has everyone become too hysterical about Covid?

[tellytubby20]

Looking at all the threads on MN my impression is that everyone has become completely hysterical about Covid and completely misunderstands the difference between personal health risk and public health.

Am not oblivious to the health risks - I have followed all the rules, live next to a major London hospital (so very aware of how busy the ambulance service is) and had covid last year.
BUT
I am also under 40 with small DCs - so am aware that my personal risk of death or severe illness is small - my goal is therefore to ensure that I do not spread it others who are vulnerable.

However, so many people seem to have decided that the threat/risk is massive to their kids and themselves especially with this new variant.....WHY?

AIBU - to think that people are massively over-estimating personal risk if they are healthy and under 50 and have become hysterical about it.

AINBU to think that

@LabiaMinoraPissusFlapus

Absolutely! I don't believe the daily death rates of Covid-only deaths is nearly accurate. I think it is much lower, and that any patient dying with Covid, not because of Covid, is being included. They are beating us down with all the negative propaganda, and then shortly there will be some positive news to perk us up, balancing our compliance against suicidal ideation!

And this is the problem we are all up against.

Even if you don’t want to believe the government surely you believe those who are working on the front line about just how awful things are?

twitter.com/NickStripe_ONS/status/1346860617735532544
ONS on the figures and excess deaths.

Yes, the death rate is not to be trusted
It's probably higher than they say, the ONS data strongly suggests that , because people are taking more than 28 days to die
Oh, but that isn't what you think...how odd

Thank you @RedToothBrush I tried a reply and lost it.

Info on pre existing conditions for ONS

It is not deliberately minimising the NHS capacity issue to say that this happens regularly.

This is from exactly 4 years ago when the Red Cross called the situation in the NHS a 'humanitarian crisis'. Two people died on waiting trollies, and I really really dread that happening with Covid as I know that people will totally freak out. But the point is, this is not new, it has happened before that the NHS gets to absolute capacity.

www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/06/nhs-faces-humanitarian-crisis-rising-demand-british-red-cross

Also, we keep referring to flu season, and a while ago I saw that flu numbers have gone through the floor - is this still the case? If so, this may help with the problem with NHS capacity

the difference now though is the NHS know from the infection rates that it is going to get much worse in the next weeks. if we've not yet reached peak cases and they're already at capacity you can get the picture of just how shit this current situation is.

@hamstersarse

It is not deliberately minimising the NHS capacity issue to say that this happens regularly.

This is from exactly 4 years ago when the Red Cross called the situation in the NHS a 'humanitarian crisis'. Two people died on waiting trollies, and I really really dread that happening with Covid as I know that people will totally freak out. But the point is, this is not new, it has happened before that the NHS gets to absolute capacity.

www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/06/nhs-faces-humanitarian-crisis-rising-demand-british-red-cross

Also, we keep referring to flu season, and a while ago I saw that flu numbers have gone through the floor - is this still the case? If so, this may help with the problem with NHS capacity

It absolutely is minimising it. It doesn’t look like this regularly.

@LabiaMinoraPissusFlapus

Absolutely! I don't believe the daily death rates of Covid-only deaths is nearly accurate. I think it is much lower, and that any patient dying with Covid, not because of Covid, is being included. They are beating us down with all the negative propaganda, and then shortly there will be some positive news to perk us up, balancing our compliance against suicidal ideation!

Why would ‘they’ do that? And who is ‘they’?

Yes - although this is all to protect NHS which have always struggled

This is why the situation is incredibly serious and should not be minimised. Over 1,000 Covid deaths today and 30,000 receiving hospital treatment for Covid.

Over the last 7 days

🇬🇧 cases up 42.6%

🇬🇧 deaths up 37.2%

🇬🇧 Covid patients admitted up 19.8% (latest data 29th December)

@mrshoho

the difference now though is the NHS know from the infection rates that it is going to get much worse in the next weeks. if we've not yet reached peak cases and they're already at capacity you can get the picture of just how shit this current situation is.

Do we know how many are at capacity? Have they opened the nightingale hospitals? Three weeks ago when I was in hospital, there were corridor after corridor of empty beds lining the halls. Compare that to a year before and those beds were full, all waiting to be seen by someone or a room/ward to open up.

Some of the Nightingales has opened in a limited way as there isn’t staffing available.

Nightingale hospitals are a great idea in theory. In practise with the best will in the world they won’t be able to come close to copying the infrastructure in a hospital while also keeping already over stretched hospitals going.

