Over 70s to self isolate

[Dodie66]

Over 70s are going to be told to self isolate even if they don’t have the virus and this will be coming in 5-20 days and last 4 months
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/breaking-coronavirus-over-70s-told-21694397?fbclid=IwAR2k9MqPf7vOzNcnqfVroLXVp0sQjYRmihHKBiL9pvdhSi5780WpYkgFNnI

They've got to the point in Italy where it is so prevalent they need to lock down to help the health care system. Once the lockdown is eased, they will have another spike in cases more than likely as some point.

My mum (75) lives with us, but in her own granny flat. We have a 12 year old child. We’re in Scotland From tomorrow, I am choosing not to send my child to school. My Mum is absolutely not grasping how important and serious this is

Think my mother will murder my father! He's only just into that category (she's not) so I suspect they will ignore, no underlying health conditions

Mummy have you seen the poster who has said they are using it for family time. All generations mixing together.

This will bankrupt Italy. They could have prevented this if they had taken action sooner.

Italy is the reason Europe is in such a mess at the moment.

They want to protect the elderly first!

It’s not about protection of the elderly, it’s about managing the lack of hospital resources and reducing the strain on NHS.

How can this step be enforced?
Will we all have to carry ID if we go to the supermarket?
Some people in their 70s look much younger and vice versa.
There are thousands of sensible older people who will self-isolate but there are also large numbers of self-entitled elders who will act as if the measures don't apply to them.
I think there will be a lot of 'scare stories' in the press this week to rule these older people into obeying the rules through fear.
That may be why it will happen 'in the next 5 to 20 days' according to the leaks. These leaks seem to be intentional on the Government's part to soften us all up before they make the announcement.

Italy is the reason Europe is in such a mess at the moment.

So why are Germany not suffering like France & Spain?

ivy Germany seem to be doing a good job of managing it.

They are obv testing much more than other countries because their death rate is significantly lower.

France shares a border with Italy. Has Spain had it circulating without knowledge too?

This would still have been a pandemic, and it would have spread anywhere, but by the time people realised Italy was a risk it was too late.

No, it can’t be enforced but it is sensible advice which a lot of 70yrs+ will take. Even if just the majority of that age group self isolate for a few weeks in can have a dramatic effect on the rate of transmission.

It’s interesting that they’re not worrying about the economy in Italy and there is no anarchy, looting or rioting.

I think they are dreaming with their stated planned closure period. With the approach they have taken they're not going to be able to dramatically ease restrictions in early April without just getting another huge hit of cases. The restrictions aren't strict enough that there won't be many cases still in the community at that point. People aren't rioting/looting...yet. I suspect it will come, right now they're frightened.

And they either are, or should be, worried about their economy. I believe that they have kept factories etc open to try and mitigate this, but that means the lockdown is pretty useless.

There are thousands of sensible older people who will self-isolate but there are also large numbers of self-entitled elders who will act as if the measures don't apply to them

It's not entitled to go out for a walk if you don't have symptoms. Some people need exercise - both for physical and mental health reasons. And not everyone can stay at home if they need to go shopping or collect medication or walk the dog or take the cat to the vet.

CV19 isn't the only illness out there, you need to balance it with others.

I am sure a lot of people will stay at home more often, and not go out unless they really need to, but I do hope elderly people who go out for a walk won't start getting abuse.

@wheresmymojo you might consider changing your name to cassandra 😬

Random
Thing is we have no excuse for borders unlike Germany, where they’ve also decided to shut schools. Ok. I’d like a German style lock down. Is that more acceptable?

My mum (80) lives with us. What do I do, put her in the shed? Not everyone lives alone or with a single generation

Well quite!

My mum has just turned 70. She's a transplant recipient so infections take a while for her to fight off. My dad is 62 and still works full time. He has said that if mum needs to self isolate then he'll stay at home with her.

We live around the corner so can drop off shopping, day to day things etc and leave it in the front porch. I can also order shopping for them. I'm going round later and I think it's time to have a full and frank discussion about what this will mean for her. She's going to be devastated not seeing my DD, possibly for months, but like PP have said, there's Skype etc, she's learnt to use Facebook, she can figure out Skype. We want her around. She's spent enough time in hospital.

@Mummyoflittledragon it would cause issues in the UK because it won’t work. Italy is just buying time at the moment but at some point they need to face up to this too.

"Will we all have to carry ID if we go to the supermarket?"

Probably not for supermarkets, or pharmacies, because the aim is to isolate for their own protection (they will be less likely to pose an infection risk to others) and people still need to eat and have medicine.

And it won't just be the over 70s, but also the medically vulnerable of all ages. So age based ID might not be the most useful measure. Countries who are policing movements do so by having people of all ages show why their journey/activity is necessary (aside from local food/pharmacy visits).

That'll be coming here soon. And I expect, as discussed on a different thread, checkpoints and cordons might be role for the military. Though of course existing security personnel couid already do this on private land

Apparently according to the Telegraph, Italy is near to having to apply criteria to ventilation - such as below 80 years or 5 or less on the Charlson comorbidity index.
Links calculator -

www.mdcalc.com/charlson-comorbidity-index-cci
Telegraph -
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/14/italians-80-will-left-die-country-overwhelmed-coronavirus/

You won’t need ID you’d just need to know if you get CV by going out you might be at the back of the queue for help.

Bool
We would not be in this situation had the government acted. They have taken ages to get going. We could have stopped all this from happening in the first place seeing as we are an island. I am so angry and I do not agree with going against the WHO advice.

To be fair this has always been the plan. Chris Whitty set it out to the select committee weeks ago. Removing those most likely to die from the virus from society and significantly reducing their risk of catching the virus will reduce the number of deaths.

Asking the elderly to self-isolate is not about reducing transmission particularly it’s about reducing the strain on the nhs (older people are more likely to become critically ill) and reducing the number of deaths.

Chris Whitty was very clear that they understood this would be very challenging which is why they didn’t want to do it too early (it will be most effective when the epidemic is near/at its peak). They also planned to produce detailed practical guidance for people on how to actually go about it. There was also discussion about a “package of support” so we’ll see what comes of that.

I’m not saying this is definitely the right plan just that it has always been the plan as far as I can see.

@MarshaBradyo That is a quite preposterous and frankly ridiculous suggestion. Stop scaremongering. There is enough panic around this virus already without suggesting you won't be treated because you popped out to get some groceries.

It's good advice. Very unlikely to be legally enforced, can't imagine people being locked in their homes with guards outside.
Of course some people won't be able, or want, to do it. That's up to them.

If you get CV you will be triaged. They are doing it in Italy.

My mum is just down the road, 2 min walk. Do you think we’ll be able to go from house to house if all under lockdown?