Is catching Covid inevitable?

[Beebityboo]

Gotten myself in to a bit of an anxious mess tonight. I'm vulnerable to Covid and have been desperately trying to think of ways to completely minimise the risk to myself and my DC's. Do you think too much caution is pointless? Is it inevitable we will all get this unless we literally go in to a bunker for a year or more?
DH was meant to be going to a house viewing tomorrow but I'm begging him to cancel as it will mean getting a taxi which I feel is a huge risk.
With the news about masks being needed for at least a year is this just how my life will be? Hiding in terror from a virus that may kill me at 33? Being terrified every time one of the DC's gets a cough or a temp?
I just feel that I can be as cautious as I want but if I want my DH and DC's to have any quality of life at all I need to find a way of accepting (and not being constantly terrified of) this real risk to our health. I don't know how to live in this "new normal" I'm not brave enough for it .

Saying 'oh you've such a small chance of it happening, no need to worry' is probably well meaning but pointless imo.

It isn't that the people who are more worried can't read, it's that they have a different response.

You need to speak to someone about your anxiety, OP.

On paper I am high risk for Covid (immunosuppressed due to Crohn’s meds, plus an asymptomatic congenital lung condition). I was shielding for most of lockdown. When I got an antibody test this month, it turned out I’d actually had Covid already back in March - it was so mild I didn’t even know that was what it was. Several colleagues also had positive antibody tests without having had any symptoms at all.

This virus really isn’t a killer for most people. The government had to terrify people in order to get them to comply with lockdown, but there is really no need for you to be so scared at this point. Just take sensible precautions like washing your hands and wearing a mask when required to do so.

I’ve got high BP so a risk of clotting. For better or worse I’m taking an aspirin before bed every night to let it work its magic on thinning my blood.

That calculator up there gave me a minuscule risk despite my health conditions. I have 3 friends with serious health problems who’ve had it (including one on the transplant list) and have all had a miserable two weeks in bed but come out the other side.

Change the location here: coronavirus-staging.data.gov.uk/cases?areaType=ltla&areaName=Bromley and that will show you confirmed positive cases in your area, and/or look here: phe.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=47574f7a6e454dc6a42c5f6912ed7076. Then google the population of your area to calculate the chances of meeting a confirmed case. Unless you are in one of the publicised "hotspots" your chances of coming into contact with a CV case currently are very small.

On the clotting issue...

"...many hospitals are now giving those at risk anticoagulants and antiplatelet therapy soon after admission. These are drugs that thin the blood, making clotting less likely.

“The lesson we have learned is that we should treat these people before they have the clot,” said Samani. The risk can be measured by looking at the levels of D-dimers in the blood. These are proteins – the leftovers from the normal clotting of blood when people have a wound that heals, for instance. But high levels can indicate a clot is forming."

and because tests are so easy to get now it is likely treatment could happen earlier that previously as well

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/22/why-doctors-say-uk-better-prepared-for-second-wave-coronavirus

Thanks for that @Orangeblossom78 that's a reassuring article.

I'm clinically vulnerable and was getting pretty anxious by it all. But allowed myself to be persuaded to book a holiday. I admit I was really nervous of the idea of trains, hotels, taxis and bigger groups of people about - especially as social distancing in France is 1m not 2m

For the two weeks before we went I eased myself into things - I went out for a couple of meals, I went in a taxi and I went into work (school) a bit to have some meetings.

And the holiday - actually it's been great and had made my anxiety much more relaxed about it. We are now a week in and I feel confident catching trains and taxis and eating out.

Both here and in England the taxis have had screens between the front and back and, especially in England, the taxis smelt really clean too. The trains have been clean and very low numbers of passengers - it's been very easy to stay 2m apart. Everywhere building has anti bac gel at the entrance and exit. Here they even have anti bac stations dotted around outside.
Wearing a mask has ended up being no issue whatsoever, even in 30 degree heat. Even here it's pretty easy to sit and stay more than 2m away from anyone when having a meal or going in a tourist attraction.

The biggest test for me will be a theme park on Monday - my day bag will include spare masks and filters and a lot of anti bac gel!

No OP I don't think it is inevitable and the more you do to avoid getting it, the less inevitable it becomes. I have a DH who works in London and two school-age DC. Before the lockdown and with no SD or additional cleaning/sanitation measures in place I was pretty convinced that sooner or later we'd all get it. However, I think if we all follow SD then we should be fine. There was a case in the USA where a hairdresser had Covid, but because they'd worn a mask and visor none of their clients got it! Masks really do work, even when people are in close proximity to one another for reasonable periods of time. So mask up, wash your hands regularly, avoid crowded places, work from home and then live as fully as you can.

