Worried this pandemic will never end

[JuneMoonstone]

Just watching Dr John Campell's Coronavirus update on YouTube. He said that the new variant of the virus has implications on herd immunity; that scientists had hoped herd immunity would be reached when about 70 % of people had been infected with covid 19, but with the new variant being so much more contagious, we may now need about 80% of people to be immune, in order to reach herd immunity. As a result the pandemic could go on longer as it'll take longer in order to reach this herd immunity. I honestly don't know how much more I can take of this horrendous situation. There is no end in sight. Just when there seemed to a tiny glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, the news of this new variant has snatched it away. I honestly believe this pandemic will never ever end and even when we think we've got it under control, some new mutant strain will crop up and we all get thrown right back to square 1. It seems like life will just be totally shit from now on and it breaks my heart, especially for my 5 year old daughter and all other children and young people. I'm sorry to be so negative but I am so utterly low and depressed and the news just gets worse and worse.

If the pandemic had happened 10/20 years ago it would be a hell of a lot worse

Actually, if it had happened 20 years ago, it would have been a hell of a lot better.

20 years ago there was next to no internet. Schools couldn't have shut; people couldn't have WFH; nobody could spread paranoia about a virus that the doesn't trouble the overwhelming majority of people who contract it.

I bloody well wish this had happened 20 years ago.

These things always pass OP, always. As others have said, vaccination is the way forward here.

I feel like this too. I know it's not a big deal really, but dp and I were supposed to get married this coming Sunday and it's postponed to next December. Whenever I feel hopeful that it can go ahead then, Hancock comes along and bursts my bubble like he was today with his 2022 nonsense.

Ugh it's just all so shit and depressing and it does feel totally never ending. This isn't a terribly helpful post but you certainly aren't alone in feeling despondent.

The herd immunity threshold fir measles is up to 95% and we manage that pretty well (except when there’s an upswell in “anti-vax” propaganda).
We will get out of the pandemic, though I imagine COVID-19 will stick around and still be a possibility in the same way that many other illnesses are.

Just stop checking the news. If anything happens someone will tell you eventually. Honestly, life without daily death and case rates is so much less stressful!

I was 11 when SARS hit singapore. Schools shut too and I had to do e learning on a very buggy website on the family PC.

It ended up and without a vaccine. It must have been scary for my parents and the recession was quite serious too. But I was blissfully unaware.

@JuneMoonstone, if it helps, from what I understand is that mutant virus strains aren't necessarily more dangerous, they're just faster to spread. I completely empathise with the fear from the doom and gloom coming from the Government and their scientists - it all sounds so terrifying. My hope is that as the virus mutates it's actually becoming weaker.

I'm with you, OP. We have every reason to be worried, and not just about the pandemic. @celan is right: twenty years ago there would have been much less awareness of it. The hysteria would not have spread with the same wildfire. In the long term, the virus is the least of my worries: unless we watch the government like hawks, I foresee pointless restrictions being in place long after the pandemic is over, vaccines (not just this one) becoming compulsory by law, lockdowns becoming a way of life for other reasons, government becoming more authoritarian in general, people being actively encouraged to snitch on their neighbours. I hope that pressure groups are formed to fight these things tooth and nail once some normality is resumed.

@celan I am 28 now and experienced a pandemic when I was 11 so 17 years ago. SARS. the government closed the schools and we did e learning on a very clunky PC.

Stay away from the news as much as possible. It really doesn’t help to have 24 hour news. Pandemics always end. Always. We’re at the really tough bit where it all seems too much to carry on any longer. But if we keep trudging forward, we will eventually walk out into the warm sunshine again.
There’s a few vaccines out there. That’s truly hopeful.

The pandemic ended in June.
What we have now is a seasonal virus that is becoming endemic.

However, due to the nutty PCR testing and isolation of the well policies, there aren't enough healthcare staff to manage those that will inevitably get sick with what is a rather nasty virus and dangerous for the elderly and vulnerable. And so the government is madly flailing around with ineffectual policies like lockdowns and masks, which bear no relation to the spread of the virus if any degree of analytical rigour is applied. And they have to claim the pandemic is ongoing to maintain this fiction and escape blame for the whole sorry shit show.

