flattening started.

This is the same everywhere, not just an Irish thing.

The government have been publishing normalised figures - that is, graphs showing case numbers and death numbers based on the day they occurred, not on the day the result came back.

The statistical analyses and planning done by the NPHET have been based on these normalised charts, not on the day-to-day new case figures. But for the rest of us the day-to-day numbers are a decent rough guideline as they still balance out on average.

But does it not point to how alarmist the Media is being running saying x amount just died yesterday when in reality maybe unlikely but it could be different because nobody has test results back from yesterday yet.

News is meant to be factual not telling people x amount just died today when in reality they died a few days ago and they are averaging it out with graphs,i mean how many posters here have posted alarmist comments saying x amount have just died yesterday if its actually impossible to know how many died or were infected yesterday.

Strumms

Spencer Brown wrote: »

No it won't be forever but it's completely acceptable that people are not comfortable with the idea that it will be for months more. Anyone who suggests they aren't is being lambasted for it.

The only people being lambasted are those not adhering to social distancing and those breaking social distancing. I doubt there is anyone who is happy about it.

hmmm

Mic 1972 wrote: »

Correct, we are seeing new cases everyday because people are still going around spreading it

No evidence of that, and at the press conference they said there were seeing no growth in community spread.

The virus will spread inside families if one has it.

Most people are doing the right thing. We don't need 100% compliance to slow this thing down, we need most people doing the right thing.

the kelt

tobefrank321 wrote: »

If that is the case, then why are we seeing new cases effectively at an all time high?

Something doesn't add up.

With an extreme lockdown, you'd expect at this stage, to see numbers going down.

And before someone says we were going down, its obvious that was because of testing limitations. Once they sorted out the testing logistics and ramp up testing, they got and will get a true measure of the spread, which appears to be very high.

But if the numbers are high and hospitalisations low, then this may be more manageable than we first thought.

Its important to get an accurate picture of how many people are really infected.

This is one of the problems.

One thing that struck me yesterday listening to updates was it seems to be getting a little all over the place.

We get numbers flashed at us, for example its x number of new cases in the last 24 hours, but then get told actually most of those new cases probably werent within the last 24 hours and could have been days before. Then we are told actually its a big increase because of more nursing home tests and community transimission is really really low.

We are told great news that the R0 has fallen even further and community tranmission effectively supressed and we apparently reached a plateau a week ago but wouldnt be easing restrictions if this was may 5th even though an R0 below 1 and coming down from the plateau were 2 criteria.

Then we have people obsessed with tables as if its some competition where the rules are completely arbitrary. Its seems completely pointless comparing ourselves to other countries when they count their numbers differently everywhere for example.

People are talking out of both sides of their mouths at the moment and its getting a little bit all over the place now in all honesty.

If i want to find stats, find opinion pieces and adapt tables etc to prove we are all doomed if we ease restrictions i can do so easily.

Likewise if i want to go the other way, find opinion pieces, stats and adapt tables to show we are grand now, easing of restrictions will be fine, again i can do so easily.

Personally speaking the longer its left without clarification and a bit of guidance the worse its going to get, i mean we had Leo Varadkar talking about May 5th being the big day and then on the other hand no one seems to have a clue what the "big day" means.

Theres an add on the telly for the lotto where a man wins the euromillions and buys an island for the nation, when asked hows that going to work he replies "ah sure we'll figure it out" and every time i see updates, press conferences and interviews thats all i can think of as a comparison.

Whatever is happening, easing of some restrictions, easing of very little, no easing at all etc i do think we need some sort of plan, we are just over a week out from Leos "big day" as he put it himself and no matter what happens the people will still need to be brought along to buy into whatever measures there are because there are still going to be restrictions of some sort.

Lets have a plan!

The Mulk

gauchesnell wrote: »

ohhh exciting. no progress yet on us returning but its possible

PS too,we've been told 25% staff allowed into the building initially and to determine within each team where staff will sit and on what days to attend the office to maintain social distancing.
Although this depends on the Govt. anouncement

Cork Boy 53

Nermal wrote: »

Olympic-level mental gymnastics.

Those of us who want this economic hara-kiri to end are 'soft'.

People who want us all to stay indoors, because of a virus with the same chance of killing under-65s as a nine-mile car journey, are 'brave'.

End this madness now. Waiting till May 5th is just compounding our error.

You`re still peddling this nonsense I see. What`s madness is your head in the sand attitude and is an example of the mindset of those who will be responsible for the restrictions staying in place longer than could otherwise have been the case.

newcavanman

The biggest problem in this crisis, is that we have a generation of politicians in power who have only one objective, which is to stay in power as long as possible, and an inability to take serious decisions regarding the economy. Its very easy to say ," we need to shut things down ", its a hell of a lot harder to restart it. T he casualty list is going to be horrendous and people will be stunned at some of the companies that go to the wall.
The easy way out is to defer everything to the Medical Experts, whodont appear to understand how the economy needs to work. Its very simple, no working economy, no money for health. Lets see how they all explain that

hmmm

The Mulk wrote: »

PS too,we've been told 25% staff allowed into the building initially and to determine within each team where staff will sit and on what days to attend the office to maintain social distancing.
Although this depends on the Govt. anouncement

We had a discussion also. No-one wants to travel on public transport. I think the office will be open only for the employees who really want to get out of their house.

The Mulk

hmmm wrote: »

We had a discussion also. No-one wants to travel on public transport. I think the office will be open only for the employees who really want to get out of their house.

True, we've enough car parking to manage 25% returning to work, i'm not sure how people who depend on public transport would feel

Tacitus Kilgore

hmmm wrote: »

We had a discussion also. No-one wants to travel on public transport. I think the office will be open only for the employees who really want to get out of their house.

My office is planning on forcing everyone back ,regardless of whether they can work at home or not.

It's ok though, they're putting a perspex screen between the desks...