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Original poster

Is the COVID 19 pandemic "over"?

222 replies

verdantverdure · 17/08/2023 08:50

I just thought I'd ask.

YABU The COVID 19 pandemic IS "over."

YANBU The COVID 19 pandemic is not "over".

OP posts:
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8
MaybeSmaller · 17/08/2023 12:34

It is "over" in the sense that it's no longer considered to justify an emergency response.

Whether it ever did in the first place is a matter for debate.

babybopella · 17/08/2023 13:37

Bonfire23 · 17/08/2023 12:05

@babybopella but if you could test for flu or a cold then yes obviously! If you have flu or cold symptoms then don't visit anyone
I get free tests so I can ask people to use them

It’s not rocket science is it, if you don’t feel well, try not to be around others. I don’t need to test to know if I don’t feel well. The whole concept of testing is daft. Especially because you could have it and not get the positive result for days.

Bonfire23 · 17/08/2023 13:43

It's a back up
If you could test if you were carrying around a cold, flu, whatever asymptomatic then yes people could do it
My dad and my friends test to protect me and don't visit if they have cold symptoms, if they could test for a cold then they would

Threenow · 17/08/2023 20:43

MoserRothOrangeandAlmond · 17/08/2023 10:25

@betwelve you have just described what Flu is. True flu people describe that it even hurts to blink!
You can get Flu influenza in the summer.... it's just not as common. We have had a few people positive for influenza in my area.

Yes, this. Most people who say they have flu actually have a cold. True flu is usually quite debilitating.

PinkCherryBlossoms · 17/08/2023 20:43

AussieManque · 17/08/2023 10:46

@Summerrainagain1 no one is talking about lockdowns. There is a lot we can do to reduce spread.

  1. Ventilation in public spaces including schools
  2. Air purifiers in these locations
  3. Mandatory masking in healthcare settings because the number of hospital acquired infections is shocking, and people in hospitals/GP suegeries are vulnerable
  4. Provide free tests so people can test if they are sick
  5. Encourage people to wear a mask if sick and isolate if possible.
  6. Educate public about proper masks i.e. respirators instead of surgicals

It won't cut transmission 100% but it's definitely better than pretending there's nothing we can do.

You're making some optimistic assumptions about masks there. There's no basis at all for assuming that the population are going to be receptive to messaging about masks given that mask laws didn't prevent Omicron ripping through the poulation, willing and able to afford the good quality ones in a COL crisis and ok with wearing them in healthcare settings. Actually I'm not sure even healthcare staff would be up for that, let alone patients. It was breaking down by the time the NHS got rid of the policy. If you wanted to just say it's worth a try, that's one thing, but the use of the term 'definitely' is unwarranted.

And free universal testing is incredibly expensive. Personally I'd rather see that money used to do something about our disgraceful statutory sick pay, so people who are too ill to work are able to rest. Whether that's with covid or something else.

Delatron · 17/08/2023 20:58

betwelve · 17/08/2023 10:16

Well, if you think getting knocked out for ten days with illness in the middle of summer is "just like flu", then yes. 😐

I was ill for weeks with flu. I lost half a stone that I didn’t need to lose and took me a few months to feel 100% (long flu?!).

We just have another nasty disease that will be with us every year. Like flu, like bad colds. For some it will be mild for others more serious. Like all the other viruses circulating.

It’s frustrating but what can we do? I just try and make sure I’m the healthiest I can be.

crosstheriver · 17/08/2023 21:23

babybopella · 17/08/2023 12:02

Just another made up thing. Your relative will be vulnerable to any illness then, do you also test for flu and the common cold?

Show quote history

Pray tell, exactly what do you think is a made up thing? If you mean the fact my dying relative is clinically extremely vulnerable, take a good long look at yourself in the mirror and your severe lack of empathy and compassion.

I don't test for the flu and colds because I can't, but if I think I'm coming down with one, I stay the hell away. I also get vaccinated against the flu.

With Covid, you can be asymptomatic, so relying on when you feel a bit ill isn't much good.

babybopella · 17/08/2023 22:15

crosstheriver · 17/08/2023 21:23

Pray tell, exactly what do you think is a made up thing? If you mean the fact my dying relative is clinically extremely vulnerable, take a good long look at yourself in the mirror and your severe lack of empathy and compassion.

I don't test for the flu and colds because I can't, but if I think I'm coming down with one, I stay the hell away. I also get vaccinated against the flu.

With Covid, you can be asymptomatic, so relying on when you feel a bit ill isn't much good.

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Clinically extremely vulnerable. It’s just made up. It’s all daft. The whole covid thing is utterly ridiculous and people have behaved like sheep.

