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Original poster

Coronaphobia - people just have to get a grip

386 replies

wakeupitsabeautifulmorning · 01/05/2020 16:19

I'm really worried that irrational fears are going to absolutely ruin the country as well as putting people at massive risk of dying from other things or developing mental health. And God knows what parents with it will do to their dc's mental health and development (keeping dc off school until there's a vaccination etc.)

OP posts:
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9
Sunshinegirl82 · 02/05/2020 20:38

@detroitthetourist

The economy is not “rich people’s shares” though. It effects everyone. It’s people’s jobs, their businesses, restaurants, cafes, shops, gyms, cinemas. It’s the taxes that fund benefits and the NHS and council housing and schools.

A sustained drop in GDP is associated in a significant drop in life expectancy. One study suggested that if the GDP dropped by 6.5% or more the resultant drop in life expectancy would outweigh the benefits of the lockdown in terms of reducing deaths.

There needs to be a balance. There is a middle ground between lifting lockdown tomorrow and waiting until there is a vaccine.

Chillipeanuts · 02/05/2020 20:39

Sorry, last was to Quartz.

DetroitTheTourist · 02/05/2020 20:40

No, the economy is RICH people's lives. I and many others do not benefit from capitalism. I'm not dying from this so some privileged person can make more money, keep housing out of my reach, and visit their vacation second homes.

Viviennemary · 02/05/2020 20:41

Perfectly healthy people dying within weeks of catching a lethal virus that is extremely contagious. I think you would be mad not to worry about it.

Sunshinegirl82 · 02/05/2020 20:43

Right, so you live on fresh air then?

Chillipeanuts · 02/05/2020 20:44

“There needs to be a balance. There is a middle ground between lifting lockdown tomorrow and waiting until there is a vaccine.”

Absolutely, Sunshinegirl, agree with you completely. But saying everyone needs to get a grip as OP did is just as ridiculous as me saying everyone has to lock themselves away until there’s a vaccine. Which I’m not. Clearly though, some people do feel they have little choice. Believe me, they wish they did! There’s nothing wrong with me, but I’ll be entombed too because I lovebmy family and don’t feel I can risk them.
It’s bloody awful for everyone, in every kind of circumstance imaginable.

Greysparkles · 02/05/2020 20:51

No, the economy is RICH people's lives. I and many others do not benefit from capitalism. I'm not dying from this so some privileged person can make more money, keep housing out of my reach, and visit their vacation second homes

What the fuck are you talking about
Like seriously. What. The. Fuck.

DetroitTheTourist · 02/05/2020 20:54

Why? Are you gonna try charge me for that too?

Sunshinegirl82 · 02/05/2020 21:00

So how long are you planning to stay in for?

Quartz2208 · 02/05/2020 21:05

@Chillipeanuts yes you are right you should be. You are exactly the ones who should be staying in.

But for those of us who are healthly we do need to take a deep breath look at the risks (in June once we have the infection rate controlled) and step out into the world in order to make sure you can keep safe

Quartz2208 · 02/05/2020 21:07

to be fair @Sunshinegirl82 I suspect the way the US works is different to the UK - ours is very much linked to the state in a way that perhaps it isnt in the US

duffeldaisy · 02/05/2020 21:09

@talismankeeper Yes, sorry, I only used it here to illustrate that I wasn’t being smug, and had also been ignorant of word meanings.
As soon as that person pointed out its meaning, I was mortified, and thanked them for explaining.

ToffeeYoghurt · 02/05/2020 21:17

We all need a basic economy yes but that's not the economy talked about by the super wealthy who are pushing for premature end to lockdown. As Detroit says these people live in homes around the world whilst many can't afford one home. It's the poor who are being most affected by Covid and it's they who will suffer most - in terms of lives lost and economically if we rush ending lockdown. Which in the UK isn't actually a proper lockdown in any case.

These people reside in safe tax havens like Monaco (which has a far stricter lockdown than the UK. They won't be affected by the risk to life caused by early end to lockdown nor will they suffer from the economic damage that would bring. And there's no functioning healthy economy when half or more of the workforce are off sick for weeks on end (or dead) including the healthcare workers who consequently won't be there to care for patients Covid or non Covid.

Stop, start, stop, start is far more damaging to the economy than a longer lockdown. We can't magic away the virus but we can mitigate the damage. If we so wish. That doesn't necessarily mean waiting until there's mass availablity of a vaccine but it should mean waiting until the spread has lessened - because there's only so many people it can infect in lockdown (a proper one at least, with no unessential flights and checks or quarantine for essential travel). We should also wait until we've started more widespread treatment with the antivirals. Trials have been promising when they're given in early stages.

jasjas1973 · 02/05/2020 21:17

But for those of us who are healthy we do need to take a deep breath look at the risks (in June once we have the infection rate controlled) and step out into the world in order to make sure you can keep safe

All that will happen is the infection rate will increase and by the time people actually stop visiting their elderly parents etc it will too late.

What happened in Feb March is just waiting to happen again and as shown then, we won't be able to trace the infectious contacts, it'll be far harder with outbreaks occurring anywhere.

