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Covid

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Original poster

To ask where the "it's just flu" people have gone?

148 replies

ofwarren · 21/03/2020 08:33

When people started discussing the virus on here a few weeks back, they would get ridiculed or told they were scaremongering as it was "just flu".
Those people seem very quiet lately.
Are there many still around with that opinion?

OP posts:

OhhhPeee · 21/03/2020 08:50

I will hold my hand up, I said it was like the flu. Congratulations on your vast intellectual superiority.

LadyMonicaBaddingham · 21/03/2020 08:52

They're sitting in their loo roll forts eating pasta I expect...

MitziK · 21/03/2020 08:53

Friend of mine. Nice bloke with a few twattish tendencies but nothing mean has been bitching for weeks about how it's a fuss about nothing and you just have to eat well and wash your hands and everybody will be fine.

Haven't made a point of keeping in touch because I generally like him and didn't want to tell him he's being a complete knob, but I've heard from him occasionally. He was screaming and shouting a couple of days ago about how he was now unemployed because people are scared of a bad cold.

His last 2 day job (he's self employed) was at a big London Hospital.

Complete turnaround.

ilovecakeandwine · 21/03/2020 08:53

But what do you expect people to say ? I'm sorry it's not just flu , what would that achieve?
Most people didn't want to worry too early .
Most people now are terrified but everyone deals with situations differently I think we need to remember that .
I'm getting annoyed with all the judging especially on here .

Fatted · 21/03/2020 08:54

I'll bite OP.

I'm still of the opinion that the financial fall out will kill more people than the actual virus. I still don't know anyone who is actually ill with anything that looks like coronavirus. Lots of people 'self isolating' though because now suddenly the world and his dog are 'vulnerable'. So I'm probably one of your 'It's just flu' people.

BTW I'm still having to go to work as normal, as is DH in front line services. So we are witnessing first hand the world slowly descending into shit. And it's not because anyone is sick. Stressed, suicidal, destitute and starving. But not sick.

LionessRoar · 21/03/2020 08:54

My husband is a GP too Wehaveafloater and he says exactly the same as your friend. I was one of those people who wasn’t worried really until the last few days. Things are changing so quickly on a daily basis. My husband and I are still both of the opinion that most people will feel as ill as they would the flu and are not worried about our own safety at all. However, for those that are vulnerable this is extremely worrying and I am concerned for some people we know as for them the chances would be bleak. A lot of deaths will happen because the NHS does not have the facilities to help everyone and some difficult choices will have to be made. In terms of the economy and the changes to everyday lives I think it is very worrying and stressful for a lot of people - I hold my hands up to not fully recognising this before. I was naive on this and many people have already lost their jobs. I’m self employed and my own business has already been hugely affected and work has effectively ground to a halt. I am set to lose a lot of money int he next few months from lost income. I know a lot of people are in similar positions

Original poster

ofwarren · 21/03/2020 08:55

@ilovecakeandwine
I'm not asking people to "confess" they have changed their mind. I'm wondering if anyone still believes it's like the flu.
I've just not seen anyone make a comment like that for a while.

OP posts:

MarginalGain · 21/03/2020 08:56

The seasonal flu has a death rate of around .1%.

BBC News this morning reported the latest cover 19 rate is between .5 and 1%.

MarginalGain · 21/03/2020 08:58

I'm not asking people to "confess" they have changed their mind. I'm wondering if anyone still believes it's like the flu.

For most people, it will be much like the flu.

CountFosco · 21/03/2020 08:58

The 'It's just a flu' people are pretending they said no such thing, along with the 'only crazies prep for global disasters' crowd. I wonder how often we'll hear 'school isn't childcare' in the coming years?

Mia1415 · 21/03/2020 08:59

Oh I still work with a few senior manager's with this view. They really don't get it!!!

millymollymoomoo · 21/03/2020 09:01

I accept this virus is really dangerous for some people. I accept that we all need to play a part in protecting those vulnerable people of all ages
But for the vast majority of people who get it it will feel like cold/flu. Many of us may even have it without knowing. This is what top scientists are saying
So yes it is a pandemic, and yes protect vulnerable people and yes take extra caution on hygiene but the panic some people have thinking they will automatically die if they catch it is strange. Especially when you look at global figures on deaths from flu/Tb/pneumonia etc which doesn’t cause the same panic in people

SudokuQueen · 21/03/2020 09:02

The thing is though, for a healthy person, it is nothing more than flu. One person who has had it even commented that it's not much worse than a bad cold. BUT he was a healthy man.

