The majority of people seem genuinely terrified

[thewheelsonthebus23]

I keep reading threads on Facebook and elsewhere, I will also include my own mother in this. There are so many people genuinely petrified of life returning to normal right now.
I can’t get my head around this. Yes, it poses a threat to some, but the survival rate is incredibly high for most of the population. It seems a lot of people think lockdown will eradicate it completely and it also seems that they believe if they get it, they’ll almost certainly die. I know that’s what my mum thinks. She’s adamant if she gets it, she’ll end up on a ventilator.
Someone posted about sending their child back to school and said something along the lines of: “I’d rather pay the fine, than pay for her funeral”.
Has the media been really irresponsible here? I feel the mass media has a lot to answer for.

@Mynydd I understand your concerns but the lockdown was never about protecting individuals from illness, it was to ensure the NHS could cope. It is inevitable that many more people will become unwell and sadly some will die but the overwhelming majority will not. I am in the at risk category for 2 reasons but I am still working and will happily send the kids back to nursery and school as CV is not going away anytime soon and if I am potentially going go be very unwell, I would rather do it pre-autumn when seasonal flu season starts and hospitals are stretched.

Around 300 people under 45 have died from Coronavirus in the UK.

If you are young there’s more chance you will trip down the stairs and break your neck than die from COVID19.

I agree OP. I am stunned and despair of the fact that so many otherwise intelligent adults are buying into the hysteria.

That the man who told the government to tell us to stay at home is himself entirely unconcerned with the person he has sex with following those very rules shows that the threat of “instant death” if you set foot outside your house has been rather overblown.

@Mynydd
Excellent! Love it!
And very appropriate. I think the more panicked people are, the less they trust their own judgment, and the more they are willing to do what louder, more forceful panicky people are saying.

YouGov tracker polls:

1. Fear of catching COVID - a majority, about average among European countries which have been hard hit

2. Keeping schools closed - anout 70%, a bigger majority than our neighbours

Lockdown is not over. It will be a very gradual lifting of some restrictions. The daily death rate is still in the 100s and new cases in the 1000s. Life is not going to get back to normal for weeks and weeks yet. If you practice good hygiene and distance yourself when out you are very unlikely to get the virus. Use common sense.

To say the government has hyped it up is bloody stupid. They had to communicate to a largely cynical public that lockdown was vital to stop the nhs being overwhelmed ! And they did that too late and weren’t decisive enough. Otherwise people wouldn’t have taken it seriously.

I don't know anybody who's terrified. Most people I know acknowledge it's a serious illness but think everything will get back to normal, soon.

"Life is not going to get back to normal for weeks and weeks yet."

Life won't get back to completely "normal" for a lot longer, maybe until the vaccine

80-90% of the economy should restart this summer, but - unless COVID dies off over summer -

. we are likely to be wearing masks in shops, taxis, public transport
. no large indoor public entertainments
. no flying abroad for holidays

new cases in the 1000s

Of course there will be a rise in cases, they are aiming to test 100 000 people a day.

With extremely vulnerable parents that rely on me I'm continuing the lockdown for myself whether things get back to normal or not. They only want to lift the restrictions to get the economy going again, not because anything has changed - watch the death rate rise again.

Just “ I was really ignorant to the virus until my friend went to a supermarket, caught it and almost died..”

Do you mind if I ask what happened? Hopefully she is home now?

The thing that makes me anxious about lifting the lockdown measures is not that I believe covid equals certain death, it's because there is an increased risk of death if one of us catches it and it's bloody nasty when you do have it. I will do everything in my power to reduce the risk of myself, my child and my partner catching it.

I am genuinely anxious about DD going back to school. Kids may be less likely to get it but they can and have died from it. If I'm not comfortable sending her back when they do open, I'll try to keep working from home.

I am an intelligent person, if I do say so myself and am reasonably relaxed when I go out, I don't wear a mask but I'm not a dick either. I wash my hands and don't touch my face.

Ensuring the NHS can cope is protecting people from the illness though. Not from catching it of course but hopefully from dying of it. So if the NHS, or any global health care system, is overloaded and can't cope more people die than need to. That's why we, all of us around the world, locked down.

Unfortunately our fuck witted government was too late and ill prepared so our lockdown has not protected enough people. But what would the death toll have been like without it?

And for balance I do go out, I don't bleach my groceries, and I'm not panicking. I don't think this virus will kill me, personally. I also don't think now is a great time to lift restrictions. I think the economy and the children, which are the biggest concerns for most, can recover.

I don’t know of a single person who is terrified. Only on Mumsnet!

I'm in remission for cancer. I have been for 3 years but my immune system has never got back to normal. Im not classed as shielded or vulneravle at all because its been 3 and half years and im "better". I've never been so ill from various bugs going around in all my life until the last 3 years . Very bug i get seems to hit me hard and last longer than those around mw with the samd thing. I'm absolutely terrified. I'm trying hard to get this into perspective but I'm petrified of becoming just another Covid statistic, I'm terrified of the long slow suffocating death this virus kills you with. I've been fine up until now mentally but I'm beginning to think what's the point.

I can stay home all I like as I've lost my job and there isn't likely to be anything suitable coming up soon, but I have young adults and teens at home and they will resume their social lives as soon as they can. So I need to get a grip and just accept it.

I'm more terrified of the lockdown continuing

It has devastated my mental health and sent me back to a place i never thought I'd be in again

I know a lot of people who are terrified. Frankly the level of delusion on this thread is astonishing. Do you really think we can just go back to normal and not worry?

@Mynydd **I think the economy and the children, which are the biggest concerns for most, can recover.

And it’s naive statements like this that are going to ruin even more lives for generations.

I know several people who have died from Covid. Most are friends of mine and dh’s parents, one was a friends parents. And one was a friend with no underlying issues. Left behind his wife and two young dcs.
I’m sad and fairly anxious.

Parents that are worried about sending their kids to school...I presume drive their kids around in a car most days. Anyone know what's statistically more dangerous? Dying from Covid or dying in an RTA? Maybe some risk comparison might help?

I'd rather not have it until more is known about it and how to treat it effectively. I've read some posters on MN say that they're not bothered if their elderly parents die of covid, I'd say that's another extreme.

Do you really think we can just go back to normal and not worry?

I don't think anyone has said that, but there does need to be a gentle easing out of lockdown, to not only get the economy moving again but to also allow for people to be able to access services, be that health, housing or other.

Going to Cheltenham and the footie is a long way off, but we can try the middle ground.

One person can spread covid to thousands. You can’t say the same about a car crash.

I think there are people who have said quite clearly that government control of our thinking has led to this over cautious attitude and the media has fed off it. We do appear to be very eager to be led. It’s also clear that three word slogans were used again - stay at home, save our NHS etc. We have hardly had a nuanced argument!

Lord Sumption, former Supreme Court judge, talking to Emma Barnett on Radio 5 at around 10 am this morning was brilliant at expressing a more liberal view and how the government has controlled our thoughts over this pandemic. If you can get it, listen to it. In my view it’s vital to hear an alternative reasoned argument. He’s also one of few interviewees that makes her look a bit of a “red top” journalist. He asked for clarification of her questions quite often! He’s apparently extraordinarily bright and it showed by a very reasoned argument. His views didn’t appeal to listeners who are the sheep in society and those who are scared but it’s important to have views of people who are not scientists.

i must go to Cheltenham! It is what makes the winter worth it!