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.

Ridiculing people for being worried as some are doing on this thread really is not a nice thing to do.

Assuming you are very concerned (I’m not going to say which camp I fall into) do you think you will stay at home/give up work if necessary/keep children home from school until there is a vaccine/treatment?

Because I'm a single parent (I have a partner but we dont live together as he has children and is front linthe is front line), with no other support. So if I get as ill as I have seen some friends and colleagues get I worry where my children will end up. We only have one bathroom so cant iscolate from each other.

If we all get ill at the same time I worry about my ability to care for us all.

Doesn’t sound like a viable business model for the shopping centres to open for It to be that quiet

I'm not particularly vulnerable myself being young, fit and healthy but I really worry that I could pass it on to my parents and that is the biggest fear of mine!

In Russian roulette statistically you won’t get killed but I still don’t want to play it.

I think most people's worry is about infecting other people who may be vulnerable or who may go on to infect someone who is, but I think we have to accept we will never know and will have to live with that risk, and that if it wasn't us it might well have been someone else. We can't stay under total cover until no one can give this to anyone else, unfortunately, but societies can set up protocols to minimise the chance of it happening, which is happening in the background at the moment.

Because I'm 'healthy' but I have two underlying conditions which could put me at risk.

Because viruses mutate. This is getting deadlier with each mutation. In 1918, the 2nd wave disproportionately killed young and healthy people. There's a growing concern about it causing a serious disease in young children.

Because I don't want to pass it on. My shielded friend nearly died after catching it from a carer who came to her home. Imagine giving it to a carer who you pass in a supermarket or sit near on a bus.

But most of all, I am far more scared of a full blown pandemic raging through society, with millions ill at once and hundreds of thousands dying.

Because a lot of healthy people have underlying health concerns that they aren't aware of........my very normal, active and 'healthy' DD got the shock of her life when she had a health check and found out that she had extremely high cholesterol and is now on long term medication.

There is more reasonable people than dementors. You can already see the tide turning

Because healthy people have died of it too and if i'm seriously ill i have no family nearby to support me (although hopefully friends would step in!).

I have a relative who every time someone is ill - so are they! Needless to say they have never been in hospital and take great relish in going to the Doctors and stating they REALLY cannot find out what is wrong.

Different illnesses all the time and this has been going on for over 20 years.

Someone suggested that she was just attention seeking. I think there is a lot in this.

There is course the worried well. TBH - I am not nervous about catching CV19. I am social distancing and going out as little as I can. I wfh anyway. Washing hands etc as normal.

Some people see trouble and chaos at every corner. We will need to learn to live with this disease, just like flu which kills a fair amount every year.

Pfizer are saying they should have produced millions of doses of a covid 19 vaccine by the end of the year.

Why do you think it's not rational to be afraid of catching what can often be to healthy people a very uncomfortable, very unpleasant and alarming illness with a long recovery rate? And an unknown risk of that illness taking a nasty turn and costing your life? It's an extremely rational and normal thing to be afraid. It would be a bit odd not to be.

Life won't go back to normal any time soon. This is a massive unknown. It's very difficult to try and deal with all the uncertainty and unknowns involved, it's natural to try and wish for solutions that would mean life goes back to what it was a few months ago, but the western world really hasn't blown their economy apart and stopped normal life because of a bit of a sniffle. The tough love, we can't muck about forever, so man up and if you're going to have to die then get on and get it over with because that's the cost of normal is a false premise. As well as a bit insensitive.

'less than 0.5% of the population'. Ah yes, that's what, around 325,000 people. But hey, it's ok, as long as it's not me. That's the attitude of the government at the moment - it will happen anyway, so let's just get on with it, let loads of people die. They'll die anyway at some point. Difference with, say New Zealand, for who has carried out an extremely aggressive plan to stop the virus in its tracks, from the start. See the difference? 19 people died in New Zealand. UK: conservative estimate is 41,000 (FT source)

The issue here is that we are all in a chain, which is a weak as the idiots who think it's ok to flaunt the social distancing rules. And as weak as a government who is struggling to impose the correct measures to stop the spread of the virus.

I'm scared of it because it sounds seriously unpleasant and can leave even young, healthy people gasping for breath in hospital. I don't much fancy that tbh.

@sunglasses123 You have just said you can wfh, of course you are not worried. Most of us will have to go back to work as soon as lock down ends. Talk about being unaware.

I think the risk of a healthy young person a) catching it b) dying or having life long complications after we start to return to work and going out more are exaggerated in some people's minds.

The risk of dying/ having life long complications after a traffic accident, crossing the road, getting in a plane (to name a few) are statistically higher for young people yet people don't avoid going out for those reasons. They take precautions;

Just as we can take precautions once lockdown is relaxed (distancing, hand washing etc)

I think it's concerning that people are terrified of returning to some semblance of normality. There's a danger that we'll see a huge spike in mental health issues around agoraphobia, germ phobia and health anxiety.

As others have said, even though the majority of patients who get very ill from it have underlying conditions, there are still people who are 'healthy' who have died from it. Myself or my loved ones could be one of those unlucky people.

Also there's a chance of permanent lung damage even if you survive.

And I could help spread it to vulnerable people.

There's only so much I can do to avoid dying from cancer, or getting hit by a bus, but I can do more to avoid COVID19 so I am.

I’m scared OP because although I don’t think I will die, there’s always “what it?”. Also I have a toddler and soon a newborn and worried how I will care for them when I’ll (even if they aren’t affected).

Also I have a prolapse which coughing really aggravates and I worry it would cause it to permanently worsen so I’d need surgery.

That said, I will leave the house when allowed, i am just nervous.

I'm in the vulnerable (but not shielded) group and dh would be considered healthy as no underlying health issues. I'm worried about becoming ill for obvious reasons related to my health. Dh is worried about becoming ill because he doesn't want to give it to me (for whom it would be more serious). That's all pretty obvious.

But it's also related to finances. If I get ill and am completely unable to do anything for two weeks - of my friends who have had it, most have been completely unable to get out of bed and do anything for 2-3 weeks, then dh can't go to work for 2-3 weeks or longer. If dh gets ill, then obviously he can't go to work for 2-3 weeks or longer. He's self-employed (works alone, so we are completely self-isolating, but he wouldn't be able to do any work looking after dc as it requires heavy machinery that you couldn't have two small dc around). It would mean 2-3 weeks of lost income, which is quite a lot of money (particularly as we are in the process of buying a house), but also potentially lost contracts in the future. That would be really difficult.

Because if I am hospitalised I have no-one to take my two children. They would need to go into emergency foster care, hoping there is still some system in place for emergency care for possible carriers/contagious
It's not that hard to work out why some of us are scared

Cantory do you have a source for this? I have a friends husband who works there and I would like to ask him about it, thanks.

I will carry on wfh for as long as possible- live with vulnerable people so will need to decide re dc going back to school - 1 vulnerable (not sheild level) dont knwo about dh currently is out of work as contracting before and work collapsed.....could in theory work from home but needs to get a job first! not eligible for any of the help /financial support so guess will be a trade off between losing home/bankruptcy and health.... like many self employed .....I am trying to increase income but not a lot of recruiting going on at the minute..

multiple elderly parents of varying views -on isolation

Not really worried for myself at all.

My DH is in a vulnerable group and I am seriously worried about being asymptotic and spreading it to him and anyone else vulnerable.

I'm treating it just like we did AIDs, where in first aid we were taught to treat everyone's blood as potentially infectious.

Until there is a reliable test to confirm that I am not shedding infection, I'm going to keep away from everyone (apart from DH).