Deaths and those under 50

[Sallygoround631]

Was just perusing the 'collective insanity' thread on here, with many people in agreement that the measures outweigh the risks.

I am on the fence personally, and can appreciate the concerns on both sides of the argument, but my post isn't about that.

Im curious about when people on here argue over the severity of covid in the population, many protest that it is a bad flu and that those in real danger are only the vulnerable and very elderly population.

However, in response to this, there's always a ton of posters who claim most of the people they knew who died of covid were in their 30's and 40' with NO health conditions.

I tend not to come across this particular argument much outside of MN, so would like to hear your thoughts on it and perhaps some info about where I can find stats. ONS perhaps?

@JS87

It amazes me how we’ve spent the last ten years saying you shouldn’t shame people for their weight but suddenly being under 50 and overweight means it’s fine if you die of covid / are admitted to ICU as you have an underlying health condition.

I also expect about half the U.K. population have a bmi higher than desirable

Health experts have consistently been saying that being overweight isn't healthy and does cause lots of health problems, such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. It's certainly not just covid that has highlighted the proven health problems.

A doctor friend of mine pointed out that not having any known conditions isn’t quite the same as not having any conditions. I don’t think we will be keeping strict rules for months after vaccinations because of the v small chance of serious long Covid. I certainly won’t be. That comes under the category of normal risk to me - time to get on with life.

Re obesity, I read today that about half the NHS budget goes on preventable illnesses ,

And that article about Covid triggering early menopause quoted various women in their mid to late forties. Absolutely impossible to tell without proper sampling whether those women were just about to enter the menopause anyway. Anecdata transformed into an article by the Mail.

I am mid forties was a very fit exercise freak. Got Covid in March and spent months with chest issues. Am better now but still cannot do aerobic exercise yet. Hopefully at some point I will be back to pre Covid fitness. My husband was slightly ill for a week. Very strange illness.

@Frankly321

We know that there are around 315 people under 60 with no health conditions who have died of COVID.

That is 315 people leaving behind DC and partners.

These people are collateral damage in the far-right prioritisation of the economy over lives.

If the government had implemented a strict lockdown all year where no-one leaves home unless a key worker (enforced by the army and £5000 fines), 315 healthy parents and grandparents would have survived.

I'd like to know how many people have died because of collateral damage of lockdown. So, suicides due to loneliness, anxiety, panic etc, because of jobs homes and livelihoods lost. Because of DV that's ramped up because of opportunity. How many kids future have been impacted by school closures, no sports etc.

Any unnecessary death is tragic. I support lockdowns and tiers etc. But the response has got to be proportional. Preventing every single covid death was never possible.

@Badbadbunny
I know it’s unhealthy but it seems to me that no-one really has been able to say so to date (except health experts). I just think it odd that lots of people now think anyone overweight has an underlying health condition and don’t count when talking about whether covid is harmful or not.

People keep saying it’s only under 50s with underlying health conditions without seeming to realise that about half of the under 50s are overweight/ have asthma, etc

@JS87 obesity is a health condition. It would be noted on a person's medical record. Even if someone doesn't have diabetes, hypertension etc (yet) just being obese has a significant impact on your body and it's ability to cope.

[quote baublesbaubleseverywhere]@JS87 obesity is a health condition. It would be noted on a person's medical record. Even if someone doesn't have diabetes, hypertension etc (yet) just being obese has a significant impact on your body and it's ability to cope. [/quote]
I don’t think you understand what I’m trying to say. I know obesity is a health condition. My bmi is 19. I’m saying that it’s ironic that Mrs joe bloggs on Mumsnet suddenly thinks it’s fine for someone who is overweight to be In icu with covid due to their weight but if I’d created a post last year saying how terrible it was to be overweight I’d have been ripped into shreds for criticising women about their weight.

People keep saying we don’t need restrictions because no one under 50 without underlying health conditions is ill but they don’t seem to realise what a high proportion of the population have underlying health conditions (ie being overweight).

Tbh I genuinely hope this all turns to nothing, as in the worst is over and this is just a blip.

I also hope none of the people dismissing this get badly affected or people in their lives.

However, I think the way people are acting over all this is going to stay with people mentally for a long time. If I could have one wish it would be to live in a society where people are a lot nicer than they are right now.

There seems to be an attitude here that the younger old don't matter, if your kids have left home then your usefulness is over.

I know a few people who have been hospitalised ( in HDU )during this wave, some if I am being absolutely honest, that I didn't expect to see again due to a variety of underlying health conditions.
All of them survived.
Now it may be because they are hardy Northern types, or it may be they all got lucky, or it may be that everyone involved medically and scientifically in this crisis is throwing thousands of man hours at trying to work out the best way to keep as many people alive as possible ?

The biggest issue to the UK isn't if you die, horrendously distressing though that may be to your loved ones, it is how many people need a hosptial bed while they get treatment and hopefully recover.
There are 141,000 beds in the UK, that includes general and acute ( so the beds under the greatest pressure) mental health, learning disability, day surgery beds and maternity. That is a for a population of just shy of 68 million people.
Generally speaking in a lot of hospitals, those general and acute beds are filled with people with a variety of conditions. Not one, but a whole host of illnesses. If one illness suddenly starts to take over those beds , where do you put the people who have all the other illnesses ?

I’m the biggest catastrophiser/ pessimist in the world.

Even l can see a world in the not too far distant further when we can mingle again!

I know about 10-15 who've had it (I live in an area of Wales that hasn't really come out of restrictions and still has the highest rates), one has died (in her 30s with underlying health condition and clinically obese) and one was hospitalised for four days (81 with pneumonia to start with). The rest had a bit of a cold, one or two said the tiredness lasted a couple of weeks. I'll be honest, I assumed the 81 year old had no chance of survival after being admitted to hospital but other than an occasional cough she's alright now.

The two Welsh counties with the highest rates unfortunately have some of the worst general health in the UK. They are clearly correlated.