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Original poster

Should we treat covid like flu now and just get on with life?

562 replies

947EliseChalotte · 30/07/2020 19:48

Is it time to accept covid as another flu and just get on with life and back to normality. The whole point of lockdown was to flatten the curve.

OP posts:
SheepandCow · 31/07/2020 19:06

Am I being gullible?
Do you think Russia's lying about their vaccine? I know there's politics but assumed this was true. Wouldn't it be obvious fairly quickly if a vaccine didn't work?

Regularsizedrudy · 31/07/2020 19:10

Currently caring for a family member who’s health has been obliterated by Covid and may have life long complications. They were fit and healthy before.

So in other words shut the fuck up and fuck the fuck off.

midgebabe · 31/07/2020 19:13

The vaccines they have made for coronavirus in cattle work perfectly well, so I think it's quite positive myself that we can do one for this human virus

We didn't really need a corona vaccine before

GrumpiestOldWoman · 31/07/2020 19:15

Flu deaths in this country can be up at 20,000 pa in a bad year. This virus is worse but not 10 fold higher!

Seriously Hmm

This virus is only not 10-fold higher because of lockdown. It was killing nearly 1000 people a day and accelerating at its peak - had we not had a lockdown we could easily be sitting with 500,000 deaths right now.

InFiveMins · 31/07/2020 19:16

Yep, time to get back to normal.

ListeningQuietly · 31/07/2020 19:18

Do you think Russia's lying about their vaccine?
Yup
The vaccines they have made for coronavirus in cattle work perfectly well
Given annually .....

lilmishap · 31/07/2020 19:26

We'll be fine with turnips
Brilliant!

SheepandCow · 31/07/2020 19:26

That's a shame about Russia. I wanted it to be true. It seemed like hopeful news. Oh well, back to waiting.

GrumpiestOldWoman · 31/07/2020 19:32

Yep, time to get back to normal.

We can't just wish this away.

So, assuming you relax restrictions and let it run...

Hospitals will be overwhelmed, so too will mortuaries. How normal will it feel for mortuary vans to be driving up your street every day collecting people who died at home because there wasn't a hospital bed? This won't just be old and vulnerable people, it'll be people who the first time round were treated in hospital and recovered (like Boris Johnson) but if the peak was bigger/ongoing wouldn't be able to get a hospital bed.

How will this feel normal?

ListeningQuietly · 31/07/2020 19:43

Hospitals will be overwhelmed, so too will mortuaries. How normal will it feel for mortuary vans to be driving up your street every day collecting people who died at home because there wasn't a hospital bed? This won't just be old and vulnerable people, it'll be people who the first time round were treated in hospital and recovered (like Boris Johnson) but if the peak was bigger/ongoing wouldn't be able to get a hospital bed.
Oh do give over
Where I live has made headlines for some of the street parties
we have HUGE number of poor elderly
and in my ward
7 covid deaths in 4 months

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 31/07/2020 19:51

I'll say it again- where do you expect this country to be in a years time of this continues indefinitely? You might not have a virus but you'll have a lost generation and extreme poverty.

Where do you expect this country to be in a year’s time if we relax and let the virus spread? You may achieve herd immunity, but you’ll have half a million deaths, several million ill and unable to work for between 10 days and many months, no room in the hospitals or mortuaries, economic collapse, a lost generation and extreme poverty.

duffeldaisy · 31/07/2020 19:52

@ListeningQuietly That's good for the people in your ward. Presumably then it hasn't arrived fully in your area. It has in others.

If there are only a few cases and people are isolating if they are ill, then of course those who are unaffected won't spread it in street parties. It's partly pure chance as to who's about. Not everyone is living in an area with such a low incidence rate, sadly.

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 31/07/2020 19:53

The vaccines they have made for coronavirus in cattle work perfectly well
Given annually .....

Yes, and?

MarshaBradyo · 31/07/2020 19:54

Presumably then it hasn't arrived fully in your area. It has in others.

Cases are so low here, London, that I wonder what is going on. It arrived earlier but still just suppressed? Very low and not rising much.

GrumpiestOldWoman · 31/07/2020 19:55

Yes @ListeningQuietly but normality doesn't just mean outdoor street parties. What would the mortality be if we just 'went back to normal' and pretended covid was flu?

We can't hibernate until it's over but if we had nearly 50k deaths with lockdown, how many would we lose if we allow it to run rampant? Rock. Hard place.

midgebabe · 31/07/2020 19:56

So you would rather let it ride because you can't understand that there will be lots of deaths if it's left to run free because only 50,000 people have died so far

mac12 · 31/07/2020 20:13

@midgebabe the vaccines for animal coronaviruses are not that great - the feline one in particular can give rise to ADE & actually worsen the disease. I believe some scientists have similar concerns for possible Covid reinfection (which has implications for some of the vaccines)
Many of the cattle vaccines are not that great - as a friend said to me, they don’t have to be that good because the animals aren’t going to live that long.
I just think this is a really tricky family of viruses for our immune systems.
coronavirusexplained.ukri.org/en/article/vdt0010/

mac12 · 31/07/2020 20:14

Meant to add to that post - and that’s why this is not flu!! V limited immunity & vaccines a major challenge.

Northernsoulgirl45 · 31/07/2020 20:19

Flu deaths in this country can be up at 20,000 pa in a bad year. This virus is worse but not 10 fold higher! Not here anyway. We just don’t take any notice of flu deaths. We have lived with it for generations.

That is without lockdown though. Image how much higher Covid deaths would be without lockdown.

Clavinova · 31/07/2020 20:20

Repatriation flights should have flown straight into air bases with quarantine for two weeks

The UK repatriated approximately 1.3 million people.

chunkyrun · 31/07/2020 20:22

Yes I am, worked through the pandemic. Glad for the normality. Won't hide away at home

Mittens030869 · 31/07/2020 20:24

But there's a vaccine for flu every year. It isn't really possible to compare the two until there's a vaccine for COVID.

Mittens030869 · 31/07/2020 20:27

We also have some immunity to flu, which we don't have to COVID. That will change.

Why the comparison anyway? They're different viruses.

WouldBeGood · 31/07/2020 20:29

Research shows a large part of the population may in fact not be susceptible to illness from Covid

labyrinthloafer · 31/07/2020 20:33

@Northernsoulgirl45

Flu deaths in this country can be up at 20,000 pa in a bad year. This virus is worse but not 10 fold higher! Not here anyway. We just don’t take any notice of flu deaths. We have lived with it for generations.

That is without lockdown though. Image how much higher Covid deaths would be without lockdown.

The reasonable worst case this winter is 120k deaths, the modelling for leaving it to run through the population back in March was 250k.
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