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.

On a side note Hong Kong did not do a lock down like we did here (restaurants etc remain open) but due to extra hygiene measures flu season ended two months earlier than usual, so good hygiene is preventing other things too.

I’m not doing what your friend does. I just unpack the shopping and wash my hands. I might be doing it completely wrong. Only time will tell which was the most sensible approach.

People are scared of the unknown and don't understand risk and medical statistics. 91% of those who have died had significant underlying health problems, of those the majority were considered life limited. But that 9% scares people (the fact that it may be a case they had a health issue they didn't know about or there's a genetic reason died nothing to calm fears, very few tests are being done so we don't know)

Some neurologists are raising concerns about the virus resurfacing, possibly with severe neurological symptoms years after infection. It is not by any means known that it will, but all kinds of long term effects are being speculated on at this point. I am optimistic that it will be a mild/moderate, self limiting illness for most, but no one should proceed under the illusion that we know that for certain.

@OneandTwenty I’m not keen on outside shoes in my home. People walk in all sorts of places and then traipse that shit over my floors, so I ask people to take them off. They don’t seem to mind. I also live on a farm and so there is a fair quantity of mud and animal shit around the place, none of which I wish to regularly scrub up. I don’t think that makes me particularly hysterical. I’ve trained the dogs to sit on a mat when they first come in to dry their feet, too.

I think given how dreadful the numbers of infections / deaths are in the UK more people would be better off following your friends advice.

We take precautions with anything brought into the house and have done for weeks now. We have a system of washing down the shopping / decontaminating post / etc and I'm very glad that we do. I am not one bit concerned about this developing into OCD once we have finished with these measures.

I have always been keen on handwashing (washing in general - we all shower every day) and I hope everyone keeps this up anyway

We've always had really good kitchen and bathroom hygiene as I cannot bear either of these spaces to be dirty or stuff to mount up

Meant to press YABU. But pressed YANBU by mistake! I think people are not being careful enough.

And shoes in the house is disgusting. Have you seen the poo and spit everywhere you walk?

I do agree about people being frantic about germs potentially being on your their shopping, yet happy to do all sorts of things with a high ish risk factor normally.

Partly that's to do with the fear of spreading it to other people though, I think.

I don't spray or quarantine my shopping but I do wash my hands a lot, I clean my phone and try to only use it at home, I try not to touch my face (that's hard!) and I take physical distancing seriously when I'm out.

I'm still working so it's not always easy, so I'm being careful but not obsessive.

I've been struck recently by how awful it must be to experience the onset of covid-19 symptoms, symptoms which ordinarily you might have taken a paracetamol for and went on about your business. If it's my mother,in her 80's, I can't imagine how she would feel.
Your friend is trying to control her fear and it's not hard to understand why.

People are scared of the unknown and don't understand risk and medical statistics. 91% of those who have died had significant underlying health problems, of those the majority were considered life limited .

Have you got a link, please, okiedokieme? Genuinely interested.

What I don't understand it the people staying on and not doing daily exercise, which keeps us healthy and improves the immune system.

You'd think that was important, keeping yourself generally healthy, doing something positive, but no, seems more important to become obsessive and focus on others as well.

I meant to say in my post that I was regularly using disinfectant spray, but that's not without risk either, breathing all that shite in. Gives me a headache.

The figure of over 90% was just in the BBC news right now. Pre-existing conditions

@Jellycatfox I also wanted to say that of course you don’t need to explain. We are in the same situation in this household, one member would not survive it. The doctors told us to do everything we could to shield. So we are.

Most people are not very good at assessing risk.

More than nine in 10 people dying with coronavirus have an underlying health condition, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS looked at nearly 4,000 deaths during March in England and Wales where coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate.
Link www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52308783

In 91% of cases the individuals had other health problems.

The most common was heart disease, followed by dementia and respiratory illness.

The average number of pre-existing conditions in those who died was 2.7.

For Topshelf

Ironically one of the things they are looking at as a result of the lockdown / people staying in is heart disease as it is linked to sedentary lifestyle and stress!

Maybe summat to do with tens of thousands of people dying, I dunno, weird that

Yes, people are going to extremes. I do think media has a part to play, in particular Channel 4 with that ridiculous programme last week about cleaning your house which was just going to terrify anyone with a germ phobia or cleaning compulsion...

I think there's a balance to be struck between people who are just living their lives completely as normal and ignoring all the guidance, and at the opposite extreme people who are now terrified to leave the house - like a lady who I saw on our local FB page who was telling people they had to stay indoors 'because it's in the air, you can't go outside, it's everywhere'...

Thankfully the majority of people seem to be pragmatic about it, washing hands, social distancing, minimising risk by taking sensible measures but that's all.

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
But by then my newborn will be stronger and likely to survive it, for instance, there will be more beds and more knowledge.
I am on maternity leave and I can cope with only shopping every 2/3 weeks and I don’t go out for anything else.
When I do, I use my gloves as soon as I leave my car, shop and they remind me not to touch my face and as soon as I am back loading the car they go in a bin bag I have set up.

I don’t see who I am hurting by protecting myself as much as I can.

We all assess risk in our own ways and know how much we are willing to risk each scenario.
I will happily it any food out of date as it doesn’t affect me, but I use condoms and the patch is I am to have sex. I will never drink a drop and drive, but I have cycled without a helmet in the past, not anymore.

I am taking no chances to minimise our covid risk. Will it be zero? No, but every step I take could mean life or death in our house and I don’t want my newborn to have it either.

I'm doing extra handwashing around food shopping and packing away, but that's it. We are a low-risk household, and of course that's no guarentee of invincibility, but the odds of encouraging mental disorder against the risks of the virus need to be considered. My schoolfriend was consumed by OCD rituals for all kinds of aspects of daily life, and I have no desire to be anywhere near that slippery slope of asserting control by ritual and living in constant heightened fear.

Nothing is ever 100% safe. Our immune systems need stimulus to function (obviously not refering to specific shielding circumstances). There is always the potential to be exposed to porentially nasty viruses and bacteria, and in the absence of any known specific health concerns, I'd rather accept a low-level exposure to viral load than to fruitlessly devote my life to controlling low risks. People end up on hospital following accidents from the most mundane of acts, including things like getting dressed. Better to adopt a few measures that make the most difference and accept that life is unpredictable than try to control the uncontrollable.

All those proudly saying they haven't been out for weeks will probably be putting themselves more at risk of vitamin D deficiency, and lack of exercise

I give them a quick wipe outside, throw the wipe straight in the outside bin, walk inside (having left the door open as not to touch the handle), wash my hands, slip my shoes off and leave them outside then take the shopping in. I've also been showering and washing clothes when I have been food shopping, but it's only once a week so managable, I don't bother as much if just a walk I just leave my shoes outside and wash my hands.

*Harrysnotter
*
Well said 👏
I dnt think anyone should be judging anybody at.