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?

A friend of mine is an orthopaedics consultant - he has been retrained to manage ventilated patients. Another friend is a nurse who also works in ortho - she had a day’s ITU training and is now working on ITU.

Bet she is managing none invasive ventilation I.e bipap and cpap ? It's not enough training as it won't be supported and its your pin at end of it I'd be a nervous wreck however ortho drs and nurses are highly skilled I'm more concerned Hv are going to these areas. But its help so that's main thing x

It’s unlikely that either you or your parents would die. Even in the very high risk group, the vast majority survive. Even for the over 90s, half survive.

This.

I think most people, even those who are somewhat high risk, will at some point decide they will take their chances with the virus rather than stay in isolation till the virus is gone (which will be a very long time, if ever).

My plan is to stay as healthy as possible, lose a few more pounds though I'm already a healthy weight, carry on not drinking alcohol and probably start taking vit C and D supplements. And carry on with the handwashing and other hygiene measures.
I don't go many places anyway as I'm a carer for my daughter, and we're already used to keeping our distance from other people due to her autism.

Am planning to continue social distancing as much as practically possible, will try to keep kids home from school if that’s an option as eldest has severe asthma, hopefully there will be a vaccine/ antibody test soon.

Not sure if the adults in our house had it already early March. All variations of cough/high temp./exhaustion. I had extremely high temperature for 3 days (over 40) went to GP as they said I was low risk for Covid19 as not been abroad and not been in contact with known cases. It easily could have been in this area then though (SW London) and lots of nearby friends had similar things at same time. GP found no sign of ear or throat infection, gave me anti-bs due to high temp as it was only coming down to 39 with paracetamol and ibuprofen. Was exhausted and jittery with bad stomach for a further 10 days. Very odd, never had anything like it.

I cut back on food drastically mainly as trying to limit going shopping - should help to keep weight down.

I will probably shop in a market for veg/frui and only go to supermarket as last resort (with covered face).

What terrifies me is if my sn young adult ds got it and I would have to leave him in hospital.

@NurseJaques and/or any other HCP dealing with virus cases, please be honest with me, how sn patients are dealt with (learning/neurological), would my ds be even offered treatment when he cannot live independently? Or would he not even be admitted?

BahHambygge you rightly list various dietary / lifestyle activity that helps general health.

But isn't it ironic that Italy has the most healthy Med diet, and they get a lot sun (vit D), and generally work/life balance is much better there than in NOrthern European countries. Yet they've been hit so hard.

So not sure this is any insurance policy - but obviously still worth doing it for general health.

I feel doomed, I'm in a high risk group (diabetes and very mild asthma) so unless I completely lockdown for 18 months it seems inevitable I will catch it.

I'm trying to get my fitness up, lose a bit of weight and taking vitamins. I will continue to avoid busy places for a long time.

I’m glad I’m not the only one worrying about this, OP. In my state in the US we have flattened the curve, not eliminated it, as is true elsewhere.

I’m in my 50’s with a child in high school. If she gets it, I will be exposed to a high viral load. Whatever measures you put in at a school, a classroom in the autumn is an incubator for the virus. What about the poor teachers? We have several teachers in their sixties.

I will continue to practice social distancing but I cannot stop the virus coming into my home from the school. I am far more worried about the future than I am about things today.

Given that they have matured the science around HIV, such that it has now developed from medicine to control the symptoms, to a person actually being technically cured of HIV, I have a lot of faith in today's scientists

Surely HIV is an example of why we can't presume there will be a vaccine in short order. Scientists have been working on a HIV vaccine for decades and come up with nothing. As amazing as the advances in HIV treatment and prevention are, they are a long way from a vaccine and/or cure.

I’m worried about the autumn too. I’m in the ‘shield’ group and have a school age DC who would really need to be in school.

I think I’ll have to see if any of her friends families would consider taking her in as a long term paying guest. But that seems one hell of an ask.

Not because she’d be excessively germy (same exposure as other classmates) but because it would have to go on for such a long time

we're all going to have to adjust to lower life expectancy

I really wish posters would stop posting this kind of dramatic scaremongering rubbish. It's thoughtless and irresponsible.

"I really wish posters would stop posting this kind of dramatic scaremongering rubbish. It's thoughtless and irresponsible."

Dramatic scaremongering rubbish? Its a fact for crying out loud. More people dying early will reduce the average life expectancy.

I really wish people who didnt understand statistics would stop commenting on other peoples posts that relate to statistics.

I think life will have to resume at some point.
Things I will change permanently is trying to avoid touching my face as much as I normally do;
Washing my hands more frequently;
And washing my hands when I return from being out;
Obviously, if sneezing, etc, trying to sneeze into a tissue, or elbow/arm.
Apart from these things, I do not see what else I can do.
I don't really attend large gatherings such as concerts, or football matches, and it seems quite possible I will get it eventually. If I do, I hope I will be one of those who get it mildly, but if not, I hope the NHS will do all they can for me.

