Coronavirus - sick and tired of the hysterical scaremongering

[Ashtower]

I work in an office and I've overheard a number of people blowing the outbreak all out of proportion. One colleague has ordered facemasks off Amazon - we're in SE England ffs. I wish people would educate themselves (from reputable sources) and stop winding everyone up.

Of course, a healthy amount of caution is important but it's made me aware of how mass hysteria ie witch trials occurred in the past. Just takes one ignorant person with a massive mouth (yes I'm talking about you Sue in budgeting).

@BerlinCalling

I just read the opening post and thought, why wouldn't your colleague be wearing a face mask?! Why aren't you?! Then I saw the date 🙈 bit harsh to drag this up though, none of us knew how bad it would get.

Errrrr....

About that.

You might want to look at other previous threads. Plenty had a fair idea.

@bigvig

80,000 people have died within two weeks of contracting Covid. 40,000 people can die in a normal year of flu, of flu not just having tested positive for flu within two weeks of death.

Just saying!

@bigvig

People quoting such high deaths from flu in the UK confuse me. As far as I can tell this is wrong. Where is this data from?

For example:
fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-compare-influenza/

It says:
At the time of writing this article in March, Public Health England told Full Fact it estimated that on average 17,000 people have died from the flu in England annually between 2014/15 and 2018/19 - with the yearly deaths varying widely from a high of 28,330 in 2014/15 to a low of 1,692 in 2018/19.

28,330 is the highest number they quote for deaths from flu, certainly not the normal number at all. Some years we have less than 1,000 deaths from flu

Somewhat lower than 80,000+ !

Blowing it out of proportion ?

We normally have 18-24 ITU beds over a winter. At the moment we have 172 but we don't have that many qualified ITU trained staff. Four people died just before I came off shift this morning. Spend a day with me and you'll never get another nights sleep again.

Johnson was swanning off to have hols in luxury Caribbean oligarchs villas with his pregnant mistress and celebrating having got Brexit done whilst skipping Cobra meetings. Happy Days eh!

@Pyewhacket
Not sure what to say to you. Thank you for all that you and the staff are doing.

Not sure if it is ok to ask a couple of questions?
Are you and others able to get counselling for what you are going through daily?

And, if I may ask, how long does it take to train up a qualified ITU person? Thanks.

WILL NO-ONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN???!!!!

"Are you and others able to get counselling for what you are going through daily?"

Have you seen the state of our mental health provision in this country?

As an asthmatic, I took covid very seriously right from the start. I was already doing everything realistically possible to isolate myself several weeks before the first lockdown was announced. I’m not claiming any special insight or knowledge, I was also very worried about SARS & Swine Flu in case the worst happened. The only difference is that this time, it did.

So far, through an abundance of caution and by putting my life on hold, I have successfully dodged the bullet. I listened to the scientists, not the media or the politicians, and I was always optimistic that with Big Pharma throwing limitless resources at the problem, vaccines, treatments or both would be developed quickly.

My only regret is that I didn’t make the most of the summer when, in retrospect, the amount of covid around was tiny apart from a few isolated hot spots. I was too scared to go on holiday, and I admit I got that one wrong.

@seasideseas I imagine there to be in-house counselling available?

@AgeLikeWine I think many will be going on holiday this year.
Like the schools really, first time around, many kept their kids away. Now many have changed their minds.

What’s wrong with ordering face masks of Amazon?

They need to be worn in shops/buses/offices etc...
Seems normal to me!

@OverTheRainbow88

What’s wrong with ordering face masks of Amazon?

They need to be worn in shops/buses/offices etc...
Seems normal to me!

Check the OP date....

@RedToothBrush

Ah thanks.! I still thought it was Jan 2020 🤣

The charts I compile on www.covidmessenger.com are sobering and all the data is govt. data from their daily coronvirus data release.

Patients in hospital:
www.covidmessenger.com/hospital-cases/

Daily hospital admissions:
www.covidmessenger.com/hospital-admissions/

And those in ventilation beds
www.covidmessenger.com/hospital-ventilation/

I really don't think any precautionary measures are misplaced.

@OverTheRainbow88

What’s wrong with ordering face masks of Amazon?

They need to be worn in shops/buses/offices etc...
Seems normal to me!

What a difference a year makes. Face masks are seen as normal :(

Bet Sue In Budgeting was there with the hand sanitizer when nobody else had any

@CallmeAngelina

OK, Revolution, so the OP's premise that people are hysterically scaremongering is unreasonable? We're not there yet, but could be IF we don't take reasonable precautions. I agree it's not necessary to start wearing face masks yet, but let's watch and wait.

Umm, face coverings have been mandatory for months. Why is it not necessary to start wearing face masks yet???

Are you referring to FFP2, FFP3 masks? In many EU countries (e.g. Germany) it is know mandatory to wear either a medical grade mask, FFP2 or FFP3 mask in supermarkets and public transport instead of a cloth face covering as they are far more effective at protecting the wearer.

ghost thread

What is the purpose of this bumping of old treads?

Yea, we all get it, things have changed and public perception has changed, but that's the case with everything, not just Covid.

So all this Told You So is very unhelpful. Hindsight is always 20/20.

I liked the people saying coronavirus on the news was a welcome break from Harry and Meghan 😂

@lightand that would be lovely. Unfortunately in this country our emergency workers and other public services are just expected to chin up and get on with it.

@ChardonnaysPetDragon

What is the purpose of this bumping of old treads?

Yea, we all get it, things have changed and public perception has changed, but that's the case with everything, not just Covid.

So all this Told You So is very unhelpful. Hindsight is always 20/20.

I find it interesting to look back on the chat and compare with where we're at. You don't have to read it.

I know I don't have to read it.

That's not my question. My question is what's the purpose of this? We all know where we are.

Well, there are still plenty on here going on about hysterical scaremongering. The thread doesn't feel that dated to me.

@ivykaty44

5 people die every day on the roads- where is the mass hysteria? Are 1700 people likely to die from this? 23000 injured & have to be hospitalised this year?

God, if only.