I'm not going to a restaurant again.

[ssd]

Me and dh just been out for dinner. Cheap and cheerful place, food not brilliant but half price so can't complain. Social distancing in place, took contact details at door, hand sanitiser at entrance and exit, paid contact less. Our table has plenty space around it.

Still felt too dodgy. Didn't enjoy it.
Won't be doing that again for a while.

It’s here@Nextity www.bandolier.org.uk/booth/Risk/trasnsportpop.html but a quick Google will confirm that driving is much more risky for most people than COVID

Not if you are 90 with diabetes in a care home though

The govt agenda is about protecting vulnerables and the NHS

It is NOT that ordinary people are at daily risk from a deadly virus but that is what some people are mishearing

@nostaples I meant the covid statistic not the RTA one. Cars can be dangerous yes. The statistic you quote looks like chance of dying over a certain time period rather than the situation if left to run through where around 60 per cent of the population might get covid.

@Nextity no it’s the numbers of people dying who have caught the disease by age group. This is people who have the disease obvs. The actual risk for ordinary people as a whole will be v much lower still as you have to get it to die from it.

The RTA figures are for ALL of us. Therefore we are all at daily risk and have a significant lifetime risk.

That is a risk we accept every time we get in a car or on a bike. I personally hate it and I am a much more nervous passenger/ driver than I am a restaurant goer. Which is actually the way it should be given the stats.

But it’s completely illogical not to want to eat in a restaurant assuming you go shopping in Tesco.

You are at minimal risk of catching the big. If you are under 45 (and even under 55) and in good health You are a v low risk of suffering serious consequences.

The serious cases make headlines but not the more frequent cases thT are completely symptom free

Some of the people who are v anxious about their health would be much better to reduce their weight, stop smoking, reduce their alcohol consumption. This would improve their outcomes in the eventuality of getting COVID and probs improve their health over their entire lifetime.

The anxiety about restaurants is misplaced for those who are not vulnerable

The effects of the recession will be catastrophic on the health of individuals and the nation.

And poverty is v closely linked to poor health and high mortality rates

Btw I tip v generously atm and more than the actual bill pre Rishi discount would have been.

I get that this won’t be enough to keep local businesses afloat but I believe I am doing more to help my community by eating out than by staying at home atm given my personal circumstances

@nostaples so they are not comparable statistics based on the same timeframe. We of course all choose to do things that are more or less risky. But we all have different priorities.

Just because I have chosen to do high risk activities (paragliding anyone) doesn't mean other people should though.

At this point in my life, reducing the risk of covid comes at low personal cost. This isn't the same for others so we make different choices.

Your implication seems to be that if you are young and healthy you shouldn't care if you get it and everyone should be back to 'normal'. Well I do care, just like I don't want to get norovirus even though it won't kill me.

Sorry source here www.google.co.uk/amp/s/newscolony.com/amp/under-45-chance-of-dying-from-coronavirus-is-one-in-67000-study-suggests

But what lengths would you go to avoid novovirus or any other illness? Give up work? Holidays? Shopping? Going out altogether.

Of course we must all make our own choices but there is no logic to going to Tesco but not to a restaurant.

I’ll be returning to teaching in a week or two and all kids will be returning to school. No masks.

How weird to not then go to a restaurant

If you are young and healthy you should continue to take measures to avoid spreading the illness to OTHERS. You really shouldn’t be worrying about the impact of the illness on yourself. It’s quite possible you’ve already had it without knowing.

We don’t know what the time frame will be for COVID though.

But that’s irrelevant.

If your motivation for not going to a restaurant is to preserve your life then you really shouldn’t get in a car ever again.

If it is to prevent illness and you are otherwise healthy then you really shouldn’t take a drink ever again.

Because the FACTs are that these are activities much more likely to endanger your health/ life

They are comparable statistics anyway. You are comparing your risk of death/ illness according to certain choices.

The link between alcohol and breast cancer is V troubling and v real. Are you teetotal @Nextity? Do you work outside the home? If so, will this not entail any risk?

Took getting used to with the masks on staff but it's fine now. I'm enjoying doing normal things. Personal preference though

I hope places buy a lot of patio heaters for autumn/winter time...

@nostaples

They are not comparable statistics, one is lifetime risk. One is based on 6 months of data. (I also happen to have a master's degree in statistics among other things)

Yes, I am teetotal and have always been. And I no longer work outside the home.

But neither of those matter. As I said, I do take risks in the areas that matter to me. But the point is that even a small increase in risk/hassle means some of my more marginal activities (eating out, high street shopping, days out using public transport) become unattractive. There is nothing wrong with that.

Are you aware of utility functions from economics? Mine have shifted as a result of covid and the vast majority of that is nothing to do with worrying about dying. Mostly I don't want the hassle of isolating, feeling ill, wondering whether it is covid, getting tested, taking sick leave etc

I hope places buy a lot of patio heaters for autumn/winter time...

I think patio heaters should be banned.

A friend said France was planning to ban them.

Invest in thermals.

Why should they be banned @Augustseemsbetter? I've just bought 2 electric heaters (not sure if they're better than gas) but it's the only way I can sit in my garden as it gets no sun in the afternoon/evening

Everyone will feel differently but we’ve been to lunch a few times, more for the dc, and it was nice.

Half the usual menu so I didn’t eat but otherwise they enjoyed it. We went on Wednesday and half price was actually really nice.

Oh it's going to save the polar bears.

@Nextity if you would care to look that website ( or any other) provides you with BOTH lifetime and annual risks of dying in an RTA.

You don’t need to be a statistician to work out that a 1 in 20,000 chance of dying in a RTA in ANY year for ANY one of us is more of a risk of fatality than the 1 in 60000 of those under 45 (it is zero under15) who might die from COVID if they get it on the first place

If you think that is a risk too far, fine but that is about your perception rather than the actual risk.

It IS more risk to get in a car than to go to a restaurant whether or not you will admit it. And that is common sense.

If you are saying you personally don’t want to go to a restaurant because mask wearing spoils your enjoyment then I respect that completely but people should be making informed decisions and not being unnecessarily anxious.

Many people’s perceptions of risk bears little relationship to the actual risk and that is problematic. To their zone mental health and ability to enjoy life but also to the economy.

In some ways it is also a privilege to be able to isolate oneself and minimise risk. Of course the waitresses and waiters and chefs don’t have the privilege of being able to stay away. Likewise NHS workers, care workers, teachers and when furlough ends anybody who needs to actually earn a living.