As said, we are slowly destroying the economy and all we know.

Quartz2208 · 02/05/2020 21:26

What do you suggest jasjas1973 because nothing is perfect

DetroitTheTourist · 02/05/2020 21:32

Capitalism hasn't given me a fair share out of my marriage, I live camping, I have no home. The lockdown deprived me of access to showers, flush bathrooms, and safe camping. I'm enjoying life free from abuse. I'm not dying for a system that does not benefit me. Fuck that.

glitterballs134 · 02/05/2020 21:38

Deteoit is right. In this world of fiat currency. I am not worried about this shitty economy that we have been slaves too. Nor inflation not when the printed money is finally going to the people.

Sunshinegirl82 · 02/05/2020 21:45

Well no- one can force you to go out. If you don’t want to, don’t.

DetroitTheTourist · 02/05/2020 21:50

Supplies need picking up, people around me refuse to accept no, I'm not socializing, and I've no door to lock. I'm older, worn down physically, and would not survive it. If others won't take it seriously then it will kill me. I'm suffering too. No showers, so washing in cold water. No flush bathrooms. No camping with facilities. Sure, I'm pretty miserable, but I'm willing to sacrifice. You don't see me demanding facilities open. But tourists complain they can't vacation and walk in places I usually live.

Thingybob · 02/05/2020 22:05

@Jrobhatch29 It was me that stated 56 and apologies I may have made a mistake and only counted females. I think the true figure is the 161 that quartz gave. The full dataset (which I cant access at the moment) is on the ONS site, broken down into smaller age ranges. Nevertheless it is a very small percentage of the total and if every healthy under 40 resumed normal life there would be very few deaths in that age range and would be pretty insignificant when compared to other causes of mortality for that cohort.

Bimbleboo · 02/05/2020 22:19

@ThePlatypusAlwaysTriumphs honestly could not agree more. I can’t believe how much you get jumped on if you dare to mention that people are behaving like spoiled brats stamping their feet because they ‘can not possibly live like this another day’. Maybe it makes me cold to roll my eyes at it, but tens of thousands of people are dead. With many more to come. Is it REALLY unbearable that you can’t browse the special-buys in Aldi or go to Pizza Express?
I get that people’s mental health will be AFFECTED by the situation but people are behaving as though they are living in some war-torn third world country because they can’t have their weekly coffee in a garden centre and THAT is now bordering on ‘hysterical’.
Grit your teeth and get through it. It’s temporary and if you apply some perspective it’s not much to be asked for. There are people with long term, serious mental health problems (that are not temporary situational reactions to a new event) who are finding it insulting to hear how people are ‘suffering’ because they can’t live the way they’ve become used to and the way they’d prefer. (Again, temporarily)

brassbrass · 02/05/2020 22:30

There are people with long term, serious mental health problems that's right and lockdown has got a member of DHs family sectioned.

Yet another MN thread where people can't see beyond their own noses. There isn't a one size fits all answer. Lockdown is a safe approach for some (clearly) but will be death to others. Some will survive financially and some may even prosper, others will tank to oblivion. So hysterical reactions to one set of circumstances isn't very helpful and just divides everyone further.

celan · 02/05/2020 23:41

@DetroitTheTourist I'm not really following your logic. If I die, I'm not going to be very concerned about anything much. If my DC get Covid, the overwhelming probability is that they will be ok. If I can't get out of the house and back to work, the overwhelming probability is that they will not be ok, because I will think life as it is now is not worth the bother. As a result of lockdown, I have nothing, apart from my DC.

If you see someone who contemplates taking their own life several times a day as lacking in humanity, I suggest you take a deep breath and imagine how it feels to want to be dead.

Bimbleboo · 02/05/2020 23:43

@brassbrass if my post annoyed you, you’ve missed my point. There are of course people who’s mental health is being terribly affected by the lockdown. But there are swarms of others who are just being petulant and ‘hysterical’ about what’s being asked of them.

The member of your family is clearly not one of the people whingeing for lockdown to end because they want their life back to normal and citing this as a mental health problem.

Many people will currently be lonely, sad, frustrated, frightened or even just pissed off at what’s being asked of them. That’s a normal response to an abnormal situation. It’s not a mental health crisis. It doesn’t make it invalid And it doesn’t mean they are entitled to feel those feelings, but it’s not a mental health crisis and it doesn’t warrant the calls for lockdown to be stopped so that people don’t have to continue not doing what they want , when they want, because it gives them these feelings.

The lockdown is not the problem. The virus is the problem and the lockdown is a side effect of it.
People refuse to acknowledge this because it’s easier to stamp their feet at the government and demand that someone come and alter reality because they are not used to being asked to be impacted by something that they feel isn’t their direct personal problem.

Chillipeanuts · 02/05/2020 23:54

Quartz

“and step out into the world in order to make sure you can keep safe”

You’ve just made me cry. I’ve never been helpless in my 55 years. I can’t begin to find the words so won’t even try, but the gratitude I feel to the countless unknown people who are selflessly facilitating our life right now is overwhelming. I don’t want them to have to.