If you knew you’d survive would you willingly get corona to get it over with...

[ACautionaryTale]

Just curious.

DH had it back in March and now I have it. We’re lucky we both had it mild.

However he said something today along the lines of - I think you’ve been wanting to get it.

Made me think. I’m 44 and obese but otherwise healthy. Even given the obesity, still almost certain to survive and not get seriously ill. However I was not lining up to catch it.

Having had it though, I can’t say I’m crying buckets over it. Especially since the evidence is that there is immunity from it (I know the doom mongers like to think otherwise). I suspect by the time the immunity wears off there will be a vaccine.

So I can’t say I’m upset at having got it out of the way.

How on earth can you 'know' you would survive it?
It's a hypothetical question, quite obviously

Obviously if I knew I'd survive it then I would happily 'get it over with' . But I don't know what my outcome would be so no, I will try and avoid it.

Yes, I actually think the next time to get it would be now/ over the summer before flu season kicks in. Most of us will get it anyway.

I would be relieved just to get it done.

Yes, if knew I would survive it & have no long term or lasting effects from the virus, then I'd rather get it over & done with

I have no comorbidities and am a normal weight. I was hospitalised with Covid, and am still struggling with recovery at nine weeks. I was fighting for breath alone at home for 13 nights, with barely two hours sleep a night. I was so exhausted by the time I was admitted, I couldn’t even wash myself.
And my case counts as “mild” - I just needed oxygen, not CPAP or ventilation. Believe me, you do not want to “just get it over with”!

No...

I’m as confident as you can be that everyone in my house wouldn’t die... as in, nothing puts any of us at a higher risk.

But, some people are pretty damn ill with it without being in any danger of dying.

I wouldn’t want to be accidentally spreading it before I knew I had it...

And, the 2 weeks self isolating would be pretty hard going on my household so I’d rather avoid that unless it’s absolutely necessary.

I wouldn’t be bothered about getting it

Think I’ve had it early March tho anyway -moderately ill with it

OP you are a prick for admitting to speeding 'in your convertible' the limit on motorways is 70mph for a reason 🙄

Well I might not die from it but would I give it to my 5 yo who's on permanent o2? Would it hospitalise or kill him or lead to the Kawasau-esque illness? Any long term impacts?

No, for all the reasons mentioned by tabulahrasa.

It's not just surviving it though, you could be on a ventilator in intensive care for weeks.
I've read about people needing rehabilitation to walk again, one man lost a leg.

So no.

@Babdoc unlucky

Glad you’re ok

How old are you , if you don’t mind me asking

I would willingly have it whatever the outcome. This isn't living, this is purely existing.

Yes.

Yes if it offered immunity. I'm not getting any younger.

There’s a big range of “knowing you’ll survive” though.

Surviving after weeks in intensive care? No thanks. I’d rather wait for a vaccine.

Surviving after having a very mild or asymptotic case? Catching it and getting out of the way with sounds great in that scenario, yes. Although there is of course the risk of spreading it to others.

In practice I’d rather avoid it as I’ve no way of knowing which end of the “surviving” scale I’d fall on (assuming I did survive!)

I won’t mind getting it. I’ve been shielding myself for a vulnerable adult in my life, but I’m not going to be caring for them anymore and I’ve decided to get back to work too

I don't agree with what a certain very extended family member did but...

When one (frontline nurse) tested positive, others deliberately moved in to be in quarantine with her and get it , which they inevitably did. They are all mid twenties with no co-morbidity, was like some "pox party" 😳

No, I wouldn't want it....

But I am fairly sure I had it (raised temp, terrible aches and pains, dry cough, bloodshot eyes, lost sense of taste and smell, couldn't get enough breath)...but no test, so I don't know.

However, I would NEVER, EVER want to go through that again even though I survived and the worst only lasted about 10 days, and the breathlessness wasn't major. It is awful. And if that wasn't it, well, I'm even more frightened.....

There is no guarantee I have antibodies or am protected from another onslaught either, but the experience was frightening and has left me very cautious indeed. I suspect those with a very "oh it'll be fine and most people get it mildly and don't die" attitude have not experienced even a moderate attack....

How on earth can you 'know' you would survive it?

This is a "fantasy question". Kind of like asking, "If you had 3 wishes/a million dollars and didn't have to pay taxes"/"If you could have a pet dragon..."

Catching it is no guarantee of getting antibodies

Only 7.3% of Stockholm’s inhabitants had developed Covid-19 antibodies by the end of April

• and Sweden has not been in lockdown, so should have a higher % than the UK

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/21/just-7-per-cent-of-stockholm-had-covid-19-antibodies-by-end-of-april-study-sweden-coronavirus

Possibly a lot of people got COVID without producing antibodies ?
So are those people immune ?

We don't even have proof yet that having antibodies does mean COVID immunity
Or for how long, although most scientists think, going by SARS, that any immunity would be about 2 years

Yes

No, because if I knew I'd survive it now, I'd survive it in 6 months. There's no rush to get it over with.

I think I would survive even though I've been asked to shield. I still wouldn't want to get it in case it robbed a good chunk of already depleted lung function. But, if I stretch your hypothetical to avoid death and severe illness, I'd be running through the covid wards sans PPE.