Bonfire23 · 17/08/2023 22:57

How is it made up? Confused
I've always been "vulnerable" as such
Yes it's a made up category name but the conditions in that category are very real
You don't have to be Einstein to work out that people with compromised immune systems are more vulnerable to covid (as they are everything else)
It's effectively the same risk groups as the flu vaccine which existed way before covid

vodkaredbullgirl · 17/08/2023 23:06

There is always one 🙄

EmilyBrontesGhost · 17/08/2023 23:08

I'm still waiting for it to start . . .

beeonmybonnett · 17/08/2023 23:13

Can someone correct me on this?

my understanding was that the WHO declared an end to the ‘global health emergency ‘ that they first declared in January 2020 but had not declared the pandemic as OVER?

Sockmate123 · 17/08/2023 23:16

Yes

AussieManque · 18/08/2023 01:42

@beeonmybonnett you are correct, the pandemic is not over.

nenishtart · 18/08/2023 01:43

The WHO declared that the global emergency phase was over; that is not the same as saying the pandemic itself is over, when it clearly isn't.

Didiplanthis · 18/08/2023 01:45

verdantverdure · 17/08/2023 09:15

I have it at the moment and it's absolutely floored me. It doesn't feel milder to be honest.

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I am also feeling bloody awful with it right now. Having had it 3 x before and 4 vaccines.....

nenishtart · 18/08/2023 01:48

babybopella · 17/08/2023 22:15

Clinically extremely vulnerable. It’s just made up. It’s all daft. The whole covid thing is utterly ridiculous and people have behaved like sheep.

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There you are, with all the empathy of a gnat, telling other people they are sheep ...

OCaptain · 18/08/2023 04:54

@babybopella

Clinically extremely vulnerable. It’s just made up. It’s all daft. The whole covid thing is utterly ridiculous and people have behaved like sheep.

Do further explain your clinical position, Dr Babybopella.

DrasticAction · 18/08/2023 05:50

@betwelve what are the new symptoms please

babybopella · 18/08/2023 07:28

The government told you to stay At home, to wear masks, to have vaccinations that had literally been made in little time, you did that for nothing other than a virus like a cold. It’s hilarious when you think about it. And no, I didn’t have vaccines, I didn’t follow the rules either because they were too silly. I was a single mum at the time of the first lock down, to be told I couldn’t see anyone for months, no other adult, Its Laughable now but I didn’t comply. And I wouldn’t again. Like I said, its all daft

EmilyBrontesGhost · 18/08/2023 08:17

Didiplanthis · 18/08/2023 01:45

I am also feeling bloody awful with it right now. Having had it 3 x before and 4 vaccines.....

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You've had four vaccines and you've got covid for the fourth time, so those vaccines worked well didn't they . . .

OCaptain · 18/08/2023 08:18

babybopella · 18/08/2023 07:28

The government told you to stay At home, to wear masks, to have vaccinations that had literally been made in little time, you did that for nothing other than a virus like a cold. It’s hilarious when you think about it. And no, I didn’t have vaccines, I didn’t follow the rules either because they were too silly. I was a single mum at the time of the first lock down, to be told I couldn’t see anyone for months, no other adult, Its Laughable now but I didn’t comply. And I wouldn’t again. Like I said, its all daft

I was more interested in an explanation of how 'clinically extremely vulnerable' is daft, though.

rainbowunicorn · 18/08/2023 08:29

verdantverdure · 17/08/2023 09:14

I have it right now @Lindy2 and seem to know a lot of similarly ill people who haven't tested.

I looked it up this morning and my age group (40s) isn't getting a jab.

Plus we're not jabbing until October to save NHS staff hours by combining it with the Flu jab.

I guess I feel we're in a bit of an odd position.

It's "over" enough that only "the vulnerable" are getting covid jabs this autumn and apparently there's no rush.

But it's not so "over" that "the vulnerable" don't need to be jabbed against it.

Thats how vaccines work though. It is the same as the flu, shingles, pneumonia vaccines to name a few. They are targeted to the people who are likely to have worse outcomes.
No point in doing the whole population because it wouldn't really change anything at this stage.

PinkCherryBlossoms · 18/08/2023 08:32

OCaptain · 18/08/2023 08:18

I was more interested in an explanation of how 'clinically extremely vulnerable' is daft, though.

Show quote history

Yeah, the whole post is silly. One can be critical of the policy response and even of other people's reaction to it whilst not coming out with obvious bollocks about clinical vulnerability. It isn't either/or.

x2boys · 18/08/2023 08:34

Can somebody explain when the pandemic will.be over at what point?
( I keep.asking but no luck yet )
I.understand that Covid will be around for ever and is endemic now and the global.emergency is over ,so when will.the pandemic be over ?