I'm finding the reaction to covid utterly bizarre

[TheDailyCarbuncle]

If anyone had told me that healthy, fit people would willingly put their livelihoods at risk and deny their children an education for months on end, that they would send the country into recession putting healthcare, education and public services at risk for years and years to come to avoid getting a disease that had a very very small chance of killing them I wouldn't have believed it. If you'd said people would be afraid to talk to their healthy siblings I wouldn't have believed it.

I had measles in the 1980s as small child - the vaccination programme where I lived was slow to get off the ground - and it nearly killed me. In 1980 2.6 million people worldwide died of measles, a very large proportion of them children. No one ever considered a lockdown, it was never even suggested.

I think all the analysis of this situation in the coming years won't be about the pandemic, but about the contagion of fear that made people so terrified of something that wasn't a real threat to them that they created huge, long-lasting, in some cases devastating problems for themselves, problems that were nothing to do with their virus and everything to do with their reaction to the virus.

The prediction of half a million deaths was based on the UK government's own predictions for what percentage of the population they expected to contract Covid, postulated against the approximate rated of critical and fatal cases already seen elsewhere around the globe. No particular studies or modelling required, but application of basic mathematics and common sense.

I agree with the previous posters remarking about the lack of critical thinking, however, where I disagree is that it's invariably displayed by those howling about the lockdown itself, as evidenced by the vast majority of those complaining in this thread who clearly demonstrate that they don't even understand the purpose or intent of lockdown.

Well, they don't really understand how to treat it or what the long term effects might be. Until they do, I won't be taking unnecessary risks.

I'm less worried about death than lifelong impaired lung function, brain damage and so on. I read that losing taste and smell implies inflammation in the brain. It's all very well saying you have to take the risk, but we don't know what the risk is.

Agree absolutely
Am not going out not because I’m worried about the virus but because I don’t want to be treated like a leper or get shouted at if I do something wrong !
The numbers just don’t stack up unless you believe as gospel the half a million model from a guy with a slightly dodgy track record

"Locking down for a virus that kills such a tiny proportion of people it infects is madness, utter utter madness."

What % does it kill? What is that in numbers?

Everyone knows we've got to ease out of lockdown now. You're not saying anything original or Earth-shattering.

I am in my fifties and while I would prefer not to get Covid I’m not that
concerned about being ill with it. But I do worry about it’s ability to cause an exponential growth in infections if left unchecked , which could not only overwhelm the NHS , but if it caused lots of workers all being off sick at the same time in industries supplying energy or workers in the food supply chains we would all be in difficulties .
So to me it’s not just about protecting older and vulnerable people ( although that’s very important) . It’s about understanding the catastrophic effect of an infectious illness that could cause lots of young healthy people to be sick all at the same time .

Completely agree OP. I’ve posted at length on other threads, but all I have left to say at this point on a Friday night is that the world has gone stark raving mad.

I feel like this too. I don’t know why my mindset is so different.

I’m constantly worried about the effects of all this on a generation.

But I don’t see the elderly as expendable. I think we have to protect them by shielding them as much as we can. The rest of us have to take our chances

I think the impact on economy, mental health and domestic abuse will be greater than the virus itself.

Wow, it’s amazing how many doctors and epidemiologists are on Mumsnet 🙄 If only the government was taking advice from all the experts on here (I suspect it probably is),

@rawlikesushi ....you should read more about their actions and then have a think about their credentials. I'm not claiming to be a health expert. I'm judging (as I'm entitled to do) their actions or lack of.

@Nearlyoldenoughtowearpurple Ive decided as of having freedom to drive about in England I shall go out IF I WANT and fuck em to the the dementing, fun sponges that are manipulated by the media.

I agree OP.

@XDownwiththissortofthingX the man who made that fantastic model believed his results so strongly that he flouted the lockdown rules himself and had to quit. His model bears no resemblance whatsoever to the actual situation, which is understandable as he made it when nobody knew anything about the virus.

Sweden has a much lighter lockdown and no surge of deaths. They are actual living proof that lockdown of the scale we had isn't necessary.

Well if covid has taught us anything it’s that “experts” don’t agree any more than the rest of us and “science” is damn conflicting.

I agree with you that young and healthy people’s level of fear is not proportionate and the mindset of not going back to work etc because of it not being safe is horrifying because it will bring the country to its knees

I disagree it was madness to lockdown. I think we had to or this would have spiralled out of all control.

I want to think like you, op! I'm sick of being scared.

"I think the impact on economy, mental health and domestic abuse will be greater than the virus itself."

What would have been the impact on economy, mental health and domestic abuse of half a million dead, bodies stacked in ice rinks, critical services - healthcare, food production - unable to operate?

I feel the same, I trust that it is being done for the right reasons with the options available but I do believe we are about to face economic hardship on a scale which will ultimately cost more lives. That terrifies me more but then again I'm young and healthy so in a privileged position where I'm likely to be fine.

And I also believe it's shown a side of society that most of us have never seen before. The lack of ability to risk assess simple situations in people's own lives, the social shaming, the desire to follow rules to the nth degree knowing it makes no difference to transmission, the making up of non existent rules, the willingness to spy on friends and neighbours. The neighborhood stasi is a phrase often used on here and I for one will never forget how people behaved towards each other when they were scared.

My Spanish colleague made the comment in late March that there was 2 epidemics out there... Covid 19 and fear....
At the time I wasnt sure for the UK... But now I definitely agree with him

It's not about us though. It's about protecting the vulnerable and front line staff and no one yet understands why it randomly kills fit and healthy people.

"Sweden has a much lighter lockdown and no surge of deaths."

And we had a lighter lockdown say Spain or Italy, and more deaths.

Or do you think there might be other reasons that some countries have fared better than others?

I work for the NHS and have not liked the stay home save lives message from day one. The NHS has never been at risk of being overwhelmed. It simply spreads fear and now everybody is scared to leave their house. Totally counterproductive imo

I could not agree more. No one really has any facts, and yet we've followed a totalitarian country's example in managing the situation. And then started pursuing anyone who isn't devout enough.

Covid doesn't kill most of the people it infects.

Lockdown will kill people. It already has killed people. And it's a choice as to whether those people are killed or not - they are killed through our actions, not through an infection.

So why are some lives more valuable than others?

1.25 million people die each and every year in car crashes, we don't ban cars but doesn't mean we shouldn't or could 't