Do people actually realise how few are dying from coronavirus now?

[Mrschickpeabody]

It’s all still doom and gloom on the news as normal regarding coronavirus. Loads about cases going up, local lockdowns, negativity regarding schools going back but nothing about the fact that hardly anyone is actually dying from coronavirus or being admitted to hospital. Can we not hear about positive things for once?

Any data on people with mild cases with long lasting health issues, what number is it, 10,000, 40,000, 100,000?

@MH1111

Berlioz23

Like those with cancer that is undiagnosed and/or not being treated?

Condolences for your grandad.

I think from the start people with conditions, such as cancer, should’ve been treated the same as before and gp surgeries open pretty much as normal. However there is a fine line between being sensible and just plain stupid. International travel and eat out to help out scheme to name a couple.

Do you feel that these numbers can justify the ongoing mentality towards this indiscrimate killer virus? Or would it be prudent to re assess the severity of it, and adjust distancing measures accordingly

None of this is simple for the govt. If we knew that the death rate in the UK due to covid would stay at the August 2020 level forever then I too would say we should open everything up.

I wouldn't say the same thing if it were the April/May death rate.

We also know from history that pandemics come in more than one wave. We also know that the UK has not reached "herd immunity". That is the vast majority of people are still. susceptible to the virus.

So the reason things are being shut or that people are being cautious is not because of the current death rate. It is a fear that if we open everything another 80,000+ may die. You don't barricade the doors because of the wolves already in the house.

It’s not all about death rates to be honest.

I have been supporting patients who have had moderate to severe symptoms some taken into ICU some who remained at home but were very unwell.

They are still after months unable to return to work, suffering from a number of long term symptoms including, chronic fatigue, joint pain, breathlessness, hair loss, cognitive impairment and memory loss and mental health issues post covid.

It’s causing some really awful long term issues because this virus affects a number of areas of the body including the kidneys, lungs, heart and brain.

This is why we need to be careful, yes sadly people do die, and positivity many recover but for a number there are some life changing post viral issues that may never be resolved.

Yep we have to do what we can to work and keep education running but we have a huge duty to stay safe! I certainly do not want to take the risk and catch this! I will work from home for as long as I can!

That is very sad WyfofBathe, imo one of the main goals in trying to prevent growth of the covid virus is to allow health care for those without covid to continue. That should be the top priority. I am sorry for your colleague having to hear silly remarks like that at such a time.

@Berlioz23

@ExmoorPony, your eloquence (bollocks bollocks bollocks etc) is a wonder to witness. Might you at some point manage to put a coherent argument together? Or are you going to be channelling Ade Edmondson circa 1984 for much longer?

Anyway, thanks to @Lweji and @Derbygerbil among others for well explained and civilised argument and explanation. I enjoy reading your posts.

@fromdownwest Exactly. It's the lack of proportionate response that gets me. It's always sad when people die, and more people have died this year than usual. I still don't see why that removes a huge range of rights and freedoms from millions of people worldwide. Nothing comparable happened for swine flu, Hong Kong flu or any other disease with a comparable death rate. And whilst I'm sorry that young people that have died, the fact they make the news does not make it a killer disease. Unless people are willing to give up their rights permanently, it'll be a disease that is always with us, and will attenuate over time - as it possibly has already. The willingness to give the authorities all credence in what they do, to keep repeating that they are doing it for our own protection, seems very naive. Its. The Stasi specialised in pointing out that dobbing in your friends for having banned books, seditious meetings, or collaboration with the West was in the interest of the greater good. It was called Staatssicherheit because it emphasised that all these precautions were necessary to keep people "safe" from selfish capitalists. It's not that big a stretch to point out that some sort of end date to the removal of things like the right to demonstrate (eg in Australia, where a pregnant woman was arrested and handcuffed in front of her children for a Facebook post calling for a socially distanced demo, and has now been charged and fined $20,000) is something worth talking about. That doesn't make the 10% of us who are querying the end game the same as the halfwits who say it's a conspiracy /5g etc.
The worrying part is that 90% of the population seem to take the benevolence of government for granted. History tells me they are wrong.

