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Covid

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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:
underneaththeash · 30/07/2020 21:14

We really do have to get on with it to a certain degree...but the virus seems to cause lung changes in some people which take time to resolve. It is not normal flu.

I’m relaxed, but keen to distance.

labyrinthloafer · 30/07/2020 21:16

@Sweettruelies

What if they never find a vaccine? They were definitely going to find an HIV vaccine within a year - twenty five years later they’re still trying....
There is really effective treatment and a clear way to avoid catching it.
eeeyoresmiles · 30/07/2020 21:20

If you’re under 50 and in good health the risks are minimal.

The risks to the individual are minimal. The risks to the general functioning of society, businesses, jobs, the economy and healthcare if lots of people get covid at once are not minimal, they are severe.

And because this is a new disease we've no pre-existing immunity to, if people start acting as if it's just flu and it doesn't really matter that much if we let it spread a bit, that's what will happen - numbers will grow slowly at first but then much faster and then we've got major problems again.

XingMing · 30/07/2020 21:21

@Singalonggong

Tell it to the NHS staff who would be overwhelmed within weeks. This isn't the flu. The flu doesn't overwhelm hospitals and cause the need to refrigerated trucks to hold the bodies. You're talking about the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Surely people aren't this thick to think we need to "get on with it".
No, it's not flu. But a tough version of flu kills 25,000 people a year most years. Most of them are nearing the end of their natural span regardless. But all of us see the loss of mum or dad or an older friend as the one who needed more, to spare our tears. I really don't want to sound flippant, but we all die eventually. It's a tragedy when a young fit person collapses and succumbs to an unsuspected condition.

For my mum or dad, now 85 and 87, or DMIL, at 91 with dementia, I would just hope it can be sudden and painless. I will mourn, of course, but I won't be surprised.

What I shall not say, is that anything more should have been done. I will not blame the system for missing symptoms, or for failing to prescribe an expensive but promising new drug at £10K per month, or not suggesting a risky experimental procedure... unless it's so high risk that cases are needed for research. And DM and DMIL, both nurses, would back me to the hilt.

Baybetterdays · 30/07/2020 21:22

We haven’t got much choice given the government has told us to get back to work, did not pursue a track and trace system in the first place, locked down too late etc. A litany of failures.

MarshaBradyo · 30/07/2020 21:23

The risks to the individual are minimal. The risks to the general functioning of society, businesses, jobs, the economy and healthcare if lots of people get covid at once are not minimal, they are severe.

The problem is you can say this for suppressing the economy - the risks are not minimal, they are severe.

There is a balancing act. Not Brazil, not NZ anymore, but our newly behaviourally adjusted Sweden-like U.K.

SantaClaritaDiet · 30/07/2020 21:24

you do know that having Covid around doesn't make the actual flu disappear don't you... Flu deaths are not going to get any lower

labyrinthloafer · 30/07/2020 21:25

I feel many people are scared of what we are facing, but we have to face up to it.

It isn't flu,it is quite a worrying virus that can ruin people's health even if they are young and fit when they get it.

We currently have NO idea how it affects the heart, lungs, etc of those who are asymptomatic.

I really wish it was flu Sad

CoffeeandCroissant · 30/07/2020 21:26

Sweettruelies

"What if they never find a vaccine? They were definitely going to find an HIV vaccine within a year - twenty five years later they’re still trying...."

"SARS-CoV-2 causes an acute disease, Covid-19. It’s an infection that most people will clear on their own, which means there’s a vanquishing immune response that a vaccine can aim to induce in order to protect people.

That’s not true for something like HIV, a virus for which there is no vaccine despite decades of research. HIV causes a chronic infection and integrates itself into people’s genomes; there’s no natural immune response that eliminates the virus that a vaccine can mimic. HIV also mutates much faster than coronaviruses do, meaning it’s more difficult to rally a lasting defense."
From: www.statnews.com/2020/07/30/a-huge-experiment-how-the-world-made-so-much-progress-on-a-covid-19-vaccine-so-fast/

HannahStern · 30/07/2020 21:30

@Isthisfinallyit

Op, I'm guessing that you're not vulnerable and don't give a fuck if the vulnerable die or not. Can't you see how cold you are?
Same as Johnson's attitude and look what happened to him.
mosquitofeast · 30/07/2020 21:31

@947EliseChalotte

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.
er no - the death rate is 100X greater than flu, and the rate at which it is leaving people disabled is a similar amount higher.
Oly4 · 30/07/2020 21:31

No because it’s not bloody flu
Left to run rampant Covid would kill many, many more people

Mittens030869 · 30/07/2020 21:31

It's not the same, though. For one thing, there is a vaccine against flu (even if they occasionally select the wrong strain) whereas there isn't anything yet for COVID.

