This virus is not going to go away, a vaccine may never be developed, we are just going to have to get used to it as part of life

[Lardlizard]

Nothing is going to be hugely
Different come September

Can I ask, OP, how you have been affected by COVID? I don't mean financially, I mean healthwise? Have you lost anyone? Do you have high risk family members that you have to live with or have some kind of caring responsibility for? Do you know of anyone who has been ventilated? Or hospitalised? Or who has just struggled to get over the virus?

I am going to hedge my bets and say you are young enough not to be worried with no underlying conditions and no caring responsibilities beyond your own children who also are healthy. I am also willing to bet you have not been affected by the virus and know of no one personally who is struggling.

I personally understand the economic situation and am worried about the long term impact of this. I get that there will be collateral damage and people will die due to delayed diagnosis and treatment of other conditions and that that is a ticking timebomb for all of us. But the immediacy of COVID, being high risk myself and having a child who is high risk, having an 85 year old mother with dementia, a colleague who has died (40s, no underlying conditions we are aware of) puts all that to one side. I want my family and friends alive and well and even if the risk is still small, it feels unmangeable. I might be at more risk of a car accident, but there is much I can do to mitigate that - take out insurance, drive carefully, drive defensively, get my eyes tested regularly..... There is literally nothing we can do to avoid getting this and we don't even get the fighting chance we might get in a car accident by swerving out of the way!

I am not hysterical, I see and understand the numbers, I am taking multi vitamins and a vitamin D supplement, trying to lose some excess weight...but the reality is it's in my face and not going away so that's my immediate priority. It is very difficult to shake.

@nellodee - actually snorted. But not clever enough to reply with a suitable Haiku.

I’m afraid your bets are wrong, but I do wish you well

Is there some truth to this? Probably.

I do believe they will develop a vaccine but, surely it will only be given to the elderly and ppl with underlying issues?

So the rest of us are gonna get it at some point, its inevitable. And some of us will die.

However, lockdown is to allow the nhs to cope with the influx of ppl right now. If we go back to work, LOTS more ppl will die. Maybe you or I, too. That's the crux of it.

How on earth is a coronavirus going to morph, almost overnight, into an influenza virus?! I’m no scientist but sounds unbelievable to me.

If my husband catches it, he'll die because of previous immunosuppression and current chest problems. No doubts about it, even though he was still capable of working full time before we were recommended to stay home for 12 weeks at least.

Strangely enough, OP, I would prefer him not to die. So I really don't give a fuck what you think about my decisions.

Scarbados, I’m sorry for your situation and I haven’t said anything about what I think about your decisions, I would think most people in this situation would isolate as much as humanly possible.

I have seen on twitter today that doctors in Italy are reporting that the covid19 has mutated into common flu. Can an Italian speaker can verify this?

er .... no

Perhaps they said something like, once we have a vaccine, it will become like seasonal flu when you get a shot every year, most people will be fine, some elderly and vulnerable people will still die.

OP glad you’ve seen reality.

SARS hasn't died off

Really? When was the last case of SARS then?

Scarbadous - sorry for your DH, but you may feel a bit better to know that actually those on immunosuppressants have been doing better than expected. Some of the bad reactions to covid are due to an overreaction of the immune system and immunosuppressants stop this.

Is this a Newsflash from any particular reputable source?

Eh? Plenty of professors, doctors and scientists think that there will be a vaccine within 9-18 months. I'd rather listen to professionals who actually know something.

They stopped researching vaccines for sars and mers because it wasn't necessary anymore. They are putting a lot more money and time in this vaccine than they normally put in research. Oh and it doesn't need to work as well as 97/98% like measles and other childhood vaccines because even with a shitty vaccine that only works for 60% of people we can still create herd immunity.

LilacTree1, thanks I think most people will eventually, but I’m glad I’ve realised now, not waited until September to see the light

@Rainbow12e I like seeing you on these threads. It makes me feel better when I see positive posts even when I can't quite believe it

I think there will be a vaccine, and am hopeful for that sooner rather than later. I agree even if Oxford comes off it will take a while to roll out. Even then it may not be 100% effective. However it will be enough that we can move back to near normality.

However I do agree that in the meantime, the young and healthy have to accept they can’t hide away from CV and accept that they might catch it.

That might still be the case post vaccine but it’ll be less likely anyone will catch it.

OP I feel like giving you a hug

I’m so depressed feeling like the world believes the status quo is okay.

I personally understand the economic situation and am worried about the long term impact of this. I get that there will be collateral damage and people will die due to delayed diagnosis and treatment of other conditions and that that is a ticking timebomb for all of us. But the immediacy of COVID, being high risk myself and having a child who is high risk, having an 85 year old mother with dementia, a colleague who has died (40s, no underlying conditions we are aware of) puts all that to one side. I want my family and friends alive and well and even if the risk is still small, it feels unmangeable. I might be at more risk of a car accident, but there is much I can do to mitigate that - take out insurance, drive carefully, drive defensively, get my eyes tested regularly..... There is literally nothing we can do to avoid getting this and we don't even get the fighting chance we might get in a car accident by swerving out of the way!

I have to applaud the honesty of this post. I'm really tired of people taking a supposed moral high ground saying it's so vital to protect people against covid. You've actually admitted that you consider the people who die due to lockdown 'collateral damage.'

I have to applaud the honesty of this post. I'm really tired of people taking a supposed moral high ground saying it's so vital to protect people against covid. You've actually admitted that you consider the people who die due to lockdown 'collateral damage.'

I agree, although I wonder how the poster would feel if the people against lockdown said they understand they could die from Covid but it's just collateral damage? I guess it's what is the highest risk, to me the country and economy need to get moving again, if there is a vaccine fantastic, but we can't wait. By all means continue to isolate yourselves, no problem with that and it's understandable if you wish to.

The country cannot remain as it was in lockdown until a vaccine is / could be created. All the money given towards creating a vaccine doesn't mean they will or that they will do it quickly, I'm holding out hope they do though

I agree OP. If there is a vaccine, which may or may not be ready in September, those who are more at risk will have it first...like now with the flu jab every year. What do those who are not in the high risk groups do whilst awaiting our "turn" for the vaccine which may not be until late October, if ready in September? What's the alternative other than to try and live with it in the meantime?

@Lardlizard
This virus is not going to go away, a vaccine may never be developed, we are just going to have to get used to it as part of life
My whole family is shielding based on doctors advice. Do you suggest my children never leave their house/garden again and just get used to it as their life?

@Doingitaloneandproud

I agree, although I wonder how the poster would feel if the people against lockdown said they understand they could die from Covid but it's just collateral damage?

I agree with this to an extent, but I also think that if someone is really afraid of covid then they can go ahead and take a ton of precautions - stop work, stay at home etc. People who are affected by lockdown don't have a choice, they have to lose their jobs or miss out on a cancer diagnosis because those things have been taken away from them. So I don't think it's at all equal.

How selfish to view people dying from heart attacks, sepsis, cancer, suicide etc., people losing their jobs, businesses, homes, as worthwhile to stop a tiny minority of mainly elderly people dying.

I had a chat with a retired GP - friend of my parents - who treated flu in 1968

That now has estimates of up to 80,000 dead

She was saying if she’d not been a GP, she might not even have known about it

Didn’t have much in the way of PPE but it was more normal to do home visits back then.

OP and others

Fight the good fight before we lose swathes of people to other illnesses while society forgets them.