@Inkpaperstars

I've never seen anything so stupid as "scamdemic"

100% agree, it's embarassing. Although when you look at all the governments soaring in popularity and businesses profiting hugely out of this pandem....oh wait.

Probably missing your point here, would be grateful if you could elaborate, please?

OP: This means our hard work has paid off and that all the measures are working.
Doctors and infectious diseases professionals are now raising awareness about the forgotten people, covid survivors who are suffering from they call Long term covid side effects after surviving covid. It’s not something to be taken lightly.

Don't worry, it will soon be no deal Brexit. Then the Dementors will really have something to complain and catastrophise about!

Nothing comparable happened for swine flu, Hong Kong flu or any other disease with a comparable death rate

This is wrong in at least two ways. First 60,000+ people died in the UK in a small number of months from covid. Nothing similar happened with swine flu or Hong Kong flu. Second this number was with the lockdown! It is anyone's guess what it would have been without the lockdown.

@Rhianna1980

OP: This means our hard work has paid off and that all the measures are working. Doctors and infectious diseases professionals are now raising awareness about the forgotten people, covid survivors who are suffering from they call Long term covid side effects after surviving covid. It’s not something to be taken lightly.

Oh, yes, I'm sure the NHS will treat them just as every single other person who is made long-term ill by disease; not play favourites because it's Covid the way they do with, oh, countless other diseases that cause people to die by the thousands every year .

Really hope none of them have long-term psychiatric effects, because I can tell you right now, you're fucked if you think you'll get top of the range treatment for said here unless you pay for it.

@notevenat20 - not quote. 20,000 less than that. 41,514 in 9 months.

This is where the fear is installed, false number being thrown around like confetti

Tootletum

But Covid hasn't been comparable, in terms of numbers of infection, as swine flu or anything else has it? When else in living memory have we witnessed this number of simultaneous infections happening across the world or this volume of sick people requiring hospital admission for the same thing at the same time?

And again, it isn't just about the numbers of people dying. Yes, thankfully, at the moment at least, very few younger people have died. But serious, potentially life long complications are starting to emerge, including amongst younger people. That is a cause of concern. How can anyone argue that it's ok to let an infection tear through the population when drs don't know all of the long term implications of that? We could end up with thousands of younger people left disabled as a result. There are too many unknowns to become relaxed about this virus at the moment.

Many more people will die due to the lockdown and the measures than the virus itself. How is that intelligent?

Lockdown is a very blunt instrument, and isn’t something we should go back to.....

The only way we possibly would need to go back to it is if the “Covid is over” believers have their way and persuade us to disregard all caution and scientists’ urging and live like we were back in February, disregarding all warnings that Covid was getting out of control again as weeks progress, insisting that most people were fine, until eventually, reality could be avoided no longer, and the Government shut things down again as the NHS had to refocus again from non-Covid conditions, to manage an unmitigated second Covid wave.... and we have far more Covid deaths, far more short-term non-Covid deaths, far more long-term non-Covid deaths and an even more screwed up economy.

The least intelligent, most idiotic and counter-productive thing we could do is pretend it’s all over.

It makes as much sense as going on a crash diet (lockdown) after becoming morbidly obese from eating a dozen pizzas every day (Covid), relaxing the diet somewhat as weight loss is succeeding (lockdown easing), but then deciding, as you near your target weight, that your job is done and you can eat a dozen pizzas again every day because you definitely won’t get fat again despite the fact that a gastric band op (vaccine) is likely a few months away.

This is the calm before the storm.

I don’t know anyone who is young and disabled from coronvirus? i’m not doubting there is, i’m just curious on numbers? No one can answer this?

notevenat20 - not quote. 20,000 less than that. 41,514 in 9 months.