@YogaLite what a horrible time this is, I understand how worried you must feel

My hospital hasn't declined to admit or treat anyone so far, the idea that if we were overwhelmed we might have to is very frightening and upsetting for staff as well and its unprecedented and goes against everything the NHS should stand for

Not everyone is a candidate for ventilation, and that is normal within clinical practice as its not just a case of being put on a ventilator and getting better. But at present everyone is being admitted and assessed and treated within the limits of what they can tolerate/is appropriate and I'm desperately hoping that the 'flattened curve' will mean this continues to be the case.

Our OT team has also redeployed to support patients on ward with extra needs so that patients with dementia or SN are not left alone and have company and activities

Thank you @NurseJaques
You are doing a fantastic job

@Carbosug So you don’t think lots of people dying earlier will have the statistical effect that average life expectancy is lower? Do you live in a world where basic mathematical principles don’t exist?

I'm going to be isolating as much as possible for the next year. Work for me is relatively low risk as I work alone as a cleaner, but my social life is going to come to a stop until I feel it is safe to do so.
University will be tricky. I have until September to figure that out.
I will also maintain the hygiene measures I have now. I never used to wash my hands after doing day to day things. Only ever washed them during meal prep, after using the loo and doing gardening.

@BahHumbygge - I'm practising diet assistance also - and have been doing so for past couple of years , garlic supps, multi vits, high dosage Vit D+K, vitamin C; I also drink Hibiscus 2-3 times daily for (proven) lowering of blood pressure and white horehound for lung/bronchial relief; try to get in the garden each day for extra Vit D and mental health; I just need to exercise more and watch my diet (as my BMI is over 40) - get back on to my successful keto WOE. I have an overactive immune system so need to control my cortisone levels. Any illness I get, my body fights not just the bad cells but the good ones as well, resulting in a weaker immune system.

There's talk about schools going back in June.. can't see that that's sensible - 6 weeks later they'll be on summer hols! Keep them off til September I say.

I'm sad that I'm not able to see my father, who lives alone and is 5 hours away from us. As soon as restrictions are lifted I'd like to go and see him but taking every precaution for both of us.

What strange times and so much uncertainty for months to come I feel.

as far as I'm aware there has never been a successful vaccination for a coronavirus

Until this happened there hadn't been much of an effort to develop one. SARS-CoV-1 died out relatively quickly of its own accord, MERS-CoV affects a very small number of people globally, and the other coronaviruses only cause common cold symptoms (and are only responsible for a small percentage of colds anyway). No-one is going to invest huge sums of money into developing a vaccine for a virus that only affects a few thousand people across the world - let's be honest, how many of us who aren't from Saudi Arabia or Korea had even heard of MERS before all this kicked off? I hadn't and virology was my degree specialism - or one that makes it 5% less likely for the recipient to get a cold. I wouldn't draw any conclusions from that about how likely we are to eventually get a vaccine for this

But isn't it ironic that Italy has the most healthy Med diet, and they get a lot sun (vit D), and generally work/life balance is much better there than in NOrthern European countries. Yet they've been hit so hard

No, its actually perfectly logical when you think about it.

• The mediterranian diet has the (on balance) effect of prolonging life.

• This results in Italy having a larger elderly population than the average

• The older you are, the greater is your risk of dying with Covid - 19

• Therefore a country with a larger elderly population with be much hard-hit than one with a smaller elderly population.

• Therefore Italy has experienced a very large number of deaths.

Its a bit like the unfortunate fact that countries that are good at treating heart disease and cancer tend to have more cases of dementia - it is the fact that people who are 'saved' from one illness live longer and are therefore more likely to develop dementia.

There aren’t any jobs at all

I'm still hiring and so is the company DH works for (voluntary sector and private finance). We both did zoom interviews last week.

I'm going to be as careful as I can but it will be extremely hard to avoid it. My kids will be at school mingling with dozens of kids, I'll be at work. My friend's dad was very careful as he was 85. He started self-isolating as soon as he heard about it, before the government advised it. His family brought him food and everything he needed. He only went out once in many weeks to the library and he managed to catch it there despite keeping his distance from people. He died quite quickly. Very worried for my parents.

I commented on this on another thread. Despite criticism the NHS is free at point of access which means we are very good at keeping our ill elderly alive. So we are likely to see a high death rate, unlike countries with insurance based health systems where the ill elderly cannot afford treatment or insurance companies limit funding so do not enjoy an extended life.
I have an Aunt and Uncle who are shielding. My aunt has bladder cancer which is treated as a chronic illness rather than terminal and uncle had quad heart bypass at 50 (20 yrs ago) and has had further interventions after heart attacks. They live a happy active life but neither would be here if they had been from the previous generation.

I hear so many stories about people barricading themselves in their houses when they are young, fit, healthy and have literally no reason to fear Covid-19

Does that really surprise you when multiple posters on here have falsely claimed that this virus kills indiscriminately and routinely causes death in healthy young people?