I can’t believe this is how people think

[Tigerlily31]

My MIL told me she’d rather die of “anything else over Covid”

My own mother is convinced she’ll end up in ICU on a ventilator if she gets it, despite having no health concerns.

I fully blame the media. It’s becoming frightening how big it is in people’s minds.

This is one of the reasons for the disparity between ONS and PHE data.

Have you read that article?

Are you kidding me? Are you seriously saying corona virus is the worst thing that currently exists? Seriously?

I was quite horrified by the BBC coverage throughout this, tbh. It was so sensationalist and negative, doom doom doom. I actually gave up completely on the UK media and started to watch French news to find out what was happening in the UK - it was actually quite a lot easier to extrapolate basic facts and stats.

You expect it from the tabloids. But not the BBC! And some broadsheet newspapers that are supposedly robust/rigorous/less biased were also utterly sensationalist. Ahem - The Guardian - Ahem.

Sunshiney1981 I think these type of threads obviously attract people with strong feelings about the virus at either end of the spectrum. As someone said upthread the vast majority of people in real life are going about their everyday activities albeit with extra precautions and a few curtailed activities, I don't think most people (particularly those younger than OAPs or without other risk factors) are in abject fear of contracting COVID.

Anonymous boards allow people to vent more than they might do in person!

@Smallsteps88

Have you read that article?

Are you kidding me? Are you seriously saying corona virus is the worst thing that currently exists? Seriously?

In terms of individual impact, it is not.

In terms of societal disruption in the UK at present time, it is.

People are not taking the whole society impact seriously enough imo, so we keep having semi-irrelevant conversations only about personal risk factors.

I do not support rolling lockdowns and I expect that once the wreckage of the first lockdown becomes clear most people won't.

Carnage in A and E and ICU will be the result. Presumably you'll think that's a reasonable outcome? You have to choose.

In terms of societal disruption in the UK at present time, it is.

That’s not what the OP was talking about though. She’s talking about people’s fears of catching and suffering from covid. Not their fears for the economy or society. So that’s what my comments were about.

Good point Mumra.

Saddened today that yet more jobs are going. 1100 at Pizza Express and 800 at PC world. I just don’t know what state this country is going to be in for our children ☹️

What scares me is that the potential second wave, possibly winter 2020, will be twice as bad. So, that could mean many many more deaths. And yet, we’re to get out there, Eat Out to Help Out, get back to work/school. No wonder we’re scared.

Why isn’t there MASS POPULATION TESTING? What’s the point in isolating if you have had possible contact “with” when we know people are walking about symptom free, spreading happily.

And who’ll be thrown under the bus next, to “Save the NHS”.

Mass population testing is fairly pointless is parts of the population where the prevalence is low. All tests have a fals positive rate, where prevalence is low the false positives become a real problem. That's why targeting testing to places and communities where prevalence is relatively high is important.

@CharlottesComplicatedWeb

And who’ll be thrown under the bus next, to “Save the NHS”.

It will probably continue to be elderly and disabled people.

It's heartbreaking All the unnecessary losses of jobs and lives. If only we'd done the same as some countries in nipping it in the bud. Like NZ we're an island. We have the ability to control our borders if we want to. We'd be getting back to relative normal by now. We badly needed the short-term pain, long-term gain approach. We could still do it now. A tough month or two with strict UK wide lockdown and closed borders (quarantine hotels for emergency) compassionate need arrivals). If we did that, we'd be ready to safely reopen (including schools) by October. It would help the economy so much. Prevent redundancies. And save lives. A win-win.

Yes we need more population testing, but - they've just ditched the pledge to test care workers, and NHS staff don't yet have routine testing! Italy had weekly tests for all medical.staff months ago.

It feels like the start again, making obvious errors. I'm grumpy again tonight!

@labyrinthloafer according to worldometer we have a very high test rate per 1m population. We have carried out almost 17 million tests that's 249000 per 1m population (that's assuming I've read the data correctly....it is late)
I know early testing was appalling but IF I have understood that correctly we are testing far more per 1m population than any other country. So who's having these tests if so many are being missed?

The UK government is counting tests sent out in the post but not returned as tests taken.

@Uhoh2020

Not sure, but not NHS, care staff, teachers, shop workers,school children...!

I doubt my post will be read. I know two people who have had Covid. One is terminally ill (diagnosed pre covid), the other is paralyzed down one side and stops breathing if they lie on their back.