That's very unlikely to be the correct number. The ONS says "However, between Weeks 13 and 32, 250,125 deaths were registered, which was 57,592 more than the five-year average" and bear in mind that we were running below average in the weeks before covid arrived.

"The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has so far killed at least half a million people worldwide and has led to over 64,000 excess deaths in the UK. " is the number the health foundation gives.

Not that this makes a lot of difference to the point I was making.

Does anyone know today's count for number of deaths after 28 days.

@Ryah76

This is the calm before the storm.

Oh, definitely, we have NO trade agreement with, well, pretty much anyone in the whole world as of 1 January and only about 7 weeks to try to cobble one with our nearest 27 neighbours together, more like 6 since Parliament isn't back in yet, and it's looking like there won't be ones in the pipeline. Google WTO terms and you'll see exactly what a shitstorm is just beyond the horizon for us, and it isn't bloody covid.

Elderly with lung disease?

outyouget

The young and feckless, who are at low risk of dying if they contract COVID, need to live their lives. Their parents need to take precautions to avoid sharing it with their ageing parents, so should SD. The ageing parents have to decide on their bubbles. If everyone were to follow sensible rules, we would achieve herd immunity quite quickly.

Of course, if you are preparing for an operation, you need to be more careful personally, but as a population, we need to allow a controlled ripple to run through. And if you have health issues, or are obese/diabetic/COPD or any other condition that makes you vulnerable to the virus or its after-effects, then now would be a good time to take steps to remediate your own health.

@InDeoEstMeaFiducia

Don't worry, it will soon be no deal Brexit. Then the Dementors will really have something to complain and catastrophise about!

You do know that both pandemic and brexit have all the potential to be catastrophes? I'm thinking a few hundred years from now history book excerpt

"... In 2020 the UK government was led astray by madman who can be likened only to Rasputin before him. The island nation opted for herd immunity when the world's third worst pandemic hit. Although it has never been achieved naturally, the weak government was betting on the virus to disappear quickly and was pre-occupied by delivering a no-deal Brexit. The government narrative for years, at that point, was about freedom, independence and national glory. These narrative elements could not support communication in times of a pandemic. Instead of promoting working together and leading, they advised and made an astonishing 17* U-turns on major topics within a 10 months time frame. ..."

"The UK has suffered far more infections and deaths than needed, as being an island, much of it could have been prevented. ... It also shone a light on the inequalities in education, healthcare, jobs and ...."

*can't be bothered to look up if this is the 4th, 5th worst pandemic...
**: don't forget, we still have 4 months until end of year....

"The effects of Brexit started to show gradually. The decline of the nation did not happen overnight, it took 2-3 years for the first signs to really show. The world didn't stop on Jan 1st, 2021. But in a few years -for example- the bank sector has finished fully relocating to mainland Europe, leaving a glaring hole in the economy. This brought with itself the increase in unemployment within the highly educated workforce. It also had a huge impact on the already battered travel industry. When around Europe the travel industry was emerging from it's Covid ashes, the UK had to acknowledge that business travel was down 60% and holiday travel was down another 25% compared to pre-Covid/Brexit levels. It took about 5 years for the pound to lose it's value t the point that life became very expensive and the social divide became visible on an everyday basis."

"Some industries almost seized to exist. Even though many European car manufacturing giants were reliant on parts made in the UK, they eventually created the manufacturing lines to produce them locally, on the mainland.
Some industries thrived, but were negatively affected when the US-UK trade agreement came into force in 2023. As much as the agricultural sector warned against cheap meat and dairy product quality levels, government opted to look at the economy rather than the people. "

Reading some of the replies to this it's honestly as if some people will be genuinely upset and disappointed if there isn't a second wave. I have lost count of the number of times I've heard 'the deaths will come in a few weeks', 'the hospitals will be inundated in a few weeks', 'the second wave will be here before we know it' etc. etc.

...and that is why you are not a virologist or public health expert.