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

In Los Angeles County, they have begun to ration oxygen (this does NOT mean that people who need oxygen aren't getting it - they are). Ambulances are waiting hours to offload patients. The situation is pretty dire - and there but for public compliance with anti- Covid measures go we.

So the need for public health compliance is urgent.

But individually, it is no more or less dangerous than it ever was. That's really very dangerous for some, and much less for others. We have learned that even for the young, it's a bit of a roll of the dice even if the odds are heavily in your favour.

Totally agree. I've switched off from media sources now and filtered it out of my social media and hidden the covid board on mumsnet. There's just so much noise and panic about it and it's not beneficial to people. I know many people suffering from anxiety and worry about this but won't withdraw from all the noise. It is perfectly possible to follow the rules without being hysterical about it.

@bookworm14

Flu is actually more deadly for the under 60's than Covid. But that doesn't seem to be something people can take on board

Completely agree!

@Needclarity

The uncertainty worries people. Even now, it’s an unknown quantity and the numbers are very high, aren’t they? I’m in my 50s and generally healthy, but nervous. The worrying thing for me is the number of people that are still, even now, ignoring advice and continuing to mix. I genuinely believe that they have blood on their hands. The selfish and irresponsible behaviour of many is abhorrent, yet I don’t run around arms flailing, in hysterics - I stay home as much as I can, quietly take precautions & am respectful of others. Many people do the same. The ones who don’t are deeply worrying to me, in terms of being horrible members of society and increasing risks for everyone, regardless of my own personal risk.

What I don't understand about your 'Blood on the Hands' approach is how you distinguish between the 'Good Guys who get Covid' and the 'Bad Guys who get Covid'?

Exactly, hamstersarse. But so many totally healthy people seem to think they are going to die if they get covid. I don’t understand it.

I’m not overly worried about me getting it and being seriously ill.

I am worried about me getting it and getting long covid.

I am worried about any of my vulnerable family members getting it.

I am worried about any of my loved ones have a heart attack or stroke or whatever and the NHS being to overwhelmed to treat them. Ditto having a serious accident.

I am worried about the NHS becoming so overwhelmed that even more regular treatment has to be cancelled.

The whole situation is shit but the measures are needed to keep as many people safe as possible

Many have lost sight of the reasons for lockdown (to stop hospitals being swamped) not to avoid the virus. We can't avoid the virus, and most of us will be fine.

The hysteria is being led by the new outlets - whom are doing their level best to create panic and terrify people. Pure financial gain and click bait.

Most people know this, a few are taken in but most are just fed up, not unreasonably with the whole thing rather than being dramatic. Utterly fed up is a more accurate description

In South East today, 23 of the critical care units are at 100% occupancy. Lets hope that the 'no hysterics' people don't crash their cars, have a perforated appendix with sepsis, fall off a ladder when clearing guttering or have another life threatening event.

YANBU. And the scariest thing is that the government are making decisions for us all based on the hysteria.

i guess my other concern is that managing covid from a public health perspective will take a long time....not to go back to Chris Whitty's comments last night ( who apparently is the nicest man and everyone I know who's worked with him sings his praises) - its a marathon - not a spring.

If people are already hysterical now then how will they manage when certain restrictions etc will have to carry on into the Spring and beyond. Or when they realise that if they are healthy and 50 and under - they will not be vaccinated for a long, long time because they are not a priority.

I'm not worried about covid from a personal level, I've had it anyway.

What I'm worried about is the NHS.

Any of us could need it at any time. We could be in an accident, have a heart attack, a stroke, many many things.

And if things go on the way they are, help might not be there when we need it.

@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!

That is clearly from a poster who has no understanding of how many people die in a normal day.

Hysterical

@CherryRoulade

In South East today, 23 of the critical care units are at 100% occupancy. Lets hope that the 'no hysterics' people don't crash their cars, have a perforated appendix with sepsis, fall off a ladder when clearing guttering or have another life threatening event.

There is a middle ground here. You can be concerned without hysterics.

Yes, the it is crazy, obviously precaution needs to be taken for older and vulunerable people, but that does not mean destroy the economy and destroy a child's education.

I work in microbiology so I’m pretty sure I’m aware of all the usual threats, thanks. This is not at all like those, you’re not thinking logically.

It’s not “hysterical” to try to prevent potentially millions of people from suffering long term organ damage and the future implications that will have on the country and the NHS for years to come?
We all have to play our part now to prevent that from happening. It doesn’t take a genius to work out how viruses spread, and how to prevent them from spreading.
Are people really too selfish to care about others, or the health of the society we live in? I despair.

There are thread with healthy 30 year olds saying they won't leave the house until there are zero cases of Covid anywhere in the world. It's insane.

It's a mild illness for most. The issue is that a good % of the population have no immunity, so a tiny percentage risk x a big population still means high numbers. This is a potentially serious problem for health services.

Risk is highly skewed toward the elderly, by 100-1000 times.

Almost everyone will get the virus. This is what experts have said from the start. Remember "flatten the curve". That was all about spreading the NHS load over a longer period to avoid overwhelming it. It was never about avoiding the virus.

And i am not saying that people should not be following the rules - we ABSOLUTELY should....but we need to follow the rules for the next six months or so and everyone who is this hysterical seems to be gearing up for six weeks and then thats all done.

@CherryRoulade

In South East today, 23 of the critical care units are at 100% occupancy. Lets hope that the 'no hysterics' people don't crash their cars, have a perforated appendix with sepsis, fall off a ladder when clearing guttering or have another life threatening event.

But ‘no hysterics’ doesn’t mean ‘there isn’t a problem’. It’s clear we need lockdown at this point as the NHS is about to fall over. Where I think people are becoming hysterical is around their level of personal risk.

There are thread with healthy 30 year olds saying they won't leave the house until there are zero cases of Covid anywhere in the world. It's insane.

That’s not a normal reaction though. Most thirty year olds aren’t locking themselves at home until zero covid.

@hamstersarse

It is very clear that many many people are unable to effectively regulate their response to ambiguity and fear

If nothing else, covid has shown me how incredibly psychologically undeveloped a lot of people are

True, and that goes for the Covid deniers as well as the "hysterical". Conspiracy theories are a manifestation of an inability to cope with uncertainty and things which cannot be controlled quickly or easily.

It's only on MN, not IRL in my case.

I agree. All reason has gone out the window!

@Scolha but how is 30-year-olds staying at home while being hysterical helping the NHS? Now, sure those same 30-year-olds shouldn't be going out and socializing....but they should be calmly sitting at home watching Netflix. Mothers shouldn't be too fearful for their kids - cos the kids will be fine etc.

The mental health crisis in addition to the Covid crisis is going to be massive.

I guess all i want is for people to follow the rules and take a chill pill....espeically if they are young and healthy. Aka dont be a d* but also dont panic

@CherryRoulade

In South East today, 23 of the critical care units are at 100% occupancy. Lets hope that the 'no hysterics' people don't crash their cars, have a perforated appendix with sepsis, fall off a ladder when clearing guttering or have another life threatening event.

You have to really dig into these click bait numbers

I am not denying that hospitals are VERY busy. We have had a cold snap and that is always going to be the case. We know this happens every winter.

But what if I told you there were 1056 unoccupied hospital beds in London (not the whole of SE, just London) on the 29th December 2020, would that make any difference to your emotional response to this information?

You can see the data for yourself here: www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-hospital-activity/