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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:
itsaratrap · 02/08/2020 09:37

Oblomov20

I agree with OP.
We just need to get on with it”

I’m astonished that anyone still believes that is even a remote possibility.

TheLegendOfZelda · 02/08/2020 09:47

@FiveToFour

Denmark is culturally different from the UK,I don't think its a valid comparison.
Yeah I know. It's hard, you know, to come to terms with living in a place where the culture is to do things too little, too late, prioritise backhanders to friendly companies rather than those best placed to deliver services, be disorganised, cover up organisational failure by blaming individuals, prioritise pubs over schools. It is a cultural difference. That's why anyone who is seriously hoping for zero covid or low covid as outcomes for the UK is culturally adrift from the reality.
My0My · 02/08/2020 09:48

We don’t know who has had this virus. We have no idea. It could already be half the population! I’m not sure many died without medical care. Some didn’t want to go to hospital and those in care homes were prevented from accessing hospital. The vast majority of deaths were the elderly. Not fit younger people. Until we test everyone we’ve no idea about who has had what!

TheLegendOfZelda · 02/08/2020 09:49

'We need to just get on with it' is our cultural reality. Time wasted not accepting that is just time spent fucking up our economy more.

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 02/08/2020 09:55

@TheLegendOfZelda

'We need to just get on with it' is our cultural reality. Time wasted not accepting that is just time spent fucking up our economy more.
What do you mean by “just get on with it”, though? Have you considered the consequences?
My0My · 02/08/2020 09:56

Denmark has less than 6m people. Just a bit bigger than Scotland. It’s culturally far less varied than we are and doesn’t have large cities and conurbations. It’s not got the cultural mix of Greater Manchester and Leicester. So comparisons on many fronts are not valid. We do know what are problems are here and we need action in defined areas based on data. People seem to need to meet others in large numbers and are incapable of staying local but whether the numbers go up in Cornwall because of visitors is a moot point when compared to living conditions and poverty and the cultural mix in say Blackburn, Oldham or Leicester.

Oblomov20 · 02/08/2020 10:30

Itsarattrap ?
Hmm

What's the alternative?

Whatever it is we need to do, we just need to get on with it. With our new lives, whatever that may entail, mask whatever.

What is the alternative?

I have no idea why you've taken umbrage at my comment? Hmm

doubleshotespresso · 02/08/2020 10:32

FGS NO

itsaratrap · 02/08/2020 10:38

Oblomov20

I have no idea why you've taken umbrage at my comment? hmm

Because you appear to be agreeing with OP. ie that this should be treated like flu and we should all carry on as “normal”.

Well, it clearly isn’t and we clearly can’t. I can only repeat, I’m astonished anyone believes that we can.

Have I misunderstood your point?

Ahava3 · 02/08/2020 11:03

Treat the vulnerable with 2 doses of hydrochloriquine once a month to prevent Covid... there's many studies out there and drs using it with amazing results!!! The lancet even had to retract their study saying it wasn't effective as it was shown that their data was fabricated!!! Blood plasma injections from ppl that have had Covid also showed promising results for short term immunity! So unless their is a mass vaccination agenda... yes it seems we can protect the vulnerable and everyone else get back to real normal!!!

DOINGOURBIT · 02/08/2020 11:11

Don't know what the answers are - I wish i did. But i do know that someone in my house has to bring an income in, and that means going out five days a week and mixing with other employees.

Three out of four of us have had threat of losing job. Two don't stand a chance of employment again with sheer numbers looking for work. Multiply that by countless households up and down the country. We do need to get our economy going - I won't be mixing in crowds, going to beaches, etc, but very worried about future finances.

My0My · 02/08/2020 13:17

Just been shopping in my local Waitrose. Freezer cabinets empty. We are SE Home Counties. Sticking up has started again. Plenty of cheddar but other cheeses sold out. Very odd!

My0My · 02/08/2020 13:37

Stocking up!!

SheepandCow · 02/08/2020 14:51

The vast majority of deaths were the elderly
And? I don't get your point?

Also it's not just about death. There's the potential lifelong complications.

