AIBU to say that we are all supposed to catch this virus for herd immunity?

[Roxymoomoo]

So if you listen to what the Gov guys says every day.... They say slow the spread...not stop the spread.
Gov figures on death rates are based on 60-80% of the population catching it. (1% of the known cases, known cases approx rep 10% of all cases)

So I'm quite shocked when I read the neurotic things written on some posts people clearly are deluded

Am I being unreasonable to expect people to catch the virus?
( in a slow and organised way so as to allow for proper NHS treatment)

Yes- You are I never expect to catch this virus....
No... I fully expect to catch this virus and contribute to herd immunity

Well, we could have closed leisure places but still allowed people to travel a bit more freely.

Well to he honest,it's the only way that we are going to get over this. We can't all stay locked in forever. There is a limit to how long people are going to be able and happy to have their freedom severely curtailed. Could you imagine if we had to permanently live like this? Doesn't bear thinking about. I suspect I will be shouted down for this opinion.

Winter, it worries me that we will be locked down for a long time.

I’m seeing a lot of fear on my daily walk. I would think that fear would be there even if I felt able to hop on the bus and see my mum. I hate that I can’t do that in case the police fine me. I think it’s very wrong.

I understand wanting to limit large events etc but the rest of it just OTT.

I didn’t realise humanity thought it could beat every illness into submission. That’s really crazy.

Well, we could have closed leisure places but still allowed people to travel a bit more freely.

No we couldn’t. Look what happened Mother’s Day weekend. And there’s noticablely more people about in the couple of days since the police were told to be a bit less stringent.

Rafa, I suspect a lot of people went out in anticipation of lockdown and saw their mums in case they couldn’t for months or in case it was the last time.

I feel sorry when I see people berating the elderly for being out. If they want to live normally in what might be the last part of their life, I don’t blame them.

Ahh thanks for your input guys, it was a surprise..... Im going onto the Nightingale soon and I feel very supported by the response. If you guys are all brave enough to catch it (at some point), then I feel supported.

We definitely need herd immunity to lessen incidence in the community.
The lower incidence and slower transmission means more resources for those that need them. Increased risk in elderly and those with specific conditions but also where people have repeat exposure and overall increased overall viral load.
The delay is partly to allow rapid trials of a few drugs thought to be effective in reducing impact of the virus. A small French study and anecdotal evidence from Japan indicates a couple of readily available drugs in combination may be effective. The same drugs were effective in laboratory settings against SARS Virus.
If we reduce transmission then fewer people will die before a vaccine is approved. That’s going to be about two years from now but clearly there is going to be repeated peaks until then.

YANBU
I understand the current measures to be an attempt to create a sort of bottleneck of infection. Slowly manage the spread but yet, most need to catch it.

I’m unsure as to whether I have already had it, obviously. But... about 6 days after a trip on public transport to the centre of Birmingham at the beginning of March I developed an incessant cough which eventually turned in to a very flu-like illness... muscle aches, extreme lethargy, shivers etc
Then I felt better after a week... but then later on during that second week had a day or two of random breathlessness and a ‘tight’ feeling in the lungs where I couldn’t really breathe deeply. It was very mild and not at all distressing so perhaps it wasn’t.
I am behaving as though I haven’t had it though. Just in case.

Forgot to add, if I haven’t already had it then yes - I accept that I need to catch it at some point. I’m young and fit though.

The message I've gotten from news is that it's all about #flattenthecurve to make sure hospitals are not overwhelmed at once and there is time to get supplies and prepare for all the waves.

"I don’t think the figures are clear enough to know yet, without an antibody test."

Watching the press conference tonight, I didn't quite pick up whether the 'population sample' testing that Matt Hancock was talking about at Porton Down is the antibody test (ie have you ever had it?) or a test of how many people currently are infected with the virus. Did anyone else see it?

In Australia our government are not sugar coating it so much, that they're looking at "flattening the curve" so hospitals can cope with manageable numbers of infected cases over a longer period of time...literally until a vaccine becomes available. Until then, herd immunity approach in a manageable way. They also said yesterday that life as it is going now, we should consider it a new norm for a minimum of six months.

Digressing here, but fucking furious China lied and kept secretive about all this as could have been nipped in the bud almost immediately and many lives could have been saved.

Aussie am I right in thinking measures vary by state? Is it “lockdown” for 6 months as in no schools open etc?

ok, went back and it sounds as though it is indeed antibody testing, on a sample population.

I’m in the US. Here the tag line is “flatten the curve”. The emphasis is on slowing down the spread so it is as close to a steady line as possible. The graphic illustrates the same number of eventual cases, just not all at once. There is also some talk of delaying the peak of the flatter curve as long as possible to give manufacturers time to make more ventilators, more Ppe, and more medication.

The 'in a slow way so as not to overwhelm the NHS' isn't really happening is it. With lockdown it's not happening and with their original plan it definitely wasnt going to happen.

I've been meticulous in prepping, not going out, not shopping etc but now I may have the virus at the same time of all the selfish Cheltenham/Crufts/Mother's Day idiots.
This is exactly the time I did not want to get this. Thanks to all those selfish people, there will be a scramble for beds and ventilators.

Purpleartichoke it was the same here in the UK. It's not working out like that though, nor is it in the USA.

Middleager. It is more the fault of the government. They didnt act quick enough at any point.

Interestingly German scientists think that the spread is not on inanimate objects, and you can’t catch it from shopping, door handles, hair dressers etc, but that it’s from being in close proximity to someone for an extended period.

So social events where you’re packed in, working closely with someone all day, living with someone. But you can’t catch it from going about your daily business.

www.thelocal.de/20200402/how-german-scientists-hope-to-find-answers-on-coronavirus-in-countrys-worst-hit-spot

YABU the reason we are slowing the spread is not because we all need to catch it for herd immunity as we have no idea if herd immunity will even work with this virus. It’s because it’s spreading rapidly and we can’t stop it. Hence why governments are literally collapsing economics and our way of life as we know it. It’s the only option they have to try reduce the spread and the death rate and try prevent the collapse of the health system. Nothing to do with herd immunity.

If you look at the flatten the curve stuff then it’s trying to keep it below a level that the health service will be overwhelmed

@wafflyversatile we don’t know if the lockdown is working yet as it’s not been in place longer enough. Anyone dying of it now will have been infected before the lockdown. The peak will likely come 3-5 weeks after the lockdown started because of all the people who went out to celebrate their last nights of freedom.

I’d I catch it, and am unlucky enough to get a bad case, I won’t be likely to be ventilated, especially if ventilators are scarce and they’re having to prioritise patients. So I’d rather not catch it at all if possible.

Sorry. Annoying of me, I know, but I’m only 46 and I’d like to see how the kids all turn out.

I wonder how long Greece Spain Italy etc will cope with everything locked down? I mean Greece’s economy isn’t the best and if the travel industry starts going bust I can see a lot more people dying

The government have hijacked the term “herd immunity” yes, it is clearly the path they are taking but the concept of herd immunity is directly related to vaccination- for example having 95% of children vaccinated against measles means vulnerable children and adults are less likely to get it - because it’s not in circulation.

We didn’t naturally because immune and stop people dying of polio and measles etc because of herd immunity - it was vaccination.

This new fangled “herd immunity” is like letting the plague ravage society and saying the survivors are immune because of herd immunity, it’s not, it pot luck. But yes, it’s what the government have done.