How to avoid catching it in the long run

[Therabble]

Just that really. Pretty easy to avoid catching it during lockdown but once normal things start happening again how will we be able to avoid catching it over the next 12 months?

It's important to avoid getting it right now because 1. It will burden the nhs and 2. Your life may be more at risk if there isn't enough hospital equipment and you need critical/intensive care.

But your likelihood of getting really sick from it isn't going to be different if you catch it now or in 6 months time, presumably. Does this mean we will have to avoid seeing grandparents etc for a year/until a vaccine is out?

Time to introduce UBI? I can’t imagine ever going back to work. There aren’t any jobs at all and I imagine unemployment will hit 20% +

*@Slychomping *
The early signs from the Far East is that some countries have apparently had to reimpose some lockdown measures again after initially relaxing them,

Which countries are reintroducing lockdown? Our news isn't reporting that much is it? Or have I just missed it?

29Mixitupalot why do they think we will catch it. Is it much more contagious?

I think if only 10% have had it. That's only maybe 3 kids in a class so plenty to still spread it.

There are animal coronavirus vaccines.

I'm feeling quite worried too. I have asthma and really actually don't want to risk the kids either. Frankly the nhs isn't doing that well keeping people alive. (Though hard to compare other countries when we have done no tests. )
But have can't see us being allowed for kids to miss a year of school.

The fact is it's unclear in uk how many of each age group are in hospital. Kids have died here and in usa.
Agree with pp we may learn something about treatments. Maybe the big could help or vitamins etc.

But your likelihood of getting really sick from it isn't going to be different if you catch it now or in 6 months time, presumably

No but if you are really sick, you stand a better chance of surviving if there are enough HCPs and equipment to treat you and, with time, we may find drugs or other interventions (like the BCG) that treat the disease or reduce the likelihood of becoming severely ill/mitigate the effects.

Does this mean we will have to avoid seeing grandparents etc for a year/until a vaccine is out? If you want to be 100% safe, yes. If we have more detailed data from testing and contact tracing, you could make decisions based on risk eg if there have been no cases in your area for several weeks, the chances of catching the virus would be very low.

Matildathehun77 David Shuckmann (sp?) mentioned it in his report on the BBC news tonight. There wasn't much extra detail unfortunately. It's on the BBC news website too. Can't link but the article is titled 'Coronovirus: Asian nations face virus battle amid WHO warning'. The countries concerned are S Korea, HK, and Taiwan.

We keep talking about this.
The virus won't magically disappear once lockdown ends. Are we meant to just go back to normal?
I keep thinking the longer it takes to get it then the better chance of treatments and more knowledge on how to deal with it.

Matildathehun77 David Shuckmann (sp?) mentioned it in his report on the BBC news tonight. There wasn't much extra detail unfortunately. It's on the BBC news website too. Can't link but the article is titled 'Coronovirus: Asian nations face virus battle amid WHO warning'. The countries concerned are S Korea, HK, and Taiwan.

Thanks, off to have a Google now.

Unfortunately there aren't many more details in the article either Matilda. Just a few worrying sentences ... .

@NurseJaques thank you so much for all you are doing, and thank you for bringing some much needed positive outcomes, you never hear them on the news and it gets a bit scary

@nursejaques thank you, that is actually a little more reassuring. Like any of us it's easy to see the stories and think the worst.

Thank you for your reassurance and how hard you must be working through all of this

NurseJaques

Matildathehun77 there's more detail on the "Wired" website. ( I've no idea how trustworthy that is. ). Title something like "the Asian countries that beat Civic, having to do it again" or words to that effect. Sorry, cut & paste not working now either!

Personally, as soon as they let me out, I’m going out and doing my best to try to catch it. Chances are I’ll recover, and if I die, I die, them’s the breaks. I’ve had scarlet fever and diphtheria, can’t imagine Corona could make me feel worse. Honestly, I think that what we need is young, healthy people who are almost certainly likely to recover to catch it and gain immunity whilst those most vulnerable stay indoors for several more months, until we get herd immunity.

Most people need to catch it. That’s the plan. It’s only a question of ensuring we don’t all catch it at the same time and collapse the NHS. The vaccine is probably a year or more away. I’m afraid the government has no plan if you’re very vulnerable - you will probably eventually catch it (unless very, very careful and you don’t have to work or care for children and no one in your house does either). It doesn’t undermine the importance of staying at home now. But it’s very, very likely most people in the UK will get COVID 19.

