Coronavirus is with us indefinitely

[Sb2012]

I knew this was always a possibility, but like many others I lived in hope that like many viruses this will do its thing and perhaps naturally run it’s course just like the Spanish flu did. I was thinking of back then the Spanish flu took 2 years to run it’s course, in this day and age we might be able to bring this thing under control on half that time.
Looks like it’s not going anywhere and now I actually feel overwhelmed by what will happen.
A vaccine appears like the only way out of this. I am desperately praying that the U.K. will take the SAGE advice seriously. I hope the government does everything possible to suppress cases for now and get this vaccine rolled out ASAP or this is just going to get worse.

news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-disease-not-likely-to-be-eradicated-sage-scientist-says-12110135

I know what people will say; that it’s a mild disease for many, natural immunity will happen as more people are infected with it etc
I don’t believe in natural herd immunity. You can catch the flu every year. Ok I understand that’s because it mutates and it’s a new strain annually etc
You can catch certain viruses more than once such as the various cold viruses, norovirus, varicella-zoster virus (chicken pox) and there’s no guarantee it will be a mild infection the second or their time round. Even if you get a mild or moderate version of the disease who wants to catch it repeatedly?!

Some people think it may be a bit like a seasonal thing with a yearly vaccine

@Orangeblossom7777 I’m one of those that thinks it’s just going to be one of those things you could get every year. I also believe that vaccines will eventually be the same as flu and only vulnerable elderly, healthcare staff etc will get it and everyone else will have to pay

Spanish flu is with though. Spanish flu became milder over time and this will too. People don’t get flu every year. This will end up the same
It will mutate and our bodies will adapt to it.
But it will take time. It will be a process and there isn’t a quick fix anymore.

Just take one day at a time. If you feel more comfortable limit your time out of the house. However you can’t control this virus. There is nothing you can do. I do understand how stressful the situation is and I was all for handing in my notice in back in March but it won’t help me in the short therm or longer term.

There is hope, and there is real prospects of a vaccine. It’s not all bleak. But it will be a hard winter.

So

• masks

• more out door living, ventilated out door rooms, warm coats, seeing people for walks

• smaller classes and forest classes (where possible and we're very lucky if we can do that)

• big push on health and education

• on line up supported by parents where possible

• vaccine/s when we can get it and that will evolve

• we can lose weight and exercise (easier said than done I know)

• we will come through this as a people largely unscathed. We need to minimise the number catching it this winter because, as time goes by, survival rates are likely to improve with better medical knowledge

• we need to change how we do things though and be innovative

• but there is hope

• and we need to have compassion as a society

sorry that should be on line catch up for education

The reason for having a flu vaccination every year is mostly because immunity to flu (at a level that protects most people) is typically around 6 months.

Flu strains vary from year to year as well so each year the vaccine includes strains that are known / predicted to be in circulation that year.

Spanish flu never went away, as such - I think a similar strain is believed to be in circulation even now. It just never re-emerged at pandemic levels.

So yes in all likelihood Covid is here to stay. Not at pandemic levels, if there is a vaccine and / or if immunity lasts a lot longer than flu.

If it helps: there’s a theory that the ‘Russian flu’ pandemic of 1890-ish was also caused by a coronavirus, because there’s a coronavirus still going around now that probably first jumped to humans around that time. It’s now one of the ones that causes a common cold.

That article gives the best reasoning for a circuit breaker now that I have seen. Otherwise the rest of the country will see their peak at Christmas and tens of thousands of death. A circuit breaker would reset us a bit and give us time to hopefully get the vaccine.

It'll just be part of life , as is every other illness that has appeared. Better ways of treating it will appear along the way and maybe a vaccine. We just have to live with it as we live with everything else.

We would be able to control this thing much quicker if we didn’t keep locking down every 5 seconds.

Cases at universities are already curtailing as many students have caught the virus and now are immune.

London boroughs hit hard in the first wave are now seeing less cases and only steady increases in cases.

We need to stop panicking and actually accept that it is a GOOD thing that some healthy under 60s get the virus. Particularly in schools and universities and these places no longer become places of transmission once students have got the virus.

We also need to accept that the virus is like a natural disaster we need to stop thinking that it is possible to control it and instead think about managing it.

[quote AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii]@Orangeblossom7777 I’m one of those that thinks it’s just going to be one of those things you could get every year. I also believe that vaccines will eventually be the same as flu and only vulnerable elderly, healthcare staff etc will get it and everyone else will have to pay[/quote]
How would that be a 'just' scenario? We have seen the damage this virus can do from one infection. Surely people getting repeatedly infected would be horrendous, at least with out any medical interventions to significantly reduce disease severity. We have to hope science can help us.

