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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think people don't care about covid anymore?

246 replies

MumofLandD · 19/12/2023 10:57

That really. Quick straw poll on that.
DS (13) tested positive this morning after I had a very faint positive this morning. I tested because I had a sore throat all night and 6 days til Christmas I wanted to check. We have Xmas dinner at the ex's families planned and 3 others going are vulnerable.
I also test when feeling unwell as I am a front line health care worker and work with cancer patients and other vulnerable people. Although my hospitals policy is if you test positive and feel well enough to come to work then you are allowed to work, I morally disagree with this.
I co parent with ex partner, he is due to have DS tomorrow for the rest of the week and he thinks DS can go to school tomorrow if he feels better whereas I disagree. DS's best friend is spending Xmas with his 90 year old grandmother and I would hate for him to pass it on to her. Plus who else will he come in contact with at school who have plans like that? Ex partner is of the opinion that vunerable people are fine if they are vaccinated but I don't believe so. Not sure if I am still traumatised by the sights I saw in the first wave.
Interestingly when I asked XP if he was happy for our son to sit next to his mother at the table, if he was still positive, who is vulnerable but vaccinated he said no. 🙄

OP posts:
RafaistheKingofClay · 20/12/2023 10:59

ManchesterLu · 20/12/2023 10:43

You shouldn't be testing for covid anymore. You should be keeping away from people, where possible, when you have a contagious illness, whatever it's called.

I don't know why people see covid as the devil, but colds and flu yeah fair game, let's go and infect all the grannies.

This is the huge caveat isn’t it? The idea that we should treat it like any other winter virus comes with the caveat that the British should take other winter viruses more seriously.

And the answer to that is better sick pay.

Samlewis96 · 20/12/2023 17:44

I worked as delivery driver all through the lockdowns deluvering stuff to people isolating with covid As far as i know i never hsve had it. Ive had first 2 jabs so i could travel. Most of testing i had was either to travel or going to hospital for cancer diagnosis and treatment and once when my teenage son had covid so i tested.
I Dont get stressed over it.

Lolovans · 20/12/2023 18:10

Or those who will get sacked if they don't turn up to work. Some people have no choice

HGNewMum · 20/12/2023 18:39

Also front line healthcare worker who watched hundreds of people die of COVID and I definitely still have PTSD from it so definitely biased but I don’t think you’re wrong at all! I still struggle with crowds, partly because of how much I know the general public didn’t care during that horrendous first wave and even less so now. This thread has not made me feel better 😖

HunterBidensBurnerPhone · 20/12/2023 18:56

But what do you all want people to do?

Pennyforyourthoughts23 · 20/12/2023 19:07

I wouldn't send your son to school. It's the last couple of days and he could make all of his friends and teachers Ill over the holidays, which isn't fair. I would say this about any cold though to be fair.

Spacecowboys · 20/12/2023 19:52

Most people view covid in the same way they do any other viral illness now. Deaths and hospitalisations are nowhere near what they were in 2020. There is no requirement to test, so a lot of people don’t. Lockdowns/ restrictions created as many problems as they solved and most people (including children) completely lost their ‘quality of life’. People felt they were existing rather than living. Individuals can make their own judgement call now and given it has been three years, that’s reasonable.

ExTheCheater · 20/12/2023 19:58

I'm not vulnerable but was so unwell with covid. Worse illness I've ever had. So based on that if my child had it a few days before Xmas I wouldn't send them to school to share it with friends. Everyone will be seeing elderly grandparents. I'd hate to give my nan covid.

Teawaster · 21/12/2023 00:40

I got covid after travelling to Valencia a couple of weeks ago. I felt a bit off and as I have a 96 year old MIL I tested.
It was a pretty mild dose. I didn't have a temperature or any bad symptoms . I didn't go anywhere that I would be in very close contact with people . I cancelled a hair appointment but I did go grocery shopping, whilst keeping my distance and only picking up stuff that I was buying and paying contactless. So I think it was highly unlikely I passed it to anyone.
It's something we just have to live with and be sensible about. I wouldn't have wanted to pass anything to my MIL previously either, so would have not visited if I had a cold or at least kept my distance

CouchCat · 21/12/2023 00:48

Greezynogreasy · 20/12/2023 10:03

Covid is no longer the disease it was at the start.
For most people it is just like a bad cold now and yes, people have also historically been hospitalised with a bad cold and for flu too. For the vast majority of the population life goes on.