@Sparklingbrook

How about this from a thread this morning?

We are not even seeing the deaths related to Christmas. In a couple of weeks it's going to be equivalent to about 6 jumbo jets crashing every day!

😲🙄🤣😲🙄😲🙄🤣

Everyone always pulls out the argument "well we have loads of flu deaths every year so no big deal!" and it seems weird to me that the natural discussion following it is "masks are bullshit" and not "lets all wear masks when we have colds and flu in the future too like is totally standard in Japan so that we cut down future flu deaths as well".

There were a few people sniffing and coughing up a storm in the office before second lockdown saying "its ok, its just a cold!" and didn't seem to clock that maybe the rest of us still don't want it, thanks.

That's because most surgeries are now being cancelled as all staff deployed to covid ward, cranberries. Hence the idiocy of those 'empty hospital' videos. Of course hospitals outside covid wards are starting to look like ghost towns if they can't afford the staff to keep things going elsewhere, and covid patients now anywhere between 25 and 60% of patients.

It's only in controlling covid that we get hospitals working as they should. Do we really want to be in a position where you need hospital for something else but you're turned away because there's no room, no staff?

It's really worrying.

@LabiaMinoraPissusFlapus
Absolutely! I don't believe the daily death rates of Covid-only deaths is nearly accurate

Well actually you're right. They're higher than what is reported because that's only those within 28 days. ONS' latest report is showing 93,000 deaths as a result of covid (ie covid as main or underlying cause on death certificate.)

We really must stop this damaging with/of rubbish.

Do we know how many are at capacity? Have they opened the nightingale hospitals?

When anyone says have they opened the Nightingales yet i know they are someone who doesn't pay much attention to the world outside their window.

Its been know since the first wave that the Nightingales are a white elephant in terms of providing much critical or high dependency care. There are not enough staff to provide it. Thats why they haven't opened this time for acute cases. They have been used in some areas for other purposes - i believe the Excel in London is now going to be used for a vaccination station.

To use 'but they haven't opened the Nightingales so it cant be that bad' as a Gotcha is beyond ignorant.

Its active disinformation.

Fully agree, OP.
People are being irrational and often hysterical.
I've got blood on my hands just for thinking it, so I'm off to sanitise them now.

Over 1,000 deaths today, 3,000 new Covid hospital admissions and over 62,000 positive tests.
Hysteria?

lifeinlimbo2020

Sparklingbrook
How about this from a thread this morning? hmm

We are not even seeing the deaths related to Christmas. In a couple of weeks it's going to be equivalent to about 6 jumbo jets crashing every day!

😲🙄🤣😲🙄😲🙄🤣“

You find that possibility amusing?

It's not about all the wards in a hospital being full to bursting - that's a very myopic and sensationalist way of viewing it.

Covid patients take up a lot of staffing and resources.

When people die they need to be put in the mortuary - do you think the average hospital has enough space in its mortuary to deal with the higher level of deaths caused by covod right now? (Not even taking into consideration the need to stop any cross infection from the bodies) - so where are we going to store all the extra bodies?

Those people who get sick, but not sick enough to die need to be discharged somewhere to be looked after, they also most likely need follow up care in the form of physiotherapy or (if they have been intubated) speech and language therapists - where are we going to suddenly find the extra profesional staff needed for this extra burden on the NHS?

it's mostly a simple matter of there being a limited/finite amount of resources in the NHS, and Covid is taking a disproportionate amount of that right now - and the only way forward right now, is to try and relieve that pressure as much as possible with suppression measures until we can get the vaccinations going.

No, I don't think hysteria is the over riding response at all.

There is more hysteria in the mindset of denial that has led to the situation now facing our HCPs.

No one who has been in an ICU recently would describe a highly concerned response in these terms, unless you're indifferent to the suffering there. I find the term 'hysterical' a form of gas lighting in the current circumstances.

This minimising of the NHS crisis also went on after the first lockdown. Once the peak was reached and cases started falling many people were complaining that the lockdown was unnecessary and we ruined peoples lives for nothing. There was demands to get hospitals back up and running but had no thought about what the NHS had dealt with. I hope when we are over this people remember just how critical the situation is and the reason for the restrictions. Anyone who thinks restrictions are not necessary has their head in the sand.

Program now on bbc about the situation. Report of a hospital where police cars are now taking critically ill covid patients in. A hospital worker has said about finding hospital patients dead in bed and not having the staff to monitor. It's not good.