To think that Mumsnet should clamp down on the scaremongering threads?

[callmeadoctor]

Thats it really, you come on Mumsnet and anxiety levels are ramped up. Surely thats not safe?

Yes! People are being v v dangerous

The only thing that matters is that we do stop it and that does in part rely on the public understanding the danger and that does involve the public having a certain amount of fear

It needs to be fear based in the facts though and so much of the current scaremongering is not. The people believing the FB rumour mill no matter what it churns out and demanding everyone START PANICKING RIGHT NOW are not serving a valuable public awareness service. Leading T1 diabetics to believe there is no chance they'll get ICU care so they may as well stay at home to die, that is not helpful, that is the opposite of helpful.

I'm already in isolation with cough/fever symptoms myself. I'm already worried about high-risk family members. What is me being more scared going to help, exactly? Will the virus go away if I start hiding under the sofa gibbering?

I’m adding CAPITAL LETTERS to my tell list too.

Read Chardonnay’s earlier post. She very much did challenge the idea that younger people in ICU and not being enough ventilators was fact.

That’s why we’re talking about it now.

She very much did challenge the idea that younger people in ICU and not being enough ventilators was fact

And what do you suggest people on MN do about the lack of ventilators? Aside from panicking about it?

I disagree

You disagree that social distancing is a lesser evil than letting the disease run rampage right now when we have no methods of treating it and not nearly enough equipment and beds?

Seriously?

There IS more you can do. You can convince others to follow the advice.& go further. You can make it socially unacceptable to invite a dozen people around to a home where an elderly woman with COPD lives and you can stop saying it’s scaremongering to make people aware if the seriousness of the situation when they ask about going ahead with plans to have parties and take their kids to meet up with others at the soft play place etc.

You can heed the advice from people in Italy saying 2-3 weeks ago we were still doing x, we wish we hadn’t, we advise you not to

(Thinks like letting kids play together)

Here is some good news
Coronavirus: Thousands of extra hospital beds and staff www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51989183

“An extra 8,000 hospital beds across England, nearly 1,200 ventilators and almost 20,000 fully qualified staff will be available from next week.
It comes as the number of people in the UK to die with coronavirus rose to 233.
The agreement will see the private sector reallocate almost its entire national hospital capacity to the NHS.”

It’s being reallocated at cost so no profiteering.

CardonnaysPetDragon

This has the stats on who is in intensive care. As the person you dissmissed as scaremongering has just summarised this article perhaps you need to do some research before you start criticising others.
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/21/doctors-warn-coronavirus-could-overwhelm-nhs-intensive-care

I am not saying there are not a lot of threads with false information but critising people for commenting on well established facts is not appropriate either.

No one is denying the truth the next few weeks are going to be horrendous. But there is absolutely no point at all in getting in a state about things I can do nothing about. I can't magic up ventilators or PPE, if I could I damn well would believe me. All I can do to help is follow the advice as best I can and stay calm, causing as few issues as possible so the people who are better qualified and/or have more power can. I've had moments where I haven't been calm as I'm sure we all have but it achieves nothing apart from upsetting ourselves and our families.

This x1000. Yes, there are big issues at play, and yes, people are behaving like idiots. I can’t do anything about any of that, so endlessly reading about it all, or being told about it by others, achieves nothing. The facts are out there already.

You can heed the advice from people in Italy saying 2-3 weeks ago we were still doing x, we wish we hadn’t, we advise you not to

I am heeding advice. I'm already doing that.

Completely disagree that panic is helping- its not, its making things worse which is why elderly and NHS workers cant get food.

This has the stats on who is in intensive care. As the person you dissmissed as scaremongering has just summarised this article perhaps you need to do some research before you start criticising others.

These stats are authoritative and incontrovertible but you only have to look upthread here to see an example of how a misreading of them makes them sound even worse than they are. People are generally poor at interpreting statistics - a PP combined the number of people under 65 and the overall percentage of people with a severe comorbity (wrongly) and bingo, a new and scary ‘fact’ is born.

