Refusing to go out until zero covid

[IrmaFayLear]

Bil and sil have not been out since March 2020. They wfh, in 50s with no health conditions at all. They have both been fully vaccinated - two doses (sil’s best friend is a GP ). Dh was speaking to bil yesterday and he said it’s not safe until cases are zero worldwide, and that because they care so much about each other (!) they have decided that they cannot take any risk.

Are there many people like this? I was in the shielding category and although I have been ultra cautious, I have still gone for walks, dashed into the chemist in a hazmat suit etc etc. I wonder if they are extreme outliers or whether there will be more recluses now, feeling fully justified.

[quote SilverGlitterBaubles]@AcornAutumn I think they will care when employers have difficulty getting people back to work and when the full impact of the mental health crisis becomes more apparent. Then there's the impact of those that have avoided seeking medical treatment.[/quote]
No
The employers will get new employees and the government will continue with the "commit suicide, save the NHS" message.

God I just find this shit so offensive to workers, many of whom are CV, whose only option is to take the risks or lose their livelihoods.

@SaltyAF

God I just find this shit so offensive to workers, many of whom are CV, whose only option is to take the risks or lose their livelihoods.

They might not think it reckless to take the risk to money though. There is a difference between working to live and going to a pub for a meal.

@SaltyAF

God I just find this shit so offensive to workers, many of whom are CV, whose only option is to take the risks or lose their livelihoods.

how on earth is that offensive? If nothing else, workers who HAD to be out and about are less at risk the more people stay home!

@SaltyAF

God I just find this shit so offensive to workers, many of whom are CV, whose only option is to take the risks or lose their livelihoods.

I agree. But I'm glad to have had reasons to travel, it made me feel the world was not quite so insane. If I'd been forced to stay at home, I don't know what I'd be thinking.

If refuse collectors, supermarket workers, food supply chain, other essential staff, went on strike, I'd understand completely.

They sound like selfish arses apart from anything else, jumping the queue for the vaccine, depending on other workers to bring things to them, presumably planning to never do a single thing for anyone else ever (other than their oh so precious other half). As someone else said, no great loss bt the sound of it.

Zero covid won't exist.

We already had 4 coronavirus' in circulation.

It will burn itself out of a pandemic in next year or 2 but it'll never disappear.

Spanish flu hasn't ever disappeared!

That's actually quite worrying because it seems they may have MH issues that's affecting their ability to risk assess.

"They sound like selfish arses apart from anything else, jumping the queue for the vaccine, depending on other workers to bring things to them, presumably planning to never do a single thing for anyone else ever (other than their oh so precious other half). As someone else said, no great loss bt the sound of it."

How are they selfish?
They OP didn't say they'd jumped the queue for the vaccine.
What should they be doing for other people exactly? Volunteering in the community? Lots of people don't do that.
They're able to isolate. While they're lucky that they are able to do that, that's not doing anyone any harm. It's keeping places less busy for people who do have to work outside the home.

I've mentioned on here before about my mums best friend.

She locked herself and her husband away in the house from mid February 2020. They havent left the house since.

Once the Tesco man came to the door and handed her husband the sheet, she freaked out, ran over and slammed the door on the delivery man screaming he was too close.

They were invited for their vaccine but refused it as it meant either leaving the house or having someone in their house. Their nearest vaccine spot is a chemist in their little high street, the idea of parking a car in a car park is horrifying for her.

I actually dont know how she will ever leave her house again

They have a leak coming from their bath, its starting to damage their kitchen but they cant get a plumber in to fix it even if they all worse PPE.

DB and SIL isolate from each other if one of them has had to go to a medical setting. So one of them spends 10 days locked in their ensuite bedroom having food delivered on a tray to the bedroom door. SIL is CV . They've done this 5 or 6 times now.

Jesus it brings the damage the psychologically abusive campaign the Government engaged in, into really sharp focus.

@duffeldaisy

"They sound like selfish arses apart from anything else, jumping the queue for the vaccine, depending on other workers to bring things to them, presumably planning to never do a single thing for anyone else ever (other than their oh so precious other half). As someone else said, no great loss bt the sound of it."

How are they selfish?
They OP didn't say they'd jumped the queue for the vaccine.
What should they be doing for other people exactly? Volunteering in the community? Lots of people don't do that.
They're able to isolate. While they're lucky that they are able to do that, that's not doing anyone any harm. It's keeping places less busy for people who do have to work outside the home.

The OP stated in her post at 11.49 that they were amongst the first to get the jab, out of hours and because one of their best friends is a GP.

It's not just voluntary work, do they not have any family of friends who might ever need them? Or you know, just want to see them. If not, what a small life they must lead and good luck to them with their big house and successful business. Sounds miserable.

@SpnBaby1967

I've mentioned on here before about my mums best friend.

She locked herself and her husband away in the house from mid February 2020. They havent left the house since.

Once the Tesco man came to the door and handed her husband the sheet, she freaked out, ran over and slammed the door on the delivery man screaming he was too close.

