Healthy people why are you so scared of catching covid 19?

[wakeupitsabeautifulmorning]

Serious question. I’m interested in why healthy people with no underlying problems are so unhappy about starting to get back to normal. I’m not talking about shielded people who need to stay shielded. But everyone else.

@MyTwoLeftFeet Of course they can't say they know they will have a vaccine by then. But they are building on existing work around the SARS vaccine. So maybe the vaccine won't be available in December, but will in January or even February?
You know yourself there is a massive international competition to find a vaccine that works. Because whoever does that will make a lot of money. So yes companies are throwing money at developing a vaccine asap. It is a race for who is first.

Apart from having vulnerable family members, if I catch it, I can spread it on. We've all got to do our bit to stop this spreading.

TheHumans OP implies they are in a country that is starting getting back to normal. That's not the UK as our death rate is still ill and they are still identifying new complications, etc. So I assume OP isn't here. Perhaps they are one of the people protesting lockdown in the US?

If they are in the UK, then they can decide how much they want to ignore government advice. There's a massive difference between a country where lockdown is enforced by armed forces on the streets and here.

Typo - it should read 'our death rate is still high'

In the UK, there is a relatively low level of testing.
UK: 11,245 out of 1 million people
Germany: 24,738 out of 1 million people

As you say, Whales, 13.9% is the death rate among tested and infected people.
UK care homes are currently allowed 5 tests per care home. If 10 people then die in that care home, it doesn't mean there is a 200% death rate.

I dare say ,that lots of people think they are healthy and in tip top shape. But you would probably need a thorough medical check up from top to bottom to know if you are deemed as fit as you think you are. Many people have died,and their loved ones have said that their relative was all fit and well before their death..Which means, that nobody can be sure of anything really.

The UK death rate is basically the death rate of those people who are ill enough to be hospitalised (with a few additional healthcare workers etcx). I know loads of presumptive cases in my immediate family and friends, many with classic symptoms, many, like me with extremely mild symptoms, and many others who have been exposed but shown no symptoms at all (young adult children of many of my symptomatic friends). None of us have been tested so none of us are appearing in the calculations used to work out the death rate.

Department of health have announced deaths up again today. They are also going to put in care home deaths, be prepared for a big shock today. We are two weeks behind Spain and Italy yet our figures are worse than theirs were two weeks ago.

Friend on face book just shared some stuff about how this may lead to ME/Post Viral Syndrome in some people.

In 40s, no underlying conditions, very slim, never smoked, teetotal, healthy. Only thing was pneumonia years and years ago. Still ended up in hospital and nearly died.

My friend died of it 45. No other health conditions.

It is simply not possible to eliminate all risk from life.

No its not, but people do make informed decisions on how they might go about minimising some of these risks. They make lifestyle choices to improve their health.

One of the things about covid-19 is its very difficult to make such adjustments because we don't know what the risks are.

Risks are not equal. Some people are more at risk than others. We don't really know who is at risk and who isn't.

Someone who is healthy and has not known health problems and in their 60s is not necessarily the same as someone who is healthy and in their 20s. Why?

Is there a genetic risk? There are suggestions that it could be. That means some families may carry a very high risk whilst others have none at all. This might be along BAME lines or might be along other lines such as a known family history of hypertension.

This is where its worth pointing out, the correct terminology is not 'no underlying conditions' but 'no known underlying conditions'. This might well give health people in certain situations more wary than others. Just because we don't know something does not mean someone isn't at more risk.

Then there is the aspect of social connections. Healthy people can pass on the disease to others - and R value of the disease means one person catching it can spread it to thousands unwittingly. Or to someone close to them.

We have one friend who is living alone and he works from home. He's in his late twenties. His father has an autoimmune condition. He is very close to his father and is missing him dreadfully. His brother and SIL isolated and then went to visit his Dad and he is being encouraged to do this for a couple of weeks so he too can see his Dad. He doesn't want to do this, because he fears he could not cope with things if he had been to visit his Dad and his Dad then caught it even if he wasn't the source of infection purely because he wouldn't know that he wasn't the source. Psychologically he would never be able to forgive himself and couldn't live with that thought.

So this isn't directly about dying of Covid-19 himself.

Then there is the issue of the NHS being overwhelmed so anyone who has any health condition or an unforeseen accident could end up in a situation where there is no health care if health people don't also abide by the rules. Any healthy person can be involved in a car accident. Yes. We understand the risks of car accidents. But we also have the safety net that if we have an accident there is health care which might just save our life. With a massive covid-19 wave, there is no guarentee of that.

So there is the risk of indirect death to healthy people to consider.

Prior to this pandemic most people didn't not live life worrying about the risks of day to day life and the possibility of dying - this illness is just one of many many things that could kill you. The fear is totally irrational.

This boils my piss. It is not irrational. We KNOW that covid-19 is killing people. People want to avoid death generally speaking. The disease is doing so in a way which is extremely fast and we don't who is at risk and how the spread of the disease will progress. Or if it will mutate.

This unknown factor is something that is rational to be concerned about. It is rational to not want to catch a disease we do not understand the long term effects of (some evidence that covid-19 can affect the testes so may have impact on fertility for example) or have no effective treatment for (possibility of damaged long term health from treatment which is untested).

The fear comes from the unknown quantities and lack of knowledge that prevents us from making informed decisions about because we do not have that data. This removes control from people. People are designed to be afraid of things we don't understand - anxiety and fear are a natural response to protect us from danger. This is not irrational. Irrational is when fear exceeds the risk posed. But since we do not fully understand the risk (in this case its multiple risks not just directly from dying of covid, but also indirect affects and indirect long term consequences) how can this be 'irrational'?