We can’t keep isolating or wearing masks when we have a bout of Covid or a cold (masks don’t work anyway)

These read like 'Facebook facts'; ie. nonsense.

Original poster
MumofLandD · 21/12/2023 06:55

Well I ended up testing positive yesterday and feel awful. All day in bed probably the same today. Kept DS off school.

OP posts:
Tessisme · 21/12/2023 07:09

Hope you and DS feel better soon @MumofLandDFlowers

TheKeatingFive · 21/12/2023 07:27

These read like 'Facebook facts'; ie. nonsense.

What specifically are you disputing?

CouchCat · 21/12/2023 07:53

TheKeatingFive · 21/12/2023 07:27

These read like 'Facebook facts'; ie. nonsense.

What specifically are you disputing?

The last sentence in particular.

Dwappy · 21/12/2023 08:48

CouchCat · 21/12/2023 07:53

The last sentence in particular.

Show quote history

Depends on the type of mask. Surgical masks and the like (like the fabric ones) do very little to stop you catching things. I was taught that 20+ years ago when training. If you are coughing and spluttering all over the place one will obviously help minimise droplet spread but again won't contain it fully.
Fitted masks like FFP3 will do more to stop you catching things but again unless fitted properly will not stop it it totally.
A combination of sick people wearing Surgical masks and non sick people wearing FFP3 will obviously significantly reduce the spread of all viruses. How realistic that is long term is another story.

VanityDiesHard · 21/12/2023 08:50

YABU. We just have to get on with it, now. We already lost two years to the handwringing. No more.

marmaladeandpeanutbutter · 21/12/2023 09:24

People should make their own decisions about what they do, but don't pretend that it is t still killing people, because it is. Look at the governments own reports, for example.

The main precautions I take are to stay up to date with vaccines (I'm eligible), and would definitely stay at home if sick. I'd avoid sick people. I also keep my hands clean. I've stopped wearing masks everywhere.

VanityDiesHard · 21/12/2023 09:26

marmaladeandpeanutbutter · 21/12/2023 09:24

People should make their own decisions about what they do, but don't pretend that it is t still killing people, because it is. Look at the governments own reports, for example.

The main precautions I take are to stay up to date with vaccines (I'm eligible), and would definitely stay at home if sick. I'd avoid sick people. I also keep my hands clean. I've stopped wearing masks everywhere.

Flu kills people every year as well. It's the mass hysteria I object to, rather than the precautions, though. Winter viruses are around, what makes Covid special?

TrashedSofa · 21/12/2023 09:28

Good quality masks used properly will reduce spread, but I don't see any evidence at all that the population are having it. Much less isolation. When we had those things as legal requirements and they were mostly observed, it was because enough people bought into it.

Greezynogreasy · 21/12/2023 09:53

@CouchCat
”These read like 'Facebook facts'; ie. nonsense.”

Afraid it’s not nonsense at all.

I work in healthcare. I and many others caught Covid when we were fobbed off and told to use the cheap face masks. Initially we were given facefit masks and told the cheap ones are effective only for 2 minutes.

The only ones which do work, almost 100% efficiently are the Face fit masks but they are not widely available … not even to healthcare workers.
And they were removed from use for many healthcare workers as they were too expensive!

Mukey · 21/12/2023 10:41

Greezynogreasy · 21/12/2023 09:53

@CouchCat
”These read like 'Facebook facts'; ie. nonsense.”

Afraid it’s not nonsense at all.

I work in healthcare. I and many others caught Covid when we were fobbed off and told to use the cheap face masks. Initially we were given facefit masks and told the cheap ones are effective only for 2 minutes.

The only ones which do work, almost 100% efficiently are the Face fit masks but they are not widely available … not even to healthcare workers.
And they were removed from use for many healthcare workers as they were too expensive!