They were invited for their vaccine but refused it as it meant either leaving the house or having someone in their house. Their nearest vaccine spot is a chemist in their little high street, the idea of parking a car in a car park is horrifying for her.

I actually dont know how she will ever leave her house again

They have a leak coming from their bath, its starting to damage their kitchen but they cant get a plumber in to fix it even if they all worse PPE.

Christ, had this woman ever previously shown signs of being....Im struggling to find a word that's inoffensive. Surely that is a case for some sort of intervention.

Even for people who weren't particularly anxious before, not going outside for a year would do a number on anyone's mental health at the moment. Imagine if you got all your information about the outside world from places like MN, where half the posters are convinced that everyone else is a selfish idiot who'll be having wild orgies the second the rules are slightly relaxed, many of the rest are declaring that they're fed up and have been doing what they like since last summer, and loads of people think we're literally never going back to normal. Most of us know that those positions are extremes, because we can see for ourselves that 99% of people in the outside world are taking some sensible middle ground and living as normally as is currently possible. But if you're not getting any corrective input from the real world it must sound like the Wild West out there - no wonder they're worried about going back to it.

The OP stated in her post at 11.49 that they were amongst the first to get the jab, out of hours and because one of their best friends is a GP.

Tbf if it was after hours the doses were probably getting binned if they weren't given to random people, so probably not that much of a waste really.

@waltzingparrot

DB and SIL isolate from each other if one of them has had to go to a medical setting. So one of them spends 10 days locked in their ensuite bedroom having food delivered on a tray to the bedroom door. SIL is CV . They've done this 5 or 6 times now.

See I don’t think that’s particularly excessive if one of them is CV and they’re able to make it work. Better than covid knocking them both off their feet at the same time.

Could never manage that in my house, we’ve took a more ‘all for one, one for all’ approach to the whole thing.

"The OP stated in her post at 11.49 that they were amongst the first to get the jab, out of hours and because one of their best friends is a GP."

I missed that. If that's true then that would be because they were going spare & going to be binned. GPs don't just give jabs to their best mates if they're not eligible in some way or it is simply a case of vaccines going spare. And out of hours sounds really odd, too - end of the day it was happening.
If not, perhaps they have more underlying health issues than they're letting on, which would then explain why they're more anxious than normal about catching it.

Spa "They have a leak coming from their bath, its starting to damage their kitchen but they cant get a plumber in to fix it even if they all worse PPE."

So their chance of being injured going through wooden floorboards is pretty high but they're not worried about that? I'd wonder if they were telling the truth.

Their choice, who are we to judge, it’s their life.

@psychomath

The OP stated in her post at 11.49 that they were amongst the first to get the jab, out of hours and because one of their best friends is a GP.

Tbf if it was after hours the doses were probably getting binned if they weren't given to random people, so probably not that much of a waste really.

I would still consider it a waste giving it to them if they're planning on never going out anyway! Surely the GP has some more deserving patients on her books who'd be in like a shot, maybe people who have to go out to work so peoplr like the OPs relatives can indulge their neurosis in comfort

@Roselilly36

Their choice, who are we to judge, it’s their life.

Have you been on mumsnet long? That is literally one of its core functions, cherrfully passing judgement on others!

@Roselilly36

Their choice, who are we to judge, it’s their life.

Yes they can choose to live like hermits if they want but it was the op was saying that were suggesting they were reckless for sitting in a beer garden in weeks . They can do what they want but what makes them think that everyone else should lock themselves away for the foreseeable.

My mum has become afraid to leave the house, the TV news has managed to create such fear that even being double vaccinated she is relying completely on family to support her, whereas before Covid, she would wander round the shops, to the library etc.
I recently asked her how many deaths she thought there had been in her area the previous day. She guesssed 200...and it was 2! Her 200 guess was more that the whole country. The government have been party to this fear I believe and she is now even afraid of her own shopping!

@AmelieTaylor

Yes, diabetics are at a higher risk but they’ve shown numerous times that there is a strong link with age, ethnicity, how well controlled your diabetes is etc so not all people with diabetes have the same risk.

It is very extreme not to even let your wife and kids out of the house for a simple walk so I am concerned about their welfare (rather than the fact that I can’t hang out with my friend).

@Janedownourlane

My mum has become afraid to leave the house, the TV news has managed to create such fear that even being double vaccinated she is relying completely on family to support her, whereas before Covid, she would wander round the shops, to the library etc. I recently asked her how many deaths she thought there had been in her area the previous day. She guesssed 200...and it was 2! Her 200 guess was more that the whole country. The government have been party to this fear I believe and she is now even afraid of her own shopping!

I think that families are in some cases going to have to get a bit tough and gently refuse to run around after or provide the kind of supports some people have come to expect. Especially where the person is perfectly competent and at minimal risk. For their own sake, it's no way to live. As a general rule, we should aim to live as independently as possible for as long as possible and anything we can do for ourselves we should. And it is ok for people who are doing the supporting to be tired of doing so.