To wonder why Covid is so rampant atm?

[Summerdayzhaze]

As title really, I know so many people that have it at the moment and cases are really high here, which is odd as we've had nothing but glorious sunshine here for the last couple of months really.

I thought it was a bit more dormant in the summer, especially if people are outside more in terms of bars/ restaurants etc which they certainly have been here due to the weather. Is it because the children haven't broken up yet I wonder?

Are cases high in your area atm?

I'm not getting off this planet alive at the end of my life. I might live to a ripe old age. I might develop some chronic ill health. A policeman may knock at the front door with tragic news. I might go down with Long Covid, but whatever happens I'd rather go down with a stack of great memories of a life well-lived while I was around and in decent health.

I may as well catch Covid having fun times rather than emerging from a hermitage living in fear and berating people for being SELFISH for having the audacity to live and trying to blame the monthly supermarket trip or person coughing nearby.

We're following a seasonal pattern where respiritory illness has more social impacts in the winter, but there are smaller waves every few months as new variations emerge and peoples' immune systems catch up. This time last year we were in the same position with a gentle peak brewing as Delta became the dominant strain and "Freedom Day" was delayed by a month.

People have had the chance to be vaccinated multiple times which has positively affected the cases: hospitalisations/ deaths ratio. Millions have been exposed/ recovered. It's not novel anymore. Those that wish to re-organise their lives to "be careful", fine, but don't treat it as a superior moral way of living and be scathing of people partying like it's 2019. Restrictions have cost society too much and demanding constant sacrifice of others is ironically selfish and usually self-serving.

China has "mitigations". They're doing so well aren't they? 🙄

Lots of people dying.
Still happy?

She's skipping through the streets in sheer ecstasy.

🙄

It's because ultimately nothing can be done to stop it spreading so spread is what it does.

Ok maybe we can put measures in place that might slow it down. Masks for instance, might not be a real hardship for some to wear in all inside places but it's hardly normal. It may well prevent people from doing "fun stuff" inside, like going to the pub/a cafe. Fair enough, we don't *need" to go to out, we can all stay at home with our wine and coffee and have friends over. Slowly but surely the businesses start to lose profit and have to let some staff go at best to stay afloat. Those staff are then left jobless.

Maybe we can go back to spreading out the tables or only allowing households to sit together so that's reducing the amount of people that can physically be in there and spending money. People will just decide it's not worth the hassle, especially alongside masks and once again stay at home with their friends.

Maybe we can ban large gatherings again but that doesn't really work either because people still find a way to gather in large numbers and instead of doing it legally and properly it just ends up in anarchy because people are fed up and will just do what they want regardless.

So it's still spreading because people are still socialising, inside, outside, in small groups and large groups but ok maybe it's spreading a bit less.

Then there comes a point where you have to think is it worth it. If we keep these measures in place then maybe COVID won't be as rampant but unless it goes away these measures will have to stay in place because as soon as you lift them the cases will increase logically because more people are in contact with one another.

How many people really want to live a life where we have to go around wearing masks inside everywhere and being told who we can and can't socialise with for something that for the most part isn't going to kill them or perhaps even make them even a bit ill.

I had it back in April and I didn't even need to go to a festival to catch it. It came from somewhere, maybe the supermarket, the gym, work, the kids, a friend, I don't know and don't care. I only did a test because I had one and was curious and as a result I was left with a dilemma about going to work. I was a month into my new job, didn't really want to call in sick especially because I didn't get paid but I didn't feel amazing and I didn't want to give it to people. I ended up staying off the whole week and losing my whole week's pay.

2 weeks ago I came down with similar symptoms only this time I didn't have any tests and there was no point in taking one because I wasn't about to change my behaviour. I went to work for the day even though I wanted to stay at home because I couldn't risk being off again after such a short time and I definitely couldn't afford even the days loss let alone a whole 5 days again. So had it been covid then I've spread it around my workplace and amongst all the customers but I had to put myself first. Nobody else is going to pay my bills or get another job for me. As far as I'm aware no other staff member went off sick and I was still seeing the same customer's faces so they weren't dropping like flies either.

Every virus that is circulating among us was new at some point and they will have killed lots of people but the rest of us are still here because of immunity. Nobody wants anybody to die from a virus but the reality is somebody will at some point and you will have given somebody a virus that has killed someone. Maybe not directly but you get it from a, pass it to b who passes it to c who passes it to d and then they die or maybe suffer long term issues. You have no clue who this d person even is but you have contributed to them getting a virus.

One day this virus will be as old as time (unless it's eradicated) and another will be there to take its place, and another and another until something comes along that wipes us all out for good.

Accusing people of being happy about covid deaths because they don't subscribe to whatever ineffective restrictions you want just makes you sound like a fuckwit.

Oh look, we're back to the grim old days of posters claiming others are happy that lots of people are dying.

With every new wave of covid comes a new wave of twatty, offensive bollocks like this.

Hospitalisations up 40% this week in the hospital I work in.

