Playing down the virus

[YellowWave]

I notice a lot of comments online either on Facebook on the news and the comment sections or on forums. Not so much on this forum but on some other ones. Not so much American based forums either.

Anyways comments from people playing down the virus as if it's just a little cold or a mild cough. I don't have any first hand experience of the virus but I do know it's something that you don't mess with. I recognised early on that this virus is going to be more than the flu symptoms that we were told it was going to be like. Straight away I put it into the category of measles, munps, rubella viruses but all them viruses we have vaccines for and many of us don't have first hand experiences of them viruses. Basically, I was watching experts on the TV speak out about this back in February. I saw an element of fear in their faces. I sat up and took this virus very seriously.

I know how important it is to follow the guidelines on social distancing and hygiene measures. I keep my close contacts low.

On online discussion forums, there's comments from people saying
this virus is nothing;
biggest storm in a teacup;
its just a little cold;

There's actually a type of bullying going on from that side of the fence painting pictures of anyone with concern about the virus or taking the virus and measures seriously, as scaredy cats cowering in corners.

I'm taking the virus seriously and avoiding crowds etc but I don't feel like I am deprived of a social life or a poor summer. I looked for unique experiences to do with my partner and many of them magical. Like we took a cooler box of alcohol to an overnight stay in an air B&B at a castle. No one else around once we were given our keys and shown to our room. Just me and him.

There's an attitude online that this virus is nothing and that attitude is growing and growing and it's beginning to drown out the people who are doing their best to be sensible around this virus.

Why are you feeling bullied? Respond to the virus in whatever manner suits you, ignore other people if they're doing it differently.

Not any worse than playing "up" the virus with comments like "it doesnt discriminate and has killed loads of children" or "it causes organ damage for loads of people" which are exaggerated/not true.

The fact is, a decent proportion of people dont even know they've had covid as they're asymptomatic. Another decent proportion experience it as a mild cough or cold.

Most people I know are somewhere in the middle. They comprehend that covid can be dangerous for some but also that life goes on.

I'm not playing up the virus. I do take it very seriously and I respect the virus and the measures to minimise risk and slow the spread of the virus.

I didnt say you were playing up the virus, unless you've stated one of the examples I gave? But some people are, same as some people are playing it down. On balance the majority (in real life if not on social media) are in the middle - cautious but not overly so.

It was downgraded by the government on 19th March to a non-high consequence disease.
It has an extremely low death rate.
I question why people are so determined to continue to treat it as a major threat, when it blatantly isn't to all but the mist vulnerable.
Perhaps because the horrors of the policies they've supported would be too much to bear, if they did?

@ChimmyMyChangas

It was downgraded by the government on 19th March to a non-high consequence disease. It has an extremely low death rate. I question why people are so determined to continue to treat it as a major threat, when it blatantly isn't to all but the mist vulnerable. Perhaps because the horrors of the policies they've supported would be too much to bear, if they did?

I agree with this

It's certainly more than a cold even if just a mild case. I was extremely ill for 3 days. Pretty unwell for 7 days before that and slept for nearly 3 weeks afterwards.

It played as much havoc on my MH as it was scary.

However, the death rate is low overall.

It's a double sided coin. We need the measures we have to prevent exponential growth and overwhelming services.

But with the measures it's just rumbling around inconsequentially for even those infected if younger than 65. The biggest consequence we are seeing now is people losing wages through isolation or factories and schools shutting etc.

The bigger picture is/was scary.

We just have to accept the current picture is to prevent that again.

It's certainly more than a cold even if just a mild case

Not necessarily. The mildest cases don't even know they had it. The one person I know who tested positive had a headache and felt tired for a fee days.
What's been done to this country, to the world, for this illness which has caused fewer deaths in 6 months than the flu did in one month in 2018, is horrific.

I think it depends whether you are looking at the individual risk or the collective risk.

As individuals our risk if we catch the virus varies. If you are over 80 then your risk of dying is 1 in 8 and I suspect that your risk of permanent health consequences is even higher. If you have one of the risk factors like obesity, heart disease or diabetes you will also have a higher risk.

If you are under 40, slim with no health conditions then the individual risk is very low.

However, the collective risk we face from this virus is very high because it combines relatively high mortality (about 1 in 100), with being extremely infectious and having both a presymptomatic infectious period and a large number of asymptomatic infectious “carrier”.

As we have seen, this means that unless actively suppressed by the behaviour of the whole population it has the ability to increase exponentially killing huge numbers of people and leaving even more suffering long term after effects. To prevent this happening we all have to do our very best not to catch it or to pass it on.

I am (mostly) taking the precautions that I do because I do not want to knowingly or unknowingly cause the death or serious illness or someone else.

it combines relatively high mortality (about 1 in 100)

Nope. Guess again.

@ChimmyMyChangas where have you been? Finally a voice of reason on Mumsnet! I tried to put a similar view forward yesterday on another thread and got called all sorts though so good luck!

