Do other countries have covidiots?

[FurForksSake]

Are we the only country that is seeing the shameless flouting of lockdown? I seem to hear stories and see more and more photos of people either bending or breaking the rules. Today we went for a picnic and four separate groups were breaching guidelines to various degrees. How is it in other countries? I've googled but can't seem to find much out, are we really setting ourselves up to fail?

I was specifically talking about people being there breaking the rules, fairplay to be pissed off at that surely? We sat on a blanket in a corner of the park all alone, we then went home. Something we are perfectly entitled to do. Having picnics with four other families hugging and kissing and no social distancing is not the same as what we were doing at all.

If I was sat on a packed beach complaining it was packed you might have a point, but I wouldn't do that as I am not stupid.

Sorry @furforksake I didn't mean you specifically I meant in general

No, and I object to the phrase covidiot.

Some of us just haven’t fallen for the mass hysteria. Yes it is fatal to some - an ever decreasing percentage as more data comes in.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it end up being as deadly as flu.

The reason figures are so high is everyone got it at the same time. Nothing else.

We’re not prepared to live our lives like docile scared idiots doing what our masters say. We can make a risk assessment which as every day goes by is looking like large numbers of this country are incapable of.

Yeah! Of course other countries have.

But we see the good areas on TV. I've seen snaps of people having street parties in Spain and Italy.

They also have different ways of policing in other countries though and that will make a difference.

@Uhoh2020

Sorry *@furforksake* I didn't mean you specifically I meant in general

Thanks, and yes I agree. People stood or sat on packed beaches filming it do my head in. If it is getting busy leave or don't go, find somewhere else.

I said pretty much the same 80's on another thread somewhere!

It was shielded a being able to go out more.
I said they'll be less and less people out and about and less opportunities for these gatherings of 6 they are allowing because people will start returning to work more and more.

Also with kids returning to school parents will need to be around for school run.

And that many of the uni students and year 11/13's who would usually get a PT job though would be more present.

It isn't just about those who die! I've been very unwell with COVID-19 for 3 months, and there are a lot of people in this position. A small percentage of the total probably, but it isn't possible to know who is at risk. There is a thread for people who are suffering in this way, and they are not elderly or at death's door.

The percentage of people dying is very low, true, but the focus on dying hasn't been helpful.

Also, when we hear about 'underlying health issues', we're not talking about people who are elderly or who have no quality of life. My DH has asthma, so he would potentially be at serious risk if he caught it (thankfully we've been careful and he hasn't). But he hasn't had a day off sick in over 5 years.

So it really isn't about being paranoid. It may not be more serious than flu (my problems with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome started with flu that turned into pneumonia last year), but there's a vaccine against flu. That's the crux of the problem, there isn't one against COVID-19; vulnerable people who have had the flu jab have no protection against this new virus, hopefully there will be one eventually.

I've been with my DP and DD to the beach today, camped up away from others and enjoyed the sunshine and DD played. A lot of people would think were stupid, fine. We haven't broken any rules and are not scared of catching it.
Tbh you wouldn't have known there was a pandemic everyone was acting normal and there were very large groups of people there.

The reason figures are so high is everyone got it at the same time. Nothing else

Which has been the issue all along.. if a strain of flu came along and had the potential to hit most of the population at the same time we’d face the same problem which is that a small percentage of a large population dying/getting ill at the same time will collapse the structure of society. People lose their minds if their bins get missed for a couple of weeks, we wouldn’t cope with piles of corpses waiting to be cremated.

People think the state of the economy is bad now, it’s nothing compared to what we would have faced if this virus hadn’t had some blocks put in place.

If we’re being fair we need all sorts of views right now, the people who are keen to get out there and crack on, the people holding back and everything in between it creates a balance that will hopefully keep everything going.

I’ve accepted that we need an element of herd immunity and ‘fire breaks’ within the population to slow the virus so that society can function at more than a basic level without a vaccine. Doesn’t mean I fancy getting to the end of the year with death figures in the hundreds of thousands when they could be limited to tens of thousands.

OP, literally a couple of weeks ago, people would have said your picnic was selfish. How is it lower risk? Coronavirus hasn't suddenly disappeared.

I think the risk is lower now because of chances of catching it. Jenny Harries said this evening at lockdown it was 1:40. Now it's 1:4-500.

So if you go to a field with 400 people. Changes are 1 person has it and if everyone there social distances its unlikely to transmit but it still could and with an R of under 1 it'll be likely only 1 person.

But when it was 1:40 then 10 people there would have had it. We weren't really social distancing and certainly not at the levels as now. The chances were 10 people had it and R was 3. So up to 300 people could have been infected.

