Coronavirus - Am I going mad!?

[Orange89]

I’m confused why most people I’ve spoken to (friends, family, neighbours) aren’t worried about Coronavirus!? Places are going into lockdown and Boris has said we will loose loved ones early!!! My dad is in his 60s and has a low immune system (who also happens to be no more worried about this) but surely most people have someone elderly in their lives they’re concerned about?! It’s putting my life on hold , I won’t go the gym or take my 2yr old to the creche / soft play or hug my poorly dad. I think the most worrying thing for me is that it can be passed on unknowingly to someone it could be serious for. It’s driving me insane but am I alone??

I think it completely depends on your personality type & general mindset. This isn't a criticism of anybody- it's just sort of the way different people are.

I'm not worried. I feel like I'll probably get it at some point because my kids are germ magnets. I'm doing what I can in that I'm washing my hands a lot and getting the kids to wash theirs too and I'm minimising their contact with their grandparents. Aside from this there's not much more I can do so I just sort of put it out of my mind.

I'm well aware that some people can't put things beyond their control out of their mind. In this case especially people who are likely to be really adversely affected by it ie with asthma, elderly relatives etc. It's just different personality types.

True, I guess there are some personality types who don't give a shit about 4000 dead people.

I don't think anyone has said that vallderama. I obviously haven't articulated myself particularly well if that's what you got from my post.

Spending your days now anxious and worried about something that's on its way doesn't make you a better or more caring person than those who compartmentalise a bit. It's just a personality quirk.

I'm worried as I have medical conditions which make me extremely vulnerable. I also have elderly parents.

DH is an hospital doctor. He personally saw his first case yesterday and there were several more in the hospital. He cried before he left for work this morning as he's so worried about what he has seen and how it will play out over the next few weeks. I've never seen him this worried before ever

@StillDisappointed

Why on earth do you think those figures are in anyway reassuring?

China only achieved those figures through agressive lockdown and extensive testing. That means the mild cases make the death rate look better. Doctors treating in china were reckoning on a 10% death rate with the suggestion that many of those recovered are experiencing a degree of permanent lung damage (the extent of which they havent yet assesed because they've been a bit busy). They were contact tracing 10s of thousands at one time, and there was some suggestion of return patients towards the end.

Italy's sat on 6% of their recovered cases ending in death. It actually hasnt changed much. Its closer to the China doctors estimate

We aren't even going to test everyone which means we arent contact tracing many. We arent going into lockdown and have no plans in place to isolate the most vulnerable in society. We also have significantly less icu beds and ventilators than china. Or italy. And we're human guinea pig testing a theory about herd immunity, that quite possibly is a pile of crap.

Why on earth do you think we are going to have the same death rates?

@IllustriousToad I feel for you , and all of us who are concerned. For your husband to be on the front line and to be showing that much worry too surely shows the ‘worriers’ are just being realists?? Not to mention all the professors / doctors in Italy saying we need to do more.

@Hazelnutlatteplease

And we're human guinea pig testing a theory about herd immunity, that quite possibly is a pile of crap.

Well said!

My mother, who is in her late 60s, asthmatic, and gets a chest infection at the drop of a hat isn’t bothered. She and my dad, who is already quite ill with alzheimer’s are supposed to be going on a foreign holiday in May. Mother is more worried about not being able to go. She said she’s going if it’s humanly possible to do so. My dad doesn’t get a say because he no longer possesses the mental capacity to know what’s happening. It’s all well and good her being cavalier with her own health but my dad isn’t even capable of having a say. If she drops dead of Covid19 he’ll be left with nobody to care for him. I can’t look after him. I live over 100 miles away, am disabled and have a DC to care for, and my sister can’t and won’t do it.

If I was in her situation I’d be keeping myself to myself as much as possible, but no, she’s not remotely bothered. ‘If I get it I get it, there’s nowt I can do about it’ is her attitude. Fucking irresponsible, and inconsiderate.

@Whatisthisfuckery

I feel your pain! My dad has advance cirrhosis and his partner cancer and they both don’t seem bothered. Confusing to say the least.

Hazelnut - There's no need to be rude.

Looking at the rates with my own eyes (as they currently stand) has been enough to relax my anxiety so that I am happy to leave the home when necessary.

I haven't said that I think the statistics will be the same for this country, nor have I claimed that the figures on The Telegraphs' map are 'good.'

All I've said is that I found it reassuring to look at the amount of people who've recovered because that's something our (frankly immoral, irresponsible) media haven't reported on.

Don't let that get in the way of jumping down someone's throat though - it's a fantastic way to make sure your (very important I'm sure) point across.