I am heeding advice. I'm already doing that.

Plenty aren’t though

See all the threads with non key workers wanting to send their kids into school

@TSSDNCOP
I’m adding CAPITAL LETTERS to my tell list too

🤷🏻‍♀️

Over the years we have mostly agreed on MN (I changed names a few months ago & have often since the hacking) but if you suddenly want to put me in the ‘idiot box’ simply because I’m using a few capital letters to emphasise a point (as I always have) that’s your choice of course 🤷🏻‍♀️

you can stop saying it’s scaremongering to make people aware if the seriousness of the situation

Nobody is saying that. People are saying that there is a difference between 'being realistic about the bad situation' and 'panicky scaremongering'. Making people aware of the reality is not scaremongering; reposting any old shite I hear on FB as long as it sounds terrifying enough, as some people are absolutely doing, that is scaremongering.

What specifically is it you want people who are already following all the recommendations as it is to do to make you happy here? How, exactly, do you want people to convince others to follow the advice more than you think we're already doing? I've spent enough of the past week on WhatsApp going "no, Dad, stay at home ffs" but at the end of the day I can't nail him in place. (I think he's finally agreed to but who bloody knows, argh.)

@AlexisCarringtonColbyDexter

And what do you suggest people on MN do about the lack of ventilators? Aside from panicking about it

Understand why they need to STAY AT HOME and stop going on holiday, organising get togethers, popping to the shops every day. You know, take it seriously!

Understand why they need to STAY AT HOME and stop going on holiday, organising get togethers, popping to the shops every day. You know, take it seriously

I am taking it seriously- ive said that over and over again and I havent done any of the things you mention. Why are you lecturing me about it when plenty of people ARE doing those things - shouldn't you be lecturing them? I suggest if you know people doing this, you get off MN and tell them, because telling me to do something I am already doing is somewhat pointless isn't it?

@laurie

Why don't you actually quote what I said:

I disagree. A lot of people struggle to see the bigger picture and therefore the full implications of decisions that are taken, generally. Cv hasn't changed that.

Social distancing is only possible in the short term for a few weeks is the point I'm making. Because of the significant and numerous drawbacks that some people on MN are seemingly blind to. Because they have gone cv-blinkered. All the other problems (obesity, mental health, domestic violence, economy) are still in existence.

Social distancing is only possible in the short term for a few weeks is the point I'm making

No one is denying that. The alternative is still letting the disease run rampage in that time.

You get that, right?

*Plenty aren’t though

See all the threads with non key workers wanting to send their kids into school*

So why are you here then? why not go to that thread and tell them?

No need to @ me amelie when I’m right here on the thread.

It’s not my idiot box, it’s my list of signs for when a poster gets whipped up and starts lecturing other people unnecessarily and scaremongering.

I’m not quite sure of the point you’re making. SD is a short term measure, yes. Do you support it (given the alternative) or not?

@AlexisCarringtonColbyDexter*

I am heeding advice. I'm already doing that

Completely disagree that panic is helping- its not, its making things worse which is why elderly and NHS workers cant get food

FFS - no one ever said panicking helps. Absolutely no one is asking anyone to panic.
there’s a big difference between panicking and urging people to stay at home! And telling them why it’s important.

There IS more you can do. You can convince others to follow the advice.& go further. You can make it socially unacceptable to invite a dozen people around to a home where an elderly woman with COPD lives and you can stop saying it’s scaremongering to make people aware if the seriousness of the situation when they ask about going ahead with plans to have parties and take their kids to meet up with others at the soft play place etc.

Great, I'll just pop over to Facebook and do a bit of scaremongering then. Maybe drive my recovered addict friend backwards and make all the people who know me feel shit.

I'm social distancing so I'm not really talking to many people 🤷🏻‍♀️.

We need to leave this to the government to communicate what people need to do and follow their guidance. Otherwise it leads to constant, confusing messages many of which are bollocks anyway.

Absolutely no one is asking anyone to panic

Yes they are. If you read this thread you'll see lots and lots of examples of people spreading panic and misinformation