@ChristmasinJune thank you so much for that link. My heath anxiety is through the roof with all of this and your link (and the results) have really helped me today.

Thank you. And sorry to hijack thread.

If I'm honest I'm suffering from major agoraphobia. I've struggled with it in the past but have massively improved over the years only to have this awful relapse.

I understand your anxiety OP.

I am a secondary school teacher and I am incredibly anxious about returning to work in September where all pupils will be back, limited social distancing due to classroom sizes, no enhanced cleaning as school budgeted haven’t increased.

I’m doing all I can to protect myself at the moment but once I return to work I don’t see how I can.

Try just going outside, to the garden if you have one then for a walk somewhere quiet. Just baby steps. You can do it

[quote Tequilamockinbird]@ChristmasinJune thank you so much for that link. My heath anxiety is through the roof with all of this and your link (and the results) have really helped me today.

Thank you. And sorry to hijack thread.[/quote]
Glad it helped, it's quite interesting isn't it?

It hasn't been helped by the articles today about his much more at risk you are if you are overweight. I have a Bmi of 37/38 . I've lost a stone since all of this but still so much more weight to shift. I'm so so scared this morning. Can't even face DH and the kids .

Sorry you're feeling bring it hard

We are getting very mixed messages, if you're in England Johnson just spouts different nonsense on alternate days. So whilst we don't have to worry and everything is back to normal we are all too fat and therefore at risk because it's very serious

My typing is terrible! Feeling bring = finding

I just find this bizarre. One in two people will get cancer, many of these cases are preventable. We've known this for years. Doesn't seem to have caused any anxiety though. Why the anxiety over covid and not cancer, heart disease etc?

OP I found this article helpful on the weight.. www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/lockdown_health_tips

There are lots of things which can help the immune system, gentle exercise, vitamin D, lowering stress, sleep for example as well. I'm going to focus on being healthy rather than just weight loss.

@Botherfreedays I have severe general anxiety disorder, I worry about cancer non stop too (especially brain tumours). I don't smoke or drink but due to mobility issues from a birth defect I have been quite inactive the last few years off and on and the weight just crept up and up. I'm really short too unfortunately so it has settled in my middle. I'm desperately trying to lose it but it can only go so fast even with intermittent fasting.

@Botherfreedays

I just find this bizarre. One in two people will get cancer, many of these cases are preventable. We've known this for years. Doesn't seem to have caused any anxiety though. Why the anxiety over covid and not cancer, heart disease etc?

Because it's new.

Humans are emotional creatures and we cope better with risks we are used to.

Do you think getting a taxi to this house viewing is safe? I really feel like it isn't. You could allow him to go, but then isolate from him within the house for 7-14days

Really? yes feed the OPs anxiety why not?

I'm desperately trying to lose it but it can only go so fast even with intermittent fasting.

crash diets might not be the best plan, see this on immunity. www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2020/04/01/ask-the-expert-the-role-of-diet-and-nutritional-supplements-during-covid-19/

I just did the calculator thing and am at high risk of dying. Yikes!

The short answer to your question seems to be no.

Obviously it hasn't been around long enough for years of research, but we learned a lot from the accidental experiment of confining 3711 people, many of them elderly and some having compromised health, at close quarters on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. 17% of them tested positive. Over half of those were asymptomatic.

There have been several studies of the likelihood of catching Covid when a household member, including spouses, tests positive. The rate comes out at 14%-20% of people catching it from someone they live with in those studies.

We know that testing was very poor in the UK at first, but we're now doing around 150,000 tests a day, and we seem to be able to offer a test to anyone who may have been exposed, plus plenty of random tests. Yet, in the roughly 5 months (taking 25 Feb as the beginning for ease of counting) since we've been concerned about Covid, fewer than 300,000 people, out of 67 million, have tested positive, including asymptomatic cases. Of course, it's likely that more people had it but weren't tested, specially at first, but it doesn't look as if anywhere near a fifth of the UK population have had Covid. Nor have anything like that had symptoms.

So the answer isn't just no, it's that you are considerably more likely not to catch it than to catch it.

So much for the data. The facts. Your anxiety is another matter and it looks as if it doesn't actually stem from the facts of Covid.