That's how I saw it. If I've understood it wrong please someone put me right! Cos I'd like to know the actual facts

The biggest covidiot is the US President, however he seems immune to it. Have you not seen the many large protests, with assault rifles. This was before the current rioting

Doesn’t mean I fancy getting to the end of the year with death figures in the hundreds of thousands when they could be limited to tens of thousands.

^This. It's the way I see it. I think what hasn't helped is the idea that the virus is only dangerous for the elderly and people with 'underlying health issues'. The category of 'underlying health issues' includes far greater numbers than they think, people who could have productive lives for many more years.

The most telling figures are those showing the 5 year average deaths. January was about average, February was actually lower than usual, but from March the lines diverge and the rate increases significantly. By more than even the figures that include care homes etc. This excess deaths figure is the important one and it's high.

i have a cousin who lives in Spain - her Facebook feed for the past two months or so has mainly been spouting anger all the people breaking lockdown over there

she really needs to chill out

but, yeah there are people in every country who have bent/broken whatever rules there are in place

Yes I am sure other countries do, they probably just call them
wankers. It's only this stupid country that would have a "special" name for them.

It will be interesting to see if all these people carry on reporting people for any minor offence... The police will be getting calls left right and centre about people littering or not picking up dog poo... End of the ay the vast majority are adhering to it and as was said only 80% need to for it to be effective... Someone said it upthread that it seems like more as everyone is looking out for it and it makes good stories..

Agree with pp on 'covidiot'. Its so clunky and unimaginative you'd have to be thick to use it.

The Italian mayors were shouting at people to go home two and a half months ago when Italy was in total lockdown.

People are now having parties in Italy, going to mass, bars, restaurants etc because they can.

My boss is in Miami and they are not sticking to the rules

I find the term 'covidiot' really idiotic tbh.

The kind of people that are using it'are the same ones that say things like 'well they've only got themselves to blame'.

Just plain idiots .

People flouting lockdown are probably a lot more visible (and audible, in the case of where I live right now, where a birthday party has been going on outside all day, a couple of houses away with a heck of a lot more than 6 people). I'd say because outside spaces are basically the only place that people can actually go to right now, no alternative options such as the shops, gyms, swimming pools, eating places, cafes, classes that would usually offer some purpose/entertainment.

I don’t think treating your fellow humans as a walking biohazard is healthy.

The biggest problem in this country is we want to pretend death doesn’t happen rather than it being inevitable.

The deaths in care home are “tragic” in that they can be avoided. HOWEVER. the fact someone is in a care home normally means they are ill and in the overwhelming majority of cases don’t have long left (average time in a care home I believe is two years of ill health). I can’t get overly hysterical about their deaths - they were coming.

There are some deaths amongst people who would not expect to die - however the numbers are only there because in 66 million people a very very small percentage is a “number”

Maybe I’m defective as a person but I believe life is a terminal disease. We all have to die. I ain’t about to I’ll myself or murder someone but ultimately it comes to us all and I know I engage in risked behaviour than the threat of corona is. And I suspect most people do the same.

Living life with permanent social distancing for the majority of us is no life. I’m sorry for the genuinely vulnerable but the vast majority of us, we shouldn’t have to live like this for the sake of the shielding. However, for the shielding you are still overwhelmingly going to survive and come out the other side ok.

The problem is people have it in their head that covid = death.

I think in a few years people will study this whole sorry episode in terms of the effect 24/7 news and social media has on a populous unable to assess risk and think for itself.

I firmly believe that if this had happened in the 1970 or 80s there would be no mass hysteria or lock down.

If it were the 1970’s or 80’s there’d be no fucking internet and we’d all be enjoying ourselves just about now.... in bed 😁

Yeh this would have panned out so so differently before the internet and social media.

It would be like the water conservation measures of the drought in 1976. (I haven't though about that in years! But remember it well)

Pretty high compliance - especially when the news stories about standpipes started appearing. And RL expectations too - veryine would gossio abiyt huw shameful family X were because of (name water-related transgression). And it was all taught in schools, so your DC would becine resident snitches. And with only three TV channels and children's programming on only two of them for a couple of hours a day, once you had Blue Peter and Magpie on the case, you had v high coverage.

Unlike regular tourists they seem to have gone a bit mad, littering, drinking, assaulting police, etc. Who the fuck are they

They'd normally be in Benidorm, causing hassle for the Spanish. They must be pleased they're stuck here this summer, despite the loss of tourist income.

Amazing what being paid a full wage does for you - it's the green light to take the piss and dream up excuses not to actually do any work

Nothing like a generalisation there. Some of us are working from home and we ARE working.