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.

I think its pointless if most of us are to get it anyway just delaying the inevitable

Most people are not very good at assessing risk.

THIS.

It is weird to me that people genuinely seem to believe they can protect themselves and their families from ever catching the virus

It's not weird at all for the vulnerable and most vulnerable who will have to take severe precautions until a vaccine is available.

Slowing the spread is fine for the healthy majority with a very low risk of fatality. But is pretty useless for the most vulnerable who it is likely to kill.

Doesn't matter if they die this month or in 6 months or in a years' time - if they don't take precautions, they're a walking time bomb.

A vaccine is the only answer for the most vulnerable.

Of course, hopefully, when more is know about the virus, i.e. data/statistics on who is actually dying, age, sex, pre-existing conditions, etc., the list of "most vulnerable" can be slimmed down. Eventually we'll be able to pin down more accurate the highest risk people within the shielding group and shrink the shielding group, allowing more people to go about their normal lives again and risk getting the virus in the knowledge they have a greater chance of survival.

The shoes thing: I can definitely see it transmitting the virus in London. When I moved here I was amazed by all the spitting in the street, really gross. Mainly the smoking under 30's & spat out schoolkids chewing gum everywhere by the chicken shops they flock to at lunch , that's never cleaned up.

Most people are not very good at assessing risk.

You need facts to assess risk properly. At the moment, facts are hard to come by, hence people are not taking risks because they don't know the facts. Over time, more facts will become available and then people can risk assess themselves in an informed manner.

I think it gives individuals a sense of control in an unprecedented and rather scary situation. If it helps them feel better and has zero impact on me then crack on

I'm just recovering from a mild case. Classic, low level symptoms.

I'd been following the guidelines, in fact only exercising outside the home every other day, and had last been to a supermarket ten days before. The odd delivery into my home.

This is the majority case. The vast majority are mild or a symptomatic. For a 31 year old healthy female with a husband the same age, this was the likely outcome. We both had it, and though unpleasant it has been manageable entirely without medication.

I've known a few people with health paranoia or cleaning fixations, and they never seem in a great place. I'd not want to risk tipping myself into that condition for the sake of a virus that was staggeringly unlikely to kill me.

think its pointless if most of us are to get it anyway just delaying the inevitable

but delaying is incredibly important

I think it unlikely that we will have any kind of vaccine for a while, however this is such a novel virus that we are on a very sharp learning curve

All kinds of treatments are being explored and trialed

We are learning every day about the genetic and other issues that are causal factors in terms of whether a person with the virus develops severe symptoms or dies or has no symptoms at all

We are still learning about the extent to which smoking tobacco, smoking cannabis or contact with animals are risky

One thing is very clear, people decide to believe whatever suits them best, which is strange because the only thing we do not have is certainty

How grim would it be if people died and / or ended up with long term disabling lung disease because the cure or vaccine or highlyeffective treatment is discovered the day or week or month after they get sick and / or die?

this is not a fantasy scenario. I lost a friend to AIDS not long before combined drug therapies arrived and totally chnged the prognosis for people with HIV and AIDS.

I was told to "get a grip" today (well not to be ridiculous) by an elderly neighbour when I stood well back to give the different neighbours who were in the corridor space to get past

One of the neighbours announced "I don't really go out in the day!" a claim somewhat disproved by her presence in the corridor but even if it was true it doesn't really mean anything very much.

I live in sheltered housing with many elderly people who just do not understand the rules re social distancing. They think that the 2 metre rule is a maximum distance and probably unnecessary. Adhering to the 2 metre rule means you will be completely safe and protected in their mind.

I feel extremely distressed, anxious for my own health but even more I am concerned about them.

I give people a huge distance if I can when I go out as it is no skin off my nose and many people are very appreciative. I hate it when people just stroll past without taking any care to protect others. Any one person could be caring for a vulnerable person or have a undiagnosed medical condition.

One thing I learned from the AIDS pandemic was the importance of taking responsibility for your own health, assuming that you and any other person could be affected and to conduct your personal relationships with that in mind.

The othe thing was to learn that cures and treatments can arrive at any time and it is never to late to start acting carefully and responsibly

How is this your problem in any way, shape or form?
She can do what she wants and she can debate about it however much she cares to. It doesn’t affect you one bit so just ignore her.

My family also lives in a different country and I also have close friends in about 20 countries all over the world. Most of them have to follow certain hygiene and decontamination advice and they are officially encouraged to disinfect a lot of things.

However, in most of these places, appropriate cleaning substances, hand sanitisers, face masks etc are readily available. Not like in the UK. So there might be something to consider from a global perspective.

@Jellycatfox no no please don’t apologise, I was posting in support of you from that other poster demanding about wanting to know your diagnosis.
Much love sent

I understand why some people take every possible precaution to avoid the even a minute chance of contracting CV. I'm more interested in why anyone would take it as a personal insult and feel the need to judge and comment on it (either to strangers online or to their "friends" themselves).

It makes me think of atheists who can't stand it that someone else believes in a higher power. Why does it matter to you, so long as they aren't bothering you with it?

Nobody can do enough - I was blase - always washed hands, wore gloves to shops, binned them as soon as out of shop, but never sterilised shopping, never changed shoes outdoors etc.

I'm on day 6 of covid - whilst mine has been 'mild' - mild means not dead! It's been awful. Whilst I wish I had taken more precautions, it's too late now - however I am a single mum living alone with my 11 year old daughter who has been worried sick.