Both have 'recovered' from covid, in that they have returned to where they were before. Both given nebulizer, both given antibiotics, both discharged from hospital within a fortnight.

I know another two people who died from it who were both elderly and in care homes. It's horrible to think, but I am of the opinion that the people who have died of covid will probably have died of flu, pneumonia or something else similar.

The government do not give a shit about people dying, they just didn't want hospitals inundated.

Are you kidding me? Are you seriously saying corona virus is the worst thing that currently exists? Seriously?

Potentially Covid could very easily be the worst thing if we all treated it like we do the flu. Assuming an infection fatality rate estimate of 0.5%, in a pre-March, non-socially distanced society, this equates to 35 million deaths worldwide over a pretty short period (less than a year).

@thewisp

If everyone was just a little bit careful and took it fairly seriously we wouldn't be in the situation we are in now...

This attitude is one of the things which annoys me most about coronavirus. The sheer arrogance of it.

People seem to think that seemingly only them and their family are capable of following the rules and everyone else is not, which is why things are the way they are.

When actually, the vast majority are doing the best they can. You're not special. You're not more intelligent.

Look around the world, different countries with vastly different means are all facing it and you'll notice there are huge similarities in what's happening. That's because the disease is to blame, not your neighbours.

Totally agree. Totally pissed off with the “nobody is doing it right except me” crap on here

What makes you of that opinion @Fatted?
Diabetes is one of the conditions with the highest death rates. One in four of all the deaths. Diabetics nowadays usually have near normal life expectancy. They manage their condition and work and pay tax and bring up their children. They're nowhere near death's door.

And do you really think everybody over 65 is only a few months away from death? Despite most people still being of working age in their 60s. Perhaps people should be able to retire and draw their pensions at 50. Seeing as they're due to die of pneumonia or a heart attack once they hit their 60s.

[quote labyrinthloafer]@Uhoh2020

Not sure, but not NHS, care staff, teachers, shop workers,school children...![/quote]
My Dsis works in a care home she's had regular tests, they haven't had a single case in staff or resident so its not like they have been tested due to symptoms or because of another person's positive test.....added to that im not sure I'd want my DC tested regularly without symptoms or reason given how unpleasant the test can be.

Look around the world, different countries with vastly different means are all facing it and you'll notice there are huge similarities in what's happening. That's because the disease is to blame, not your neighbours.

Well flipping said. This is a highly infectious corona virus that has now become endemic to humans. Of course people are going to keep getting it - that's how corona viruses work. There is no course of action that anyone can take that would result in the virus "ending" or being eradicated or whatever it is that people think we are aiming for. Humans have covid now. That's that. A vaccine would help slow things down a bit, but it will not stop it. Unless we have some massive leaps forward in modern medicine that would allow us to eradicate things such as flu and the common cold, then people are going to be getting covid every winter for well beyond all of our lifetimes, regardless of whether or not Mary over the road is having gatherings of one too many people in her garden.

Unless we have some massive leaps forward in modern medicine that would allow us to eradicate things such as flu and the common cold, then people are going to be getting covid every winter for well beyond all of our lifetimes, regardless of whether or not Mary over the road is having gatherings of one too many people in her garden.
@Iloveyoutothefridgeandback
Shocking to see such flippant disregard for the evidence that masks and social distancing reduce spread.

It's as if there are only two camps you can possibly fall into - completely terrified or completely insouciant.
@CatteStreet
No, the two camps are - those who understand the science and those who stick their fingers in their ears and shout LaLaLa instead of trying to understand it.

And there is a third camp - those who firmly believe that they are not going to catch it, that this is a catastrophe that other people will experience.

@mathanxiety I have to wear PPE for my job and I fully support people using it. My comment did not mention PPE/maks at any point. Not really sure where you got from.

I do feel we need to radically rethink this idea regardless of whether or not Mary over the road is having gatherings of one too many people in her garden - there seems to be, since Cummings, a national obsession with pushing at the guidance, pushing at the limits, thinking things don't make a difference.

In each individual instance, the increase of risk is very small. But currently there are too many cases in the UK and the r rate is rising again.

If we all push it, it gets worse. If we all rein it in, it gets better.

With a government led by a reckless chancer, as we have now, there isn't going to be much leadership on this, sadly, but it is badly needed. UK is making a collective mess of tackling the virus.