There's been around 40 deaths of under 45 year olds with no underlying health conditions.

[mywayhighway]

I'm always amazed how so many people on MN know someone (or often 2) under 45 who've died from Coronavirus with no underlying health conditions.

@bubbleup what the f* is your problem? I dont normally snap on these things and this will probs get deleted but back off!

I completely get that @DianaT1969. Here in the sticks masks are very rare and their wearers think it makes them invincible so they don’t really do social distancing. They’re pretty widely regarded as fuckwits.

We also have one of the lowest rates of infection in the country. I literally haven’t heard of a single case locally, the only person I know who’s had it lives 100 miles away.

I stopped engaging with you because what is the point in a mumsnet argument and you come back with an arsey comment 2 pages later on the thread. Grow up!

We could go rotund in circles arguing this point. Restrictions are being lifted, people will start to get on with their lives, you will have to risk access your own risk, you can only do that from the numbers shared on here. I am low risk, so is my daughter so we will carry on with our lives following government guidelines. The problem is going to come when you have go back to work, there will be millions unemployed, so plenty of people to take your job if you don’t want to go back.

I am low risk, so is my daughter so we will carry on with our lives

Congratulations for being lucky. Not sure that gives you the right to lecture anyone about how they should take more risks than you or lose their job.

@NoHardSell

These are the main pre existing conditions

As expected in a disease that mainly affects the elderly, dementia is one of the main pre existing conditions

The respiratory diseases one is copd I think.

Thank you for this. On a personal note, I wish they’d break down the risk for all chronic lower respiratory conditions. COPD is the most common and well known but nobody seems to know the true risk of other respiratory conditions. That said, given my age and sex, I am not overly concerned about Covid-19 killing me. Even if my risk is 10 times higher than my healthy counterparts, I know it’s still not high.

Good news on the vaccine front. The EU are backing the AstraZeneca/Oxford university vaccine which will be available later this year. They have pre-ordered 300m so they must be optimistic about it's success. The comments on getting the best price is BS, the vaccine is being sold at cost price to everyone which is something to celebrate in these difficult times.

www.dw.com/en/eu-nations-sign-deal-for-coronavirus-vaccine/a-53797569

I’m more frightened of a vaccine that’s been rushed through. I hope they don’t vaccinate children first.

@Alex50

I’m more frightened of a vaccine that’s been rushed through. I hope they don’t vaccinate children first.

They’ve already outlined its likely to be healthcare workers and front line social care workers and vulnerable before children. Let’s not add vaccine fearmongering into the mix.

[quote cakeisalwaystheanswer]Good news on the vaccine front. The EU are backing the AstraZeneca/Oxford university vaccine which will be available later this year. They have pre-ordered 300m so they must be optimistic about it's success. The comments on getting the best price is BS, the vaccine is being sold at cost price to everyone which is something to celebrate in these difficult times.

www.dw.com/en/eu-nations-sign-deal-for-coronavirus-vaccine/a-53797569[/quote]
I wonder how they've been able to test efficacy given that rates of infection are so low? Have they deliberately exposed volunteers to the virus to test whether the vaccine works?

@Alex50

I’m more frightened of a vaccine that’s been rushed through. I hope they don’t vaccinate children first.

Children will be the last. Hcps and people who qualify for a free flu jab first. I’ll be imploring my surgery for it.

@Hearhoovesthinkzebras - they’ve sent vaccines for trial to Brazil where corona is currently very active.

@Redolent But would you do your utmost to avoid HIV, syphilis and polio? Because it’s becoming apparent that covid is also one of those multi-system diseases with long-term effects

Really not comparable, unless you can explain otherwise? For a start, HIV, once contracted, lies dormant in the body, kept suppressed by daily medication. If treated straight away, no longer term effects, normal lifespan, can’t be passed on etc.

The problem is that a lot of school aged children have parents in their 50s, some of whom have underlying health conditions. My DDs are 11 and 8 and my DH and I are 55 and 50. My DH (55) has asthma but hasn't had a day off sick in over 5 years. I'm 50 and have CFS as a result of pneumonia last year, and I now have long-term COVID-19 symptoms.

It isn't just about death. I haven't died, but my life has been impacted in ways I couldn't have anticipated at the start of this year, it's been a long haul and it isn't over yet.

There will be teachers with underlying conditions that parents won't know about. They'll look completely healthy and have years ahead of them of their working lives. So that's why teachers and teaching unions are cautious.

I'm certainly not saying that schools shouldn't open up, I'm anxious about my DDs' education and would love it if they could be back at school full-time. But I'm aware that it isn't just about my family, there are so many families with similar concerns. But teachers and other school staff have understandable concerns about keeping safe.

@Hearhoovesthinkzebras - I have no idea. I follow the German press because I have to report on their economy. I read this and posted it on MN coronavirus because I thought people would find it interesting as Germany has been working on a different vaccine. I am not a scientist and if I did read something which explained why they chose the Oxford vaccine I doubt I would understand it.

Most countries in Europe have had a large rise in total deaths March - May compared to the previous 5 years
However, the pandemic has died down now and deaths are nearly down to normal levels for this time of year

Other European countries e.g. Germany have had kids back to school for weeks now and restarted the economy
The UK has been hard hit - which we should acknowledge and stop minimising - but imo time to follow them

John Burn-Murdoch@jburnmurdoch (Financial Times)

• UK had 64,000 more deaths than usual to May 29
....
Deaths have been:
• 61% higher than usual in England
• +49% in Scotland
• +37% in Northern Ireland
• +36% in Wales

9/12 regions have excess deaths near or above 50%

@Bigchoc - 'the pandemic has died down now'. Do you think us being in lockdown might be having an effect on that? You mention Germany getting their children back to school. How does our track and tracing system compare to theirs?

If we want to protect the lives of 50-90+ year olds (which includes me) we should talk about 1. Cutting back on alcohol 2. Exercise 3. Food Heart failure is the number one cause of early death and far outnumber covid. About 20 times at the moment.

Im not saying rush to schools and put people at risk but as our numbers are now so low it’s madness that we ignore these equally dangerous issues

Amazed that anyone thinks mask-wearing is an infringement of their civil liberties. How fragile does your sense of self have to be to believe that?