As we have seen, this means that unless actively suppressed by the behaviour of the whole population it has the ability to increase exponentially killing huge numbers of people

Wrong, wrong, wrong.
You're just making stuff up.

it combines relatively high mortality (about 1 in 100)
Oh just give over posting shite like this 🙄

I love these made up stats they make me chuckle

The latest death rate estimates are 1 in 500, 90% of whom are over 70. It is a big deal to the elderly, but the fear in the U.K. is arguably totally disproportionate to the risks. In contrast, the risk of death from other conditions e.g. cancer and heart disease, treatment for which was paused and is still way below normal levels is totally minimised.

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.08.24.20180851v1

I was reading this new study earlier looking at the IFR across 45 countries.it highlights how age really is the issue. Its effectively zero for kids age 5-15. It's quite interesting as it breaks it down by gender too.

For me, dying myself doesn't scare me. It does scare me if it comes to loved ones but for me personally, it's not so much death.

For me my biggest worry is the possibility of a long term illness because a long haul covid was reported. I don't have time for a cold never mind a flu (I get flu injection every winter) nevermind a virus that might floor me for a few weeks or more. Also I read about some people showing lesions on lungs even with an asymptomatic illness.

For me, I'm following the guidelines and taking the guidelines seriously for a personal reason and also as a civic duty to try not pass it on.

The stats just come out of the woodwork don’t they.

The other day someone posted that’s it’s deadly for children by saying 20 children had died of it.

I asked About sample size? Rate of death? And most importantly - generalisably to population? (Incidentally all were unfortunately children with serious prior conditions).

I was shouted down and told
Asking such questions means implying those 20 kids don’t matter.

I mean you literally cannot ask a simple question of a random statistic without it being implied you are a callous know it all show off. That’s not playing up the virus that’s being insane.

Covid Is stressing me out so much especially how the majority of people now preach about how dangerous it is.
I honestly believed at the start this was a serious killer and my family would die.

Due to posts I read in the preppers thread.
Now I cannot care less about coronavirus but my friends and my family have changed they are scared to come out, every thing is affected even coming out bloody exit and entrance doors have now changed around.

I read that the chance of catching it is now like 1in 2100. I cannot wait till this virus just fucks off, then again it probably won't and will just become another cold virus.

Sorry to go on a rant but my period is due and it's driving me mad how some people still think this is a huge danger and mass killer.

I am glad that some people are waking up to this bullshit now. Around 8 of my family members had it half didn't know they had it, another three was in bed for two days and one was struggling to eat and drink for a few days as he was so exhausted. All recovered.

Yes I'll still wear a mask but even that is ridiculous I'm not close enough to any one I walk past to even contaminate then even if I did have it.
Sounds ridiculous but where I live teenagers are excited about masks in high schools as teachers won't know who's in the hallway that shouldn't be there and they can fight rival gang members 1-1. This is south London though so.

You need to look at death rates for each age group. Yes, it's a big deal for some vulnerable people and the elderly but for people under 40 the mortality rate is very low, and in fact in under 15's it is lower than the chance of being struck by lightning (I think it's around 1 in 3 million).

I'm with YellowWave -for some people there are long term health consequences which are quite worrying and possibly not predictable and so as a population we do need to exercise some caution and follow appropriate guidelines. And some people will be very poorly but will recover. But for the majority (and estimates are that 20% of the population may have already has Covid) it is not a serious illness.

While I agree that the risk of catching COVID is a lot less than it was, we still need to be following SD, handwashing, wearing masks etc. guidelines. YOU may not be at risk of dying, but many of us still are. YOUR actions affect our risk. Never forget that.

Yes, it's a big deal for some vulnerable people and the elderly but for people under 40 the mortality rate is very low

Are you really happy to write off vulnerable people and the elderly? (And not all 'over 40s' are elderly.)

I only personally know three people who have had covid-19. One recovered fully after a hospital admittance. The other two weren't in hospital but still have complications now, and it was spring when they caught it.
Death is not the only thing to worry about.

Posting a link re the case fatality rate. It’s quite long I’m afraid. I absolutely agree that for most of us the risk of death or serious health consequences from Covid 19 is very low. I am certainly not trying to exaggerate the dangers. The risk is very, very low for children, very low for most people under 40. But it isn’t low for everyone and it is so infectious that unless the vast majority behave responsibly we cannot suppress the virus enough to stop huge numbers (yes almost all of them elderly or vulnerable in other ways, but their lives have value too) dying.

The link below, in case you don’t want to read the whole thing, includes a calculation of the case fatality ratio for New York and works it out as being 1.4%.

www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-death-rate/

Both my husband and I should have died according to everyone

Him- male, 61, diabetic (poorly controlled) and high blood pressure, bmi 45

Me-44, high blood pressure, most likely diabetic as everyone else in my family is, bmi 52

Guess what

He had 24 hours of wheezing - tested positive for antibodies

I had a week of an irritating cough, 48 hours of a high temp and about 13 hours of wheezing

Even if you are high risk, the absolute risk is still low

I’m high risk in terms of a virus with an overall low risk - which means my risk is a teensy Weensy hit higher than someone who isn’t a fat bloater

But I terms of the risk of anything else I. Life, it’s still low risk