To think some people need to get a grip!

[CurrentBun1981]

There are clearly those who are being far too nonchalant about the current situation, but tbh I'm probably encountering more of the slightly hysterical/OTT types right now.

For example, my friend has been frantically discussing on FB how best to sterilise her shopping and has implemented some ridiculously elaborate system of debagging shopping in the garage, putting the bags in the outside bin, wiping everything down with sanitising wipes, then walking back to put these in the bin too, before then leaving everything in quarantine for a couple days in the garage fridge. She's now worried about whether she's already brought the virus into the house on her shoes or her dog as she hadn't thought of that till she read it, and is discussing this on FB right now, trying to make another process involving outdoor footwear, indoor footwear, and 'transitional' footwear (presumably slippers from garage into house or something).

Her view is that she wants to go 110% in ensuring she doesn't catch it, which is fine. However, she doesn't do anything like this in any other areas of her life, which I suspect is the same thing for many others acting similarly.

For example, I've never seen her check the tyre pressure on her car and am 100% certain she doesn't do this weekly as is recommended. I'm pretty certain she doesn't know the legal tread depth and how to check it as she often needs new tyres at MOT stage (presumably illegally low on tread at this point).

What is it about this recent crisis that's invoking fear in the types of people who rarely use their car mirrors except to check their make up?

I'll concede that theoretically you could probably bring the virus into your house on your feet if you stepped in somebody's spit etc, but the likelihood has got to be tiny, and this is all ultimately to avoid catching a disease which will give the majority of victims 'mild' symptoms and is statistically extremely unlikely to kill her in the unlikely chance she catches it - I'm convinced the government might just let us crack on and catch it if it wasn't for the unmanageable strain on the NHS.

makes you think it would certainly kill someone in your house?
Nothing makes me think it will, we know it will, I don’t have to explain.

just read the threads about posters hysterical about having a shoes-off home.. there is some consistency in there I haven't seen those but is it dangerous. I do take my shoes off when I come home, I like going barefoot basically, but are my shoes sitting there by the front door really dangerous?

An 'expert' on the One Show? Yeah, right. Not everyone on the telly with an opinion is an 'expert'. And there has been no 'expert' advice about not petting your dogs and cats. In fact that was well and truly debunked. These sorts of response do rather vindicate the OP's point.

She sounds sensible to me - she is following advice from medical experts. When farmers used to clean the shoes of those entering their farms during bse that seemed sensible too.

Most countries are taking far more precautions than we are - for example in america they are advised to cover mouth and nose when shopping. It's not the effect of the virus on you (although as mentioned earlier the effects so far on male fertility are worrying) but your family or the community as a whole.

I worry about the mental health of people like your friend op. It's not being nasty to notice behaviour that seems a bit extreme. There was a poster who was considering going hungry because she was terrified of having to talk to someone to pick up her shopping. I worry that because the behaviours surrounding ocd and social anxiety are now normalised that people won't be able to readjust.

It is also unclear if this behaves like flu and goes completely, or hiv and chicken pox, and stays latent in you cells and might flare up again at a later date.

@AmelieTaylor It's not about taking the piss it's querying people 'doing everything they can not to catch it' and just what they think is going to happen in the longer term and what their plan is?

Because lockdown wasn't about people 'doing everything they can not to catch it' it was about not overwhelming the NHS with too many cases at once.

Until a vaccine has been found and rolled out to billions of people (taking years potentially) people ARE going to catch it.

People just won't be able to do 'everything they can not to catch it' till then because people are going to have to go back to work, schools and businesses will have to reopen etc when COVID is STILL a risk.

All those proudly saying they haven't been out for weeks seem to be missing the point that they will have to at some point and COVID will still be there.

midsomermudress As I added earlier. I know Matt Allwright isn't an expert but he had earlier spoken to Dr Lisa Ackerley, a specialist in environmental health and it was her advice he was passing on. None of us really knows if this virus transmits easily on surfaces but she's likely to know more about it than most of us. Anyway in the current circumstances there aren't many things we can control. If it gives OP's friend a feeling of some control in her life then why not ?

Rocketmam, jhave you got sources for these 'concerning noises coming from the medical community'?

www.preston.gov.uk/article/2319/Coronavirus-advice-for-the-public-when-ordering-or-shopping-for-food-

Guidance from preston city council that you should wash food from shops

it was just flu albeit of the SARS variety and you will all be going back to work soon.

Unfortunately this fiasco could let our guard down next time.

We do use lab type procedures at home to decrease our likelihood of getting it.

Its the other ones who do my head in. The ones who have taken the pandemic as their cue to fulfill a life long dream of competing at the Olympics, running/cycling 10km a day. Apparently 2m social distancing doesnt matter when you are walking/running right past people on narrow pavements or passing other cyclists on your bike. If only the governments had known that the virus is only dangerous when stationary we could have kept everything open.

My aunt made a big song and dance about wiping down the shopping I brought in then happily sat down with the newspaper that was in the bag with the shopping. How did she clean that I wonder?

According to the World Health Organisation, the risk of catching the virus that causes Covid-19 from a package that has been moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions and temperatures is also very low.

Um CurrentBun1981, you're no friend to her really, are you ...

People do what gets them through stressful times and that's OK. It doesn't affect you one bit.

I'm glad you're not my friend, you don't sound like a particularly nice one. My friends don't tend to judge me by the state of my mental health. They offer kindness and support.

@Tzigane

Yep, 100%. Keeping up the completely over the top precautions just isn't sustainable. It will damage your mental health in the long run. People need to realise that this is a marathon and most will get it, so why torture yourself going OTT every day of your life?

I'm glad you're not my friend, you don't sound like a particularly nice one. My friends don't tend to judge me by the state of my mental health. They offer kindness and support.

@Gilead exactly.

I think you’re right OP. For me the issue is when will they stop? What is their exit strategy?

Such obsessiveness becomes a MH problem quite easily. They will never feel “safe”. The virus isn’t going to go anywhere. A vaccine will take time to develop and time to manufacture, and it won’t be available to everyone all at once (if at all to some people who aren’t in risk groups). They can’t avoid work, people and bleach their shopping forever.

I'm just as paranoid.

No-one has the right to tell another what they are doing is right / wrong.
Whatever suits the person.

Don't understand why people are so judgemental of others

Don't understand why people are so judgemental of others

It's the MN way.

It's definitely a control thing. I have not gone overboard but I wipe and disinfect the handles and light switches every day, wipe the dog's feet and am probably more careful about cleaning up (hoovering every day instead of just every two days for example).

I've always been an obsessive hand washer though, I work with kids and they are grim. And I hate the feeling of anything sticky on my hands at all.

When I read threads on here about people who think you don't need to wash your hands when you come inside, it makes me slightly uneasy.

“I think you’re right OP. For me the issue is when will they stop? What is their exit strategy?“

It’s good news in the sense that people will hopefully be less touchy feely generally, and more hygienic.

But if these same people want to be in lockdown till a vaccine, we’ve got trouble.

We're paranoid in our house - shopping goes into the garage and gets "self isolated" for a couple of days (except chilled/frozen) and wiped down. Same with letters & parcels, etc.

We have good reason. OH is shielded due to having cancer and in the highest risk group with severely impaired immunity.

Until there's a vaccine, we have no choice but to take extreme precautions.

Does your friend not realise this lockdown isn't to stop people catching the virus, it's to DELAY people catching the virus so the NHS can keep up. Those of us who haven't had it yet are all in the Covid-19 waiting room. This virus isn't going away! From the reaction of some they are happy to live in a bubble forever, or at least until a vaccine is produced, which could be next year, or longer.