IceCreamSummer20 · 02/08/2020 15:50

@My0My

We don’t know who has had this virus. We have no idea. It could already be half the population! I’m not sure many died without medical care. Some didn’t want to go to hospital and those in care homes were prevented from accessing hospital. The vast majority of deaths were the elderly. Not fit younger people. Until we test everyone we’ve no idea about who has had what!
We do know. There have been random testing for antibodies for example. It is not half the population. It is very low. We do know because we do SCIENCE.
Mittens030869 · 02/08/2020 15:57

Also it's not just about death. There's the potential lifelong complications.

This is something I keep repeating, as I'm facing that problem and so are a lot of other people, you only need to read the thread for long-term COVID sufferers to see that. A lot of them are young and without underlying issues (that isn't the case for me admittedly).

But it's as if some posters just go La-la-la and don't appear to take that in.

IceCreamSummer20 · 02/08/2020 15:57

@TheLegendOfZelda and others. There is still a real choice here. We can go for zero or minimal covid19 - and yes some more short term scaling back of freedoms. But the other option is long term yo yoing back and forth. Yet more than this we can put a huge amount more into test and trace, and get an actual APP up and running. We give more power to local public health teams, who have been doing this for decades. In Liverpool they’ve found an area of high rates and have only shut down the roads and businesses in this area. It really is possible.

IceCreamSummer20 · 02/08/2020 16:02

So basically
Zero or minimal covid19 = greater easing of freedoms more quickly. It will be more stable. We can have schools, businesses etc all up and running. Night life, overseas tourism may be impacted. But the most freedom.

OR

Current faffing about - ease up, lockdown, confusing messages, schools back, but maybe then some not, pubs open, pubs closed, businesses unable to plan, clusters and areas of rising cases, then lockdowns. This will go on until a vaccine is found.

I know which I prefer.

ListeningQuietly · 02/08/2020 16:17

There's the potential lifelong complications.
potential
Nobody has lived for more than 6 months with the aftermath of COVID
it could all self clear in a year

and LOTS of other diseases cause lifelong changes
but the world does not shut for them

ListeningQuietly · 02/08/2020 16:18

COVID has been the first pandemic of the social media age

we do not come out of it looking good

MarshaBradyo · 02/08/2020 16:20

We can go for zero or minimal covid19 - and yes some more short term scaling back of freedoms.

Icecream how much scaling back of freedom do you think it would take?

Professor on R4 when questioned, it would take harder lockdown than in March. Just as furlough is ending and we need economic stimulus how would you do it?

Polkadotties · 02/08/2020 16:28

I believe if this had happened 10 years ago it would have been a completely different story.

IceCreamSummer20 · 02/08/2020 16:32

@MarshaBradyo

We can go for zero or minimal covid19 - and yes some more short term scaling back of freedoms.

Icecream how much scaling back of freedom do you think it would take?

Professor on R4 when questioned, it would take harder lockdown than in March. Just as furlough is ending and we need economic stimulus how would you do it?

If the test and trace had a much higher effectiveness, we borrowed Irelands COVID-19 APP and local public health teams had finances and power to swoop in to contain local rises, then I don’t think we’d need another hard lockdown.

I think we should...
close pubs now
delay school reopening by 4 weeks
give vulnerable people their own medical grade colour coded masks
start a big education campaign for those most likely to be spreading e.g. young people
Restrict people’s movement to 20km unless essential
Random checks at airports, Self 2 week quarantine of all people from flights.

My0My · 02/08/2020 16:37

Random testing dies tell the whole story of who’s had it. How can it? It’s guesswork. I know of no one who has been tested. Like lots of people I know plenty who think they had it. No one knows.

We have largely been concerned about deaths and they were mostly in the older population. We don’t know if other health issues will go away. We don’t know why those people have had more issues and others have had few issues afterwards. It’s just scaremongering to talk about lifelong conditions. If we don’t get back to some firm of normality there’s a lot of life and work that’s going to stop and it will be disastrous for the majority who need money to live. The state will shrink. No money for anything.

SengaStrawberry · 02/08/2020 17:08

I agree with you @IceCreamSummer20. For mr it’s all about time. Time to get closer to treatment or a vaccine. Time to get cases so low we can track and test and isolate the ones that come up. Time to try and work out why some people who on paper should escape Scot free don’t and those who you’d expect to struggle don’t.