I'm not out of the woods yet, and I can only hope I do get out of them as nobody seems to know whether there will be a relapse or not, good days and very bad ones.

cheesemongery

sorry to hear you're suffering
sending you good wishes for a speedy recovery

I'm one of the most easygoing people regarding hygiene but even I'm keeping my shopping in my porch until I've dettol wiped every item, and then I wash everything I've worm when going out. Maybe OTT but it is fear of the unknown, and just trying to feel useful!

It is impossible to create a sterile bubble to live in, and you'll drive yourself mad trying.

As for the "well Preston Council says X, Y and Z" - I take anything the Council's Environmental Health says with a HUGE pinch of salt. I used to be in charge of providing snack at a playgroup each day. (sliced fruit, crumpets, breadsticks.) To 3 and 4 year old children, none of whom had serious medical conditions. Of course we made the children wash their hands before eating. We enforced good manners like each child being given a small portion on a plate and not sharing food between them. Wash hands again after eating.

Council inspector told me that in addition to wearing a plastic apron when chopping apples and clearing away, washing the plastic plates and cups in hot soapy water wasn't enough. Oh no. In addition to washing them in hot water, we had to have special antibacterial washing up liquid. And after the plates/beakers had been washed and rinsed, they should be soaked overnight in Milton. Next morning, each plate should be rinsed again in water, and dried with a disposable paper towel.

I pointed out that these children were going home to have lunch provided by a parent who certainly wasn't wearing plastic aprons, using expensive special antibacterial washing up liquid and who definitely wasn't soaking all tableware in Milton overnight. Her response was "you can't be too careful". Yup, because millions of otherwise healthy children get the lurgy from touching a clean plastic Ikea plate which has been washed in bog standard soapy water.

cheesemongery - wishing you a speedy recovery. But. I am your diametric opposite. I work in a supermarket, on the front line. serving behind the tills. Several of my customers have had/tested positive for CV-19. I wash my hands during the day. I don't quarantine my shopping (I buy it at the end of my shift, I've been with it all day, no point). I don't wash my shoes or change my clothes when I get in or take any other precautions at all.

I haven't got it. (As yet, obviously). But it goes to show that you can take ALL the precautions and still catch it or take none and not. We don't know really enough about it to say definitively that you MUST wash your shopping/change your clothes etc, only that this MIGHT reduce your chance of infection.

I'd not want to risk tipping myself into that condition for the sake of a virus that was staggeringly unlikely to kill me.

Well that's great, for you. Some of us are in a situation where it is staggeringly likely to kill us. I've always been in rude health, until last year when I got cancer. So I'll take every precaution I can for the time being.

Jellycatfox I agree. I’m not sure we as a nation are great at taking things seriously enough, so in a very unusual situation like this people seem to veer from recklessness to hysteria. We could do with being a bit more systematic in our approach to this.

I have come across stories that the government is quite surprised how well people are adjusting to lock down, such that there is concern in some quarters about getting us out again. Not exactly not taking it seriously, it it?

I don’t think any of what you’ve said is hysteria bad maybe how she is sharing it all on Facebook. I have been placing my shopping on the kitchen island, removing any packaging and wiping it down then sterilising the area it was placed on for over a month now - from when I first heard it. An spread on surfaces. I also quarantine my post for 72 hours and when some kids pet my dog I popped him straight in the bath when he got home and washed my hands thoroughly.

The way I look at it is that the above is easy to do ( ok a bit of effort but still easy) as is wearing gloves in shop, wearing a mask out and about etc. So if it’s easy to do and might help reduce spread of the disease then why wouldn’t you do it!!

Indeed if everyone did what your friend is doing (again without posting on Facebook) we would probably all be better off.

There was actually an article about two men caught on cctv licking their hands and then wiping it over all food stuffs and the reason I have been wiping my stuff for so long is I was in am the shop and saw a guy paw his way through about ten packets of chicken until he got one right at the back so it made me realise if that one guy had CV and hasn’t washed his hands properly before going into the shop he could’ve spread it to all ten people who touched those chicken packets.

www.google.ie/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/uk-england-lancashire-52219080

Just had a lengthy conversation with a friend in tears, after her last shift in ICU. Let's just say there are more enough patients bitterly regretting thinking they were immune. I'd rather not get a grip personally.

"as is wearing gloves in shop, wearing a mask out and about etc."

I don't agree that wearing gloves properly is easy. Just wearing gloves doesn't protect you. You could still be touching things and then touching your face. It would only work if you were changing your gloves regularly (and correctly) after every thing you touch,

Similarly, with masks, unless you have the proper one they don't give much protection. They're pretty hard to find and prioritised for health workers. I'm in favour of wearing a mask for the general public, but I don't agree that it's so easy.

I love the threads on here where previously, leaving your child for 30 seconds to do a pee was akin to neglect, yet now it seems its absolutely fine to leave children unattended to go for a shop, no matter how long it would take. Whether that be leaving them in the car, or in the house.

"Whilst I wish I had taken more precautions"

Why? Since you've been going out and coming into contact with people, there's no reason to believe you got the illness through contact with a thing rather than with a person.

I'm pretty sure you're meant to check tyres every 4-6 weeks, not every week. But yes I was talking to someone recently who didn't even know how to do it.

RAC says weekly but tbh you'd likely be fine doing it monthly. However, it's only really my male friends who ever seem to check it at all. Same with oil, despite the fact that you've very possibly done engine damage by the time the light comes on (light means 'stop now' rather than 'fill up at next convenient opportunity' really).