Exactly. The thing is a lot of people think putting on a mask classed as FFP2 or whatever from amazon fully protects them. It might help a bit, but unless you've been fit tested and it is totally sealed it won't protect you fully.
To be fair, if I get a patient who is coughing and spluttering (dentistry - and we can't turn people away) I will wear what is classed as an FFP3. However it is not fit tested and definitely leaks. It makes me feel better but I'm under no illusion it will definitely stop me catching whatever it is they've got. But I give it a go and hope for the best even when people are coughing right in my face.

CouchCat · 21/12/2023 11:03

Greezynogreasy · 21/12/2023 09:53

@CouchCat
”These read like 'Facebook facts'; ie. nonsense.”

Afraid it’s not nonsense at all.

I work in healthcare. I and many others caught Covid when we were fobbed off and told to use the cheap face masks. Initially we were given facefit masks and told the cheap ones are effective only for 2 minutes.

The only ones which do work, almost 100% efficiently are the Face fit masks but they are not widely available … not even to healthcare workers.
And they were removed from use for many healthcare workers as they were too expensive!

That's not what you said, though. You simply said "masks don't work". All masks work - the higher the quality the better the efficacy.

firef1y · 21/12/2023 11:35

XenoBitch · 19/12/2023 21:33

And I can guarantee your mild cold you had pre-Covid would have put a vulnerable person in hospital.
But no one cared then.

Show quote history

My son came within a hairs breath of being ventilated for what was, for everyone else in his class, a mild cold. From his first autumn/winter cold/flu/rsv season in 2010 we had to make the decision over whether we needed to make yet another hospital visit at least once a month. He's nearly 14 now and still super vulnerable to coughs and colds, there have been times we've kept him off school because a cold is doing the rounds, he's vaccinated and boosted (partly because of his LD, partly his severe asthma and partly the immunosuppresents that help him live a relatively normal life with that asthma).
Not once did anyone care about if they infected him with their coughs and colds, as it right we've taken the steps needed to protect him

Ironically, when his little brother and Dad got covid, he never tested positive or showed symptoms despite sharing a room with his brother. And he had a really good couple of years while everyone kept their distance and stayed in when they had the slightest symptoms.of a cold.

Even more ironically was the abuse he received for not wearing a mask, remember he was only 11 with the mind of a 6/7yo and far more at risk from everyone else's germs.

firef1y · 21/12/2023 11:58

And BTW, our experience over the years of people not caring when they coughed and sneezed over us is exactly the reason I get so annoyed at the hysteria over covid. The very same people who shout loudest about how we should isolate at a positive covid test wouldn't think twice about going on a crowded train with a cold that could kill my son (or any other similarly vulnerable person).

As for long covid, Christmas 2019 I had a "mystery respiratory virus" (that definitely also affected my heart, RHR went from 40 to over 80 and even slight exertion put it above 160 when I normally have to work bloody hard to get it up that high. It also affected my sense of taste, tasteless chocolate is just sludge in the mouth). I spent an unheard of 4 days in bed and even when I could get out of bed it took me months to fully recover, in fact I was only just at the point where I could work out without my hr rocketing when lockdown started.
No-one worried then that they had gone out with whatever that was (personally I do suspect I had covid, but back then it was just considered a very nasty virus). I stayed in for around a week (because I couldn't do much else) and tried to stay away from my son. Because what I had didn't have a name but I didn't want anyone else to get it.

healthadvice123 · 21/12/2023 12:07

Hope your feeling better OP . I am still praying not picked up from dh&dc have been testing when seeing anyone and letting them know, also been keeping distance as much as possible from them. Dh now passed his 5 days and DS is tomorrow as online it says date from test but we are going with symptoms as didn’t have access to a test until day after and he never even had to test I now find out, just stay home whilst unwell. His symptoms lasted 2 days and now he is fine no cough no cold and due to go on a train tomorrow. Which is day 6 after first symptoms , he will test in morning to see if negative before he goes just to be sure, that I think is better than many who are just out with coughs and colds and somehoW just Know its not covid. But it is how the guidlines push you - test stay in 5 days , don’t test but have symptoms stay in until feel well enough, so ds could of gone out after 2 days instead he has stayed in from saturday evening when felt unwell until tomorrow. Not sure after this we will test again , we will just stay home when unwell as always have done and go out again when better. Spent £30 on tests this last couple weeks.