@wanderings I actually disagree with that, most people the UK just haven't experienced a pandemic. As a kid in singapore who grew up during SARS, I knew my parents and the adults were scared. They were jailing people for breaking quarantine even then. SARS had fewer cases but the fatality was 10%. I remember being punished in school for not recording my temperature meticulously and screamed at in front of the whole class as we were expected to keep temperature journals (i had a few entries missing). People were that scared.

It will end. And the vaccine is an essential part. As frustrating as it is, we just need to keep playing our part and let those who refuse to stick to the rules get on with it.

It will end. It absolutely will.

If the pandemic had happened 10/20 years ago it would be a hell of a lot worse

We had Asian flu in the late 60s with a far higher death toll once adjusted for demographics and population growth. And nobody blinked an eyelid.

@confuseddotcom090

That is complete shite. But whatever you need to tell yourself. Bless you.

@Clockstop

Just stop checking the news. If anything happens someone will tell you eventually. Honestly, life without daily death and case rates is so much less stressful!

OP I have long term mental health issues and am very lonely.

One thing I’d suggest is not watching the news or videos like that. It’s all speculation. It doesn’t help you.

What do you see when you go in the world? Some days I feel under siege because of masks but mostly I feel people are just cracking on.

My father was an infectious disease specialist. 30 mins reading one of his textbooks would turn your hair grey! It’s honestly best not to go into it unless you’re studying it.

SARS had fewer cases but the fatality was 10%

I often wonder what the death rate would have to be for me to feel scared. I think about 10pct would do it for sure.

1pct, hitting mostly the over 80s, not so much.

And anything that doesn't get the children, doesn't bother me unduly.

@confuseddotcom090

If the pandemic had happened 10/20 years ago it would be a hell of a lot worse

We had Asian flu in the late 60s with a far higher death toll once adjusted for demographics and population growth. And nobody blinked an eyelid.

Absolutely. One of dad’s friends worked through it, a doctor, said if he wasn’t a doctor he’d likely not have noticed it. Some interruption to post and buses, he recalls.

@confuseddotcom090

SARS had fewer cases but the fatality was 10%

I often wonder what the death rate would have to be for me to feel scared. I think about 10pct would do it for sure.

1pct, hitting mostly the over 80s, not so much.

And anything that doesn't get the children, doesn't bother me unduly.

I was returning to work after pneumonia when SARS hit. I miss those days of rationality.

That is complete shite. But whatever you need to tell yourself. Bless you.

Oh really? Go look at the data. The raw data. And do your own analysis and stop watching the bbc. You patronising arse.

@confuseddotcom090

My comment was was actually directed at your previous post.

You have no idea who I am (as I don’t you) or the sources from which I get my information. I am very confident however it is reputable, exceptionally informed and far more substantive than some random spouting shite on the internet.

So I stand by my original comment:

Bless you.

I’m with you, OP, feeling kind of hopeless. A few weeks ago things seemed so positive but I know what you mean, I think it just hits me in waves the enormity of everything that has happened this past year, this time of year many of us sit and reflect on things and when I look around and see people in masks and things like ‘death toll’ and ‘pandemic’ and ‘control the virus’ and try to imagine showing myself a video of our day to day life a year ago, it is overwhelming and hard to believe it has really actually happened. Most of the time I just try to keep my head down and focus on family and simple things but I totally get how you are feeling x I hope you have a nice Christmas.

The whole her immunity thing has been shown up to be a stupid strategy anyway so we were not going for that.
The pandemic/lockdowns will end one way or another. If the vaccine doesn't do it, we might have a 'social end' to the pandemic.

www.nytimes.com/2020/05/10/health/coronavirus-plague-pandemic-history.html

OP I know it seems bleak but every pandemic ends and so will this. As others have said, have a break from the news. Watching it won't help you. Enjoy your Christmas. Life will get better.

@celan schools shut during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, the existence or otherwise of the internet does not effect the behaviour of viruses