It is mild for most people - we need to remember that and not get it out of perspective. Hopefully the older and more vulnerable will have a vaccine soon. Thankfully it is not a severe as e.g Spanish flu was

@RhythmoftheEgg

The reason for having a flu vaccination every year is mostly because immunity to flu (at a level that protects most people) is typically around 6 months.

Flu strains vary from year to year as well so each year the vaccine includes strains that are known / predicted to be in circulation that year.

Spanish flu never went away, as such - I think a similar strain is believed to be in circulation even now. It just never re-emerged at pandemic levels.

So yes in all likelihood Covid is here to stay. Not at pandemic levels, if there is a vaccine and / or if immunity lasts a lot longer than flu.

Yes there's a difference between it continuing as it is now forever more, which would clearly be ghastly, or continuing at a much lower level, as a largely manageable disease.

I agree that SARS-CoV-2 will now be with us forever. Although i should add that there are currently four other coronaviruses in general circulation, one of which caused the 'Russian flu' pandemic (1889-1890). This pandemic killed about 1,000,000 people, nonetheless, this virus (HCoV-OC43) now circulates freely and most people don't even know it exists, or that it once caused a pandemic, owing to herd immunity.

I suspect the same fate awaits SARS-CoV-2, although the question is how many people will die or have major illness before we reach that point.

SussexDeb there's evidence that you can catch covid19 more than once.

People going in to hospital now with Covid are a third less likely to die of it than they would have been in April. We're making progress all the time. It's not just a vaccine, it's about testing and treatments.

@herecomesthsun

So

• masks

• more out door living, ventilated out door rooms, warm coats, seeing people for walks

• smaller classes and forest classes (where possible and we're very lucky if we can do that)

• big push on health and education

• on line up supported by parents where possible

• vaccine/s when we can get it and that will evolve

• we can lose weight and exercise (easier said than done I know)

• we will come through this as a people largely unscathed. We need to minimise the number catching it this winter because, as time goes by, survival rates are likely to improve with better medical knowledge

• we need to change how we do things though and be innovative

• but there is hope

• and we need to have compassion as a society

A lot of this is stuff that would really benefit our health as a nation anyway. We need to do more exercise and we need to spend more time outdoors instead of hibernating for five months of the year like so many people do. Smaller classes and forest schools would benefit children enormously with or without Covid.

If the government has any sense they don't they would sit down all members of all parties and formulate a long term public health pledge.

Coronavirus may always be with us but the pandemic will end.

@goose1964

Not enough evidence to suggest that. Out of millions infected only a few cases of reinfection. These could be a result of false positives.

If there is no immune response than it’s unlikely a vaccine could mimic something not existent.

Well yes of course it’s here to stay
You can still get the bubonic plague if you go to the ‘right’ areas - that’s been lingering for centuries. ( much less likely to kill you now we have antibiotics obviously)
In fact the only disease I can think of that’s been ‘eradicated’ is smallpox

This is why we have to learn to live with covid -it’s going nowhere

Not enough evidence to suggest that. Out of millions infected only a few cases of reinfection.

I think there is now pretty concrete evidence that some people have had covid twice. This doesn't mean most people don't become immune though, after all some people get chicken pox twice.

I think the virus is here to stay, but the whole situation will definitely get better. People will learn to live with it. We will have a vaccine eventually and its gonna be like the flu. It will come back in the colder months and nobody will talk about it in summer.
I have had the flu shot once in my life, that was almost 10 years ago. Was in bed for over a week after that. I have never gotten it again after that and i havent caught the flu once. Its just one of those things where you live with it and either choose to protect yourself or take your chances.
Its really bad now because it spread so suddenly and we knew nothing about it when it started.

@Heatherjayne1972

Well yes of course it’s here to stay You can still get the bubonic plague if you go to the ‘right’ areas - that’s been lingering for centuries. ( much less likely to kill you now we have antibiotics obviously) In fact the only disease I can think of that’s been ‘eradicated’ is smallpox

This is why we have to learn to live with covid -it’s going nowhere

Ok so when the scientist says “We are going to live with this for evermore” you don’t think he is referring to this situation we are in right now as being with us forever? I can live with that. I was under the impression that’s he was hinting that life will not change from the current situation until we get an effective vaccine which can take months years even. I think seeing the title of the article kind of made me panic and I’m not reading it properly. Think I’ll go back and read it again.

Feeling a little calmer. It’s weird until recently I was doing well, I’m not that easily scared and always look for positives in every situation, but this news has really overwhelmed me. Think I’m all out of positivity and stamina. Feel so exhausted with it all.