Are we going to say its irrational for healthy young nurses on an ITU ward to be afraid of dying of covid-19? I mean if they have no chance of dying why are we wasting PPE on them?

I'm sorry but there is so much nonsense and telling people to 'get a grip' is deeply unhelpful.

We need to have time to be able to find out the nature of the disease and how we can mitigate its affect before anyone can relax. We need to get to a point where people ARE able to make informed decisions. We also need to be at a point where people are able to be reassured that they are safe and that they don't pose a risk to others. Thats not going to happen quickly.

Risk management and risk assessment are deeply connected and intertwined with fear and anxiety. Without the missing component of knowledge we can not dismiss anyone as being 'hysterical', 'irrational', 'in need of a grip' or any other bullshit emotive language because we just don't KNOW.

I'm 41. 2 months ago I was extremely fit and healthy. Athletically so in both high intensity, endurance and ultra endurance. Exactly six weeks ago I was exercising and started having trouble breathing. I spent nearly 3 weeks unable to so much as get out of bed to make a cup of tea or hold a conversation without gasping for breath. As soon as I got better I thought it was all over and I could get back to normal. A few days later I was in hospital being diagnosed with a pleuretic right lung. That's taking much longer to recover than it should. In the last week I've developed also costochondritis for the second time this month. I walked for just shy of 10,000 steps (an extremely slow day for the me of 2 months ago) on Sunday. I had to spend Monday in bed.

I'm trying to keep reminding myself that I'm probably 90% better but despite being dosed up on anti-inflammatories I still get stabbing pains in my lung upon taking a deep breath. I can't do so much as a counter-top push up, whereas before 100 proper push-ups were just part of my morning warm up. The definition in my arms and calf muscles is only visible when I flex. My 6 pack is almost gone. My face looks like shit. It will be a long, long, long time before I'm able to get back to how I used to be because even when I feel 100% better, the odds are that I won't be and need to forget about being the me that I loved being for quite some time. I'm terrified that I won't fully recover.

I'm one of many, many thousands of people who are still some sort of fucking secret being denied for now but who will be acknowledged in time. This isn't a bit of a flu for many people, even fit healthy people. I've had the flu. I was sicker but then I was better and it was done with, just part of my past. This fucker is lingering and lingering. Maybe I'll feel differently when and if it's truly in the past for me but right now, I'd advise anyone to keep on avoiding it.

www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/opinion/coronavirus-recovery.html

I get your point OP.

No one is talking about the many many people who have had this with very mild symptoms. The numbers are still really low compared to the various nasty bugs we can all catch.

People are scared of this because it's new, so they have not yet had to time for their brains to process the level of risk.

We are still no further forward are we regarding whether these people died with CV19 or because of it. Care homes by their nature always have high death rates.

I am not trying to minimise this at all but care home residents by their very nature are not well people (have a Father and Uncle in two separate homes). Not in the best of health and late 80's.

It has killed many healthy people and you can have something wrong without knowing. I know someone who’s father passed away from a heart condition that no one knew he had. They then gave them the great news that it’s hereditary so her and her family had to be tested, out of her and her 2 siblings she had the same condition and had open heart surgery a year later. If they had got covid before knowing about their heart issues they would have died!

Trouble is when people get into the mindset of thinking they'll be fine, they'll stop taking precautions, they'll soon forget social distancing, soon stop washing their hands again, etc etc and that massively increases the risks to everyone around them.

Because healthy people are dying.

Because healthy people might have an underlying condition they are not aware of.

Because we don't know enough about this new virus.

Because we have no idea about long term physical affects.

Because it might mutate.

Because the lack of antibodies are worrying.

Because it is a horrible way to die.

Because the illness itself (when you get it bad) is nasty.

Because they are shit scared of passing it onto someone else, and they die.

Also there is the new rash and red toes that may be linked to covid 19 that has only just been publicised. If this has only just been publicised, what else don't we know?
Other pandemics in the past have left people with a host of long term health issues. It is very unlikely that won't happen this time.

Rubbish @Kazzyhoward

I’m perfectly capable of assessing the personal risk to me and my family and not living in fear of this whilst still being obsessive about hand washing and following social distancing rules. The two things aren’t mutually exclusive. I still care about not spreading it around.

I’m just realistic. Despite best efforts. I’m sure many of us will get it. We can still be careful without being terrified. Obviously I’d rather not get it and be ill.

We don’t have a vaccine or a plan really. But we can’t stay on lockdown for months and months and not work etc. So people need to get there heads around this.

What a bizarre, rude question that shows a huge amount of ignorance and callousness.
I know two people who got the virus, both were healthy. One had to be hospitalised, he was touch and go, and is now in a long slow recovery. The other died.

Because even seemingly healthy people can die of it, especially if they have an undiagnosed underlying condition (many people do) or are exposed to a particularly high viral load (like many healthcare workers). Because even if you survive it, you can be seriously ill for a long time. Because people can't easily be neatly divided into the low-risk and high-risk - there are plenty at medium risk, and, speaking as one of them, even if my chance of dying of I catch it are 'only', say, about 3 to 5%, that's a much higher risk than I want to take. Because even those who have only mild illness or are asymptomatic can pass it on to other people.

@sunglasses123 Read the statistics, care homes have had way over their normal amount of people dying.

I'm not worried at all, but would rather not get it. I am self employed and still doing some work, bills need paying. Also would like to not pass it to my mum whose shopping I do.