If this virus affected children more than elderly...

[Sunshinesky1981]

If this virus affected Children more than the elderly, do you think that people' s opinion on self isolation would change?

I know a lot of people have major concerns about having to self isolate, especially financially and mentally(I'm not talking about these -but there are also people who are saying they would still need to go for a walk/jog/bikeride/ go to the shop etc

Do you think people in general would be more willing or take it more seriously if the at risk group was different ?

former babe
Agree 100%

Yes.
And it is not the same thing.
A friend lost her toddler, I barely knew the little boy but when I found out I was crushed by the news, far more so than when my grandparents (whom I loved dearly) passed away. I have no idea how my friend carries on, but she does for the sake of her youngest.
I find the death of the child of an aquaintance sadder than the death of my own flesh and blood.
I don't think that is an unusual response, and I'm not ashamed of it.

All people are people, but when a child dies you don't just lose a person - you lose a whole future. All the might have beens.

If it comes to the crunch, we have to act for the good of society - leaving emotions well and truly out of it.

Person A: 70 years old who makes daily care visits to their 96 year old mother and looks after two GC twice a week.

Person B: Three year old child.

Person A's death would have a wider impact on society than Person B.

Think it’s embedded deep in our psyche that death of a child is worse than that of someone in late middle age onwards. I don’t think economics can override that either it’s a truth

Person A's death would have a wider impact on society than Person B

Disagree. Person A might only have a few years left to live. Person B’s death would affect the entire family - they’d need counselling, parents might not be able to return to work or split up due to stress, suicide/ depression etc. A child’s death doesn’t occur in a vacuum - the effects are far reaching and they affect the entire family.

If a very elderly person dies then it's sad on a personal level for their family. I've lost both my parents and all my gps...it was sad at the time but life goes on. My life wouldn't go on if I lost my child. I would always want children's lives prioritised over elderly people if it was crunch time.

As an aside, if it did affect children and not the elderly, I doubt very much that they would be putting notes through the doors of their neighbours with young children offering to get them shopping.

I agree 100% with everything you said @formerbabe.

There are sad deaths and there are tragic deaths. A child’s death will only ever be tragic!

Children die everyday of Malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition, and other preventable causes. Does anyone give a shit?

I speak as someone who lost friends to Malaria as a child. I hate the disease but nobody has done a thing to stop it apart from design drugs that aren’t suitable for kids.

I care. I sponsor several kids in different countries but there is not really much more I can do. I wish I could do more.

Children die everyday of Malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition, and other preventable causes. Does anyone give a shit?

Nope. Worrying about the slight hastening of death of people in their 80s places us in a privileged position compared to many people in the world. But as you say people don’t give a shit at the millions of death that occur every year and are going nuts over this.

Children die everyday of Malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition, and other preventable causes. Does anyone give a shit? it’s not incomprehensible that people don’t think about this every day, not being on their doorstep! Why do you think so many people thought nothing of corona until it hit Europe - human nature.

I find the death of the child of an aquaintance sadder than the death of my own flesh and blood.

I agree. The death of a child is a tragedy. If I had to choose between this taking my 80 year old mother or my 11 year old daughter there is absolutely no question who I'd choose. Nobody would ever console themselves with "they had a good innings" following the death of a child.

Children die everyday of Malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition, and other preventable causes. Does anyone give a shit?

Very much. However, the charity model doesn't work and influencing governments only goes so far. I can probably dig out decades-worth of letters about majority world debt I've written to politicians. Including a reply from Paul Boateng I was very proud of.

A child’s death doesn’t occur in a vacuum - the effects are far reaching and they affect the entire family

Just as Person A's death would do. Son/daughter might not be able to return to work through grief and lack of childcare. GC grieving. 96 yo mother would have lost her daughter and also her support. Leading to stress, depression, fast decline.

Of course Person B's death would be beyond awful. On a practical level though, letting all the A's die would bankrupt society.

Of course Person B's death would be beyond awful. On a practical level though, letting all the A's die would bankrupt society

Again, I disagree completely. Having a 70 year old out of the workforce is not unusual. Having two working age adults who can’t work and may need mental health support for years is far more likely to affect the economy.
You can’t compare the effects of grief because they aren’t the same. Few people would get suicidal or their marriage split up under the strain of losing their 70+ year old parent. But this happens all the time when a child dies. Something like over half of parents split due to stress of a child dying. That has massive financial repercussions

friends lost their 20 month old to Menigitis (a horrible strain of it) and yes I cried far more than when my 89 year old grandmother died at the start of the year. We did fundraising events for charity etc and it still upsets me now

Just as Person A's death would do. Son/daughter might not be able to return to work through grief and lack of childcare

You sound insane.

You really think a grandparent dying is worse than a toddler because working adults may lose their free babysitter.

Fuck me...give your head a wobble

What people are failing to understand is that if our NHS is overwhelmed, then there will be fewer beds for accidents and children and anyone of any age who is gravelly ill or who has an accident and who need life saving care

People thinking , well I and my children will be fine so I can carry on are failing to understand this. PHE are saying that a realistic worst case scenario is 7.9 million hospitalisations in 12 months and that this.may not be over until spring 2021.

This will affect a vast number of people of all ages in that time to some extent or other . We have to change the way we live for a good while but it will take a long time for the majority of people to accept this . They will eventually as they will have no choice'. I think though they will.need to.be coherced to accept this if we are to .mitigate any of this . Otherwise people will accept it because they will be seeing members of their families die who otherwise would not have and not necessarily from covid 19 itself but from the knock on effects on our public health services.

they expect

There is a theory about the flu epidemic in 1918 that it was so horrific because so many young adults died (and those who had already lost so many of that generation) that it was partly wiped from collective memory

In terms of survival of the species it is young adults who are the most valuable but it is a natural instinct to protect the young.

I’ve already had a child die (nothing to do with this virus) and I’m just as scared for my parents as I am for another one of children to die from this.

Whereas I would push my own mother out of an intensive care bed if my kids needed it. She would also expect me to do that. I guess we are all different. My mother only has a few years left anyway. I have to get used to the idea of her not being around. Possibly me too. But thank god my kids will hopefully be spared.

I think we haven’t seen the worst of the outbreak in terms to it’s impact to the most vulnerable babies. It may take just one outbreak in a maternity or postnatal ward for NICU to start rationing treatment to the babies most likely to survive - where will that leave the most premature babies delivered in Europe and USA?

My parents both died when I was in my early 20s. It was awful. But I wouldn't recover if one of my kids died.