People without underlying conditions shouldn't be afraid of covid-19 **MNHQ editing title to make clear that this is one person's opinion and not fact**

[Alialialiali]

The German mortality rate is 0.4% which is comparable to flu

Germany are testing more than any other European nation whereas we're only testing people when they're admitted to ICU which means that all the people with mild to no symptoms are not featuring in our mortality rate driving it quite high and scaring everyone.

AIBU in believing that people without underlying conditions should not be worried about getting the disease?

FFS

They are at slightly less risk from dying of it. but that's all. They can still transmit it to others.

The thing about underlying conditions is that you don't always know you have one.

People with no underlying conditions are dying. 2 police officers in Spain have died, 37 and 47, definitely saw it reported that one, if not both of them, had no underlying conditions.

We must be careful, follow the current advice and stay in as much as possible. But if you mean that, having done all that, there's no point spending the next three months cowering behind the settee having doused yourself in Dettol then yes, you're probably right.

Having discussed this on a slightly more scientific forum I suspect that we shouldn’t be relying on other countries figures. I would like to be more reassuring but we can always hope.

Today they think that up to 50% of the UK could already have had it.

'They' don't think anything of the kind. One report has put forward a model which suggests this, but the reality is that no-one knows how many people have it or have had it previously.

Personally, I do not believe that half the population has already had it. Because if that is true, why are significant numbers of healthy people in their 20s and 30s only rocking up at hospital with breathing difficulties now? It makes no sense. If half the population had already had it, we'd have had the pressure on hospital beds much, much earlier.

I understand that people want to believe that they've had it. They want to believe that they're immune because they had a chesty cough back in January, but the fact is that the vast majority of those people will have only had a normal winter bug, of the kind that usually circulates.

It's normal for lots of people to have had a respiratory infection over the winter. It is normal for some of those infections to have been pretty serious. What's not normal is what we're currently seeing - large numbers of people, of which reasonably high proportion are healthy young people, being admitted to hospital in respiratory distress.

A friend of mine works in a London hospital, her colleague has caught the virus and is in hospital with breathing difficulties, very poorly. She’s 40 and has no underlying conditions. I was thinking I was protecting other people listening to all the advice and sticking to it but my attitude changed at the weekend when I heard about this, I absolutely do not want to catch this and be poorly in hospital.

You might not die from it so young and healthy but there is a chance you could be very poorly and in hospital for a few weeks. You should be afraid and do all you can to avoid catching it.

Well, I've kind of had it.

Christ, FFS!

If this is this the level of intelligence being applied to this, then no wonder people are BBQing in the park.

Yeah my symptoms were much worse than the flu which usually barely lasts a day. I was feeling very bad for about 2 days

You have clearly never had flu.

@UnaCorda That is true. The problem is that a lot of people who think like the OP have been doing stupid things like going to the beach in large groups and having BBQs.

Actually I suspect that the actual truth is that the OP was panicking over a cold and now that she's recovered, she's assumed that it was COVID-19, on absolutely no evidence.

The impact of the measures we’re undergoing now will be much much greater than the risk to life now.
We’re going to be in the biggest recession of our lifetime. Job losses, more children in poverty, austerity for decades potentially. Mental health crisis, people losing their homes.

For me that is “worth” incurring a few thousand deaths to avoid - people talk about a war, and it’s a good analogy. Wars require sacrifice being made on behalf of a few for the greater good of society, the economy and freedom. For me this is the situation we’re in.

@Alialialiali.

Really?

If everyone who caught this disease had the same mild symptoms, there would be nothing to worry about.

However, anyone susceptible could suffer a severe form, require ventilation and/or die.

Those who won't could pass on the disease to someone who could and effectively kill them.

I hope to Christ that they roll out this anti body test soon, because I dont know for how long I can cope with the self diagnosers!

Germany are afraid of what happens when it peaks especially once more vulnerable groups start getting it in higher numbers. They are testing more people, intervening earlier, and have a better equipped beauty care system. They are testing more people. But they don't think it will stay at 0.4%

Front line workers are dying due to high exposure to high viral load. Vulnerable groups are dying because their immune systems can not cope. We are not testing everybody and intervening early, we don't even have the capacity to intervene if large numbers need it at a later stage. At the moment it's mostly people with underlying conditions and elderly people, but they are not fucking disposable, and nor are our front line workers who we risk making incredibly sick or dying by repeatedly exposing them to our infection even if we are not feeling that ill.

As the WHO have said, we have to everything and we have to do it now* *
*
We should all be worried. Don't panic. Don't go crazy. But FFS stay at home and save some lives*

We don’t know much about this virus yet.

This just happened:
www.thesun.co.uk/news/11250098/uk-coronavirus-woman-21-dies-no-underlying-health/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

@Lumene Have you seen this anywhere other than the scum? I saw someone share this on Facebook but I'd like to hear it from somewhere less sensationalist before I worry

Metro also had it.

Not a story even a tabloid could fake.

Though no one knows full details so could be unsuspected issues

It's in the scum, the mirror and the guardian so far, will probably be everywhere by the end of the day. Just because it's written in the scum doesn't mean it's not true and you don't need to worry. This isn't fear mongering now it's just the news

Front line workers are dying due to high exposure to high viral load

What does this mean btw?

@LaurieMarlow

It means that they are being exposed to lots of people at their sickest. Therefore they catch the virus at its most potent and/or from multiple sources shedding before the immune system can build any kind of defence and so no matter how healthy a person is their immune system is still completely overwhelmed. It's not just people with underlying conditions who will die. It's not just old people who will die.

Surely no one wants to get sick? No one wants to get flu let alone this virus? Do we not all come the colder weather wash our hands more? Wipe our desks down? Keep tissues in our bags? (Kick anyone coughing/sneezing out of my office- nope that’s just me🤣) to prevent sickness

I’m not used to being stuck indoors all alone and it’s driving me insane BUT it’s 3 weeks If we all do it and hopefully we can get some sense of normality back- I know it will take a long time before life is fully back to normal but 3 weeks isn’t a big sacrifice.

Thanks for clarifying another. It’s a scary time to be a HCP indeed.

Well, I've kind of had it
FFS either you have had it and had a positive result for CV or you haven’t. There’s no ‘kind of had it’

Bit pointless but I wish coronavirus or the flu didn't exist!!!