Woeful lack of public knowledge

[WiseUpJanetWeiss]

I have lost count of the number of threads in which people don’t know the latest advice about what Coronavirus symptoms are, what to do if you have them, how to self isolate, and the fact that the government guidance supersedes anything any school or your Auntie Mabel says.

I know Mumsnet have put links at the top of the threads in this section, but people are evidently unable to find or understand them, and it’s frankly terrifying.

Clearly the government need to up their game on this but do we think Mumsnet, as a massively popular and influential site, could put something on their front page and/or make the information at the top of the thread more obvious? I realise there’s a risk of Mumsnet giving out of date advice if they do anything more than signpost to the official advice, but perhaps the signposting could be more “in your face”?

Thoughts?

Just me then? I’m still seeing questions that people should know the answer to if they read the government’s advice...

I agree. It’s clearly the result of their wishy washy stance.

Work cultures here don’t allow for weakness so I’m unsurprised it takes a lot to overcome the ‘it’s just a cold so get on with it’ mentality. Even with government advice there’s a lot of pressure/inclination to pull yourself together and get on with it because you’ve probably just got a cold.

Testing would be useful and I don’t understand how we can barely manage a fraction of other countries.

WiseUpJanetWeiss - no it’s not just you. The mass hysteria on here is scaring me. The fact that people are happy to come on here with frightening stories that have they have read on Facebook/Reddit/Twitter without any reliable source is shocking. Actual scientific advice clearly pales into insignificance when compared with some idiot’s story on the internet.

It’s more the “I woke up with a cough but I feel fine. I don’t need to self isolate, do I?” posts that concern me.

I agree OP, parents at DCs school sending their kids in when they are clearly unwell, work colleagues coughing and say its just a tickle. I just give up

I wrote one of them as even though I knew what I should do the guilt at not going to work when I didn't feel at death's door is massive. Plus I had a lot of people in RL telling me I shoud maybe go in and see how I get on.

It's hard when there's conflicting advice though.... I was told in a follow up call from my local NHS service, after calling 111 on Saturday, that it "sounds like a bad cold" and I'd be ok to go out, despite 111 and all other guidelines saying otherwise. As someone who suffers from anxiety, this kind of contradictory advice is crippling as I'm torn between not wanted to let colleagues and exam students down but following the advice.

You also got people on a couple of threads calling people who have self isolated lazy and skiving. This kind of thing also stokes my anxiety for a number of reasons