I’m not sure the government has really explained this to the public clearly enough.

I teach in an FE college, which is so busy and crowded, that I can’t imagine not catching it. Loads of my students (aged 18+) work in supermarkets, and under normal circumstances in bars, restaurants etc.

I am childless, and did one of those living will things saying I wouldn’t want to be ventilated if I was really sick so I don’t take away resources from someone who is a parent. Other than doing my best not to catch it, I think that’s the only useful thing I can do.

I'm staying on lockdown for as long as I need to. Luckily I can and don't mind it, it suits me

Our plan is to avoid it as long as possible in the hope that better treatments are available later - but we are higher risk, especially DH.

Going into lockdown and then back out and then back in is part of the plan though, I think. The idea is to let some more people catch it while the hospitals can cope, then lockdown again then release again, gradually spreading it across the population.

It's just so sad and worrying... I feel like life won't ever be the same

I will carry on behaving as I'm doing except visiting with family and friends occassionally. I will keep a 2 metre distance from other people and go into a supermarket about every ten days. I won't visit other shops and will buy most things online. I'll carry on washing my hands every half an hour or so. I work part time as an essential worker and will continue to take the same precautions.
I'll miss hugging friends and family but a small price to pay to save them or myself becoming ill.
I think it will become a new way of living

I am hoping that the level at which it circulated reduces to the level that means I can live by the ‘lockdown’ rules and go out for a run every now and again, and walk the dog

I’m in the shield group. The lockdown rules for the general public would represent major noes freedom for me

Travelling to see my DMum (who is in very strict seclusion, though without the shield letter) would be nice too.

Interesting conversation. Those that say they will stay in as long as it takes, how will you pay for things if you don’t go to work? Is everyone mortgage free with loads of savings for food? Or will your boss allow you to work at home indefinitely? Whilst I can work from home I don’t think my boss would let me work from home indefinitely without coming in to check in etc at least once a week at the very least once a month once and I think colleagues would resent me if they were going in and I was at home.

As much as I will try to avoid crowds there's no point because of my other half. As soon as those pubs reopen that's where he will be.

I will keep within the government rules, but am reasonably relaxed about getting it. I live in London and now know about 20 people who seem to have it/have had it including at least one in the ‘shield group’ (got the letter).

All have recovered and none have needed hospital and I’ve no reason to believe I would either.

I would be worried if my dad got it, but am also very worried about him as he lives alone, too far for us to visit and is really struggling with the lockdown. He has few remaining healthy years left and it is really hard on him not to see his children and grandchildren and not able to do the things he loves. If it was a choice between 2 years in isolation or a 5-10% chance of dying of the virus, I expect he’d do the latter.

I think your plan may end up being similar to our plan over here. (Italy)

They are preparing to relax restrictions in phases. So more products will be allowed for sale, more shops/factories allowed to reopen. Then after May Day I think we are being released.

But right now they've introduced mandatory masks/face covering. The suggestion I've heard is that we are being prepared to re-enter "normal" life with highly visible pre-cautionary measures (social distancing measures, physical barrier methods) already practiced and habitual.

So the "yay! back to normal, caution to the wind" crowd will be very visible and can be put under peer pressure to tone it down. The very scared people can feel they can exert control over their exposure and will exit their homes for work/consumer purposes. The very vulnerable will probably stil have to live with some degree of self imposed isolation, but the rest of us all masked up will at least have a daily reminder as per why we need to be helping them do that.

It won't stop a second wave this autumn. But hopefully it will stop the virus spreading as easily as the first wave did thus avoiding the hospitals bending under the strain and fleets of army carriers taking away the dead due to extreme numbers.

No idea how well it will work in practice. I don't suppose anybody can be totally sure. But I feel somewhat optimistic that it might work, to some degree at least.

Which might be the real plan. Keep us feeling optimistic that we have some degree of control (even if we don't) but in reality most of us will catch it and survive, or not, building herd immunity as we go.

I think our best hope will be some kind of anti-viral or drug that halts the virus before it can do damage to one's lungs, and I feel that may come before a vaccine is ready. Then even if you catch it, the worst of it would be preventable, ideally. Otherwise I don't see there's much chance of avoiding catching it in the longer term, unless you live like a hermit for the foreseeable.