Everyone returns to normal, more people get slightly sick leading to a greater number getting really sick.

saving grace is death numbers aren’t rising due to better treatments , but just be prepared for fewer ITU beds to be free for other illnesses and greater staff shortages in the NHS while staff are isolating themselves.

im not advocating for another lockdown by the way. But I know people will blame the NHS staff when they’re impacted by hospital delays when there needs to be a recognition that this is actually the flip side of “normal”. It’s the trade off we need to recognise.

Why are people still insisting that covid is spreading because people are socialising?

Many, many more people go to work than go to festivals or pubs or restaurants or whatever. People have no choice but to do so. Similarly children have to go to school, even with covid.

It's not spreading because people are having fun, ffs.

Errr yes, if you have a cough that’s so bad that you disturb everyone else in the cinema then I don’t think it’s really on to ruin everyone else’s night to be coughing away

(I have asthma and hay fever and would never dream of ruining everyone’s film by hacking my way through it)

((As my own counter argument though, I rarely go to the cinema because I find the amount of noise other people make to totally ruin the experience and spend more of the time internally wishing they’d be quiet than enjoying the film, so I think people who are sensitive to everyday noises should probably also be the ones to stay at home))

Few people in hospital, minimal numbers in ITU, people dying with covid rather than of covid - we have turned this into a lesser illness with mass vaccination. Unfortunately it is the cev for whom this is still not a lesser illness (although with the drug treatments not quite as serious as in the early days)

Of course no one is happy about anyone dying of Covid but nothing more can be done now to prevent it

How so?

maybe she didn’t know she had it until after the gigs

I went out for a meal and to the cinema a few weeks ago, I felt absolutely fine. Later that night I felt cold. The next morning I had a sore throat and runny nose and tested - positive. I then stayed home but I could have infected people before I knew I had it. Don’t feel amazing about it but it’s hardly selfish is it

Some people have persistent long term coughs that are not contagious (but others wouldn't know that) Should they stay home so they don't get judged?

Given the extreme coughing the poster described I agree that the person in the cinema shouldn't have been there. I get bad coughs which can last for weeks, and yes I still go out and about. However, I would NOT go to cinema where people are trying to watch a movie, as that would be rude - and yes, selfish, but for a different reason. Coughing every now and again = fine, coughing constantly for a couple of hours = not fine.

So how can anyone know it's rampant?

@LuckySantangelo35 - read the whole thread!!! She caught it while she was out and about - which has been mentioned numerous times already. For what it's worth @DashboardConfessional I understood what you meant in your first post, but some people are oviously hard of comprehension!!

ONS survey is still the best data we have as it has been the most consistent. That and overall hospitalisations increasing again. Look up Christina Pagall on Twitter for data too.

Are you saying those with chronic illnesses should stay at home so as not to cause inconvenience to others? Because that's what it sounds like you're saying.

A heavy cougher in a cinema is causing more than "inconvenience". People have paid money to watch a movie, not to listen to someone cough uncontrollably for two hours. Whatever happened to common courtesy?

Well obviously, that's my point, that's why unless it's goes away the only way to stop it from spreading is to stop people from mingling, including work.

So people think hmm we can't stop essential workers going to work so what can we do. I know, let's ban socialising. That's exactly what happened and whilst it had an affect we are still in the same position with it spreading and we can't ban it forever so now that we've given it our best shot and vaccinated people we just have to get on with it.

It's not spreading because people are having fun, ffs

To go by some of the posters here, you’d think that someone wantonly enjoying themselves pits them at a higher risk of infection.

Look up Christina [Pagel] on Twitter for data too.

This would be Christina Pagel the mathematician, rather than an epidemiologist or virologist?

Some conditions and/or their treatment cause coughing.

So, just to be absolutely clear, you are saying that people who live with these conditions should avoid cinemas (and presumably theatres and other venues too) out of 'common courtesy'?

I’ve got it at the moment, work in nhs patient facing role and avoided it for 2 years. Tested positive yesterday feeling rough but work no longer pay for covid sickness and are expecting me in unless I want to be off unpaid! I’ve chosen unpaid leave which isn’t ideal financially for me but I’m far too Rough to go in and wouldn’t feel morally right to go on as normal and spread it 😫

Christina Pagel has done nothing but forecast disaster and doom for the last 2.5 years

The government and media have chosen to pretend its not happening. DP and I just recovered from it - 2 weeks off work sick and delayed our house move as a result (costing us hundreds in extra rent). I'm not saying we need another lockdown but a bit more awareness / testing / personal responsibility could spare a lot of people the nightmare we've just been through.
It's as if the last 2 years never happened.

DD (15) thinks she got it at a concert last week. She saw on social media that lots of people there had tested positive and she had a sore throat so tested and it was positive. She missed the last of her GCSEs (although not all schools have the same policy re covid and exams)
She had a sore throat and cold symptoms but tested negative on day 6. (She previously had it at Christmas)
The rest of us have so far tested negative and carried on going to school/work as normal.