It's the same as flu in that people with health conditions and/or are old, they will struggle. They could die. And that's who needs protected. But people like me should really be catching it to help with herd immunity, and obviously going into isolation to stop spreading it. To protect those that can't catch it without having complications. It won't kill me. I have no health conditions and am 30. People like me need to get it to protect the others.

We have no vaccine. We have no immunity. We need to stop it spreading to protect those who would struggle with it. But it will not kill the average person. Its not ebola. That will take anyone down.

MilkTwoSugarsThanks · 21/03/2020 09:02

If I read the BBC article correctly though, the tests only show if the virus was present in the body at the time of death, not to what extent the virus contributed to the death.

randomsabreuse · 21/03/2020 09:07

I think technically it is less deadly than most influenza virus strains, but with vaccination availability and confusion with 'man flu' and bad colds we've forgotten how deadly "just flu" can be

Original poster

ofwarren · 21/03/2020 09:08

@randomsabreuse
I would agree with this

OP posts:

StephanieSpeilberg · 21/03/2020 09:08

Here I am. I was one who thought it was just ‘like the flu’. Because as a PP has said before the media have a vast history of reporting shite and sensationalising everything for clicks. So yes, I was of the opinion it wasn’t as bad as it is.

If I’m honest, part of it was denial because it’s a scary and unprecedented time.

I don’t still think it’s flu and I never commented on anyone’s thread saying ‘it was just the flu’.

millymollymoomoo · 21/03/2020 09:08

And I agree with fatted that the social
And economic fallout is likely to have more devastating long term impacts and ultimately kill more people

SudokuQueen · 21/03/2020 09:09

Oh and I agree with @Fatted. The way this has been handled is causing a financial crisis that will kill way more people than corona will. That worries me more to be honest. I'm worried about those who will be homeless, jobless and hungry soon. Unemployment figures are already going up and they will only increase in the next few weeks.

Original poster

ofwarren · 21/03/2020 09:13

@SudokuQueen
Yes, it's a disaster isn't it
I can't even begin to imagine what economic destruction it's going to cause.

OP posts:

GrotbagsSister · 21/03/2020 09:14

I think flu is a widely used term when in reality most people have a nasty cold virus. Real flu is a killer for vulnerable people just like this virus is.

I can't see any point in worrying whether it's like flu or worse than flu. Each person will react slightly differently. Just be sensible and follow precautions.

MarginalGain · 21/03/2020 09:17

I think flu is a widely used term when in reality most people have a nasty cold virus. Real flu is a killer for vulnerable people just like this virus is.

Yes, and this is annoying. My husband often says he has the flu when in fact he has a cold. The usual man flu situation.

Livelovebehappy · 21/03/2020 09:18

Yes, I hold my hand up and say I was one of those people. But I would have thought it’s obvious that as further detail and information has emerged, people have changed their opinion. Like anything in life, you base your opinions on the information available, but there’s no rules that say you can’t change that opinion as further information comes out.

cologne4711 · 21/03/2020 09:19

Interestingly I was watching a German press conference yesterday morning with a top scientist at the Robert Koch institute. This question came up - ie lots of Germans are saying it's just like flu and what's with the panic?

He said that people should be worried about flu - it is a serious illness (so those of you who keep saying you've had it without symptoms - you haven't).

But he also detailed the various ways in which covid is worse, eg more infectious and more dangerous for the vulnerable.

He also said that the Germans were recording deaths as being due to covid if the person tested positive for it, regardless of underlying conditions, for those of you interested in why their death rate is lower, it is genuine and not being massaged.

Original poster

ofwarren · 21/03/2020 09:20

Of course @livelovebehappy
I was curious whether there were people on here who still think it's overreacting and scaremongering as that seemed to be the general consensus.

OP posts:

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