Plus, it isn't flu. I've had long-term COVID symptoms for 4 months, had numerous 'false dawns' followed by another flare-up. I've never faced that with flu. I had pneumonia last year following a bad bout of flu, but with antibiotics I got better. There's been nothing to help me with this.

Thankfully, it's not how it is for the vast majority of people, and an even lower percentage need hospital treatment or die. It was reassuring when it became clear that children weren't severely impacted (though it was very unpleasant for DD2 (8) when she had it for 4 days).

But please let's not go back to the 'it's just another type of flu' line. It isn't.

mosquitofeast · 30/07/2020 21:33

@WouldBeGood

Yes, I think we have to now. Life is too short to live like this any longer. Protect the truly vulnerable financially and everyone else gets on with it.
There will be hundreds of thousands of deaths from the in the work force. There will be hundreds of thousands left disabled and in need of full time carers. The entire economy would collapse. The supply chains for food would collapse.You really have not thought this through, have you.
eeeyoresmiles · 30/07/2020 21:34

@MarshaBradyo

The risks to the individual are minimal. The risks to the general functioning of society, businesses, jobs, the economy and healthcare if lots of people get covid at once are not minimal, they are severe.

The problem is you can say this for suppressing the economy - the risks are not minimal, they are severe.

There is a balancing act. Not Brazil, not NZ anymore, but our newly behaviourally adjusted Sweden-like U.K.

Yes, of course. But the economy is also suppressed by high levels of covid - it isn't only suppressed by anti-covid measures. So are education, jobs and healthcare.
mosquitofeast · 30/07/2020 21:34

@Fatted

I think we have to learn to live with it in that the people who have been too scared to set foot out of their houses for six months will need to get their arses in gear and get out. Masks, social distancing, some places not opening and queuing in the shops I think can carry on for a while yet. But it is going to get old by Christmas I reckon.
well, the virus doesn't care how "old" it seems to you, does it. It is completely oblivious to people thinking it is "old"
MarshaBradyo · 30/07/2020 21:35

Eeyore what restrictions would you choose?

XingMing · 30/07/2020 21:36

It is a life-threatening disease, with the risk of severe complications for anyone who isn't in peak health. And until there's a vaccine, we all need to take precautions against getting it or transmitting it. So wash your hands, and wear a mask!!

WeAllHaveWings · 30/07/2020 21:36

Such a low % have had it, it will spread quickly again and it is much more harmful than the flu, not just causing death for many but also longterm life changing health conditions.

Whether we like it or not life won't be returning to normal for a while yet.

Linemanfort · 30/07/2020 21:36

Well in the space of seven months it's already overtaken flu mortality numbers by a factor of 10, and is now the second leading cause of death globally, just pipped (for now) by diabetes. Given that we hadn't even heard of it until January this year, and given that this has happened despite international global efforts, restrictions and resources all being focused on it, then, no, we shouldn't be treating it like flu.

Codexdivinchi · 30/07/2020 21:37

Yes I agree OP

Leflic · 30/07/2020 21:37

@SantaClaritaDiet

you do know that having Covid around doesn't make the actual flu disappear don't you... Flu deaths are not going to get any lower
Actually research from the Southern Hemisphere ( in winter) shows they are! Mostly due to hand sanitiisers and social distancing. So some good news.
InsaneInTheViralMembrane · 30/07/2020 21:38

@labyrinthloafer

I feel many people are scared of what we are facing, but we have to face up to it.

It isn't flu,it is quite a worrying virus that can ruin people's health even if they are young and fit when they get it.

We currently have NO idea how it affects the heart, lungs, etc of those who are asymptomatic.

I really wish it was flu Sad

Yes, it’s fear. We didn’t sign up for this in our coddled lifetimes. Many more will have to have their come to Jesus moment.
terracottapot · 30/07/2020 21:39

I wonder where the OP's gone.

JoeCalFuckingZaghe · 30/07/2020 21:39

We’re at the highest figures in over a month. Until the fucking idiots and naysayers start taking this seriously we’re in never going to get past it. Honest to fucking god how hard is it to stay away from people, stop mouth breathing all over the place and be sensible?!!

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