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.

[AcornAutumn]

If they're happy with it, fine, but they have to be self sufficient.

"dashed into the chemist in a hazmat suit etc etc." this is a joke, right? I can't tell anymore.

[JeanClaudeVanDammit]

Leave them to it. They’re more likely to get seriously injured falling down the stairs at home than they are getting seriously ill from Covid now they are both vaccinated, precautions are still in place and rates are plummeting.

[frumpety]

Have BIL and SIL both said this or is this just something BIL has said ?

[Bluetrews25]

'A life lived in fear is a life half lived'

They need to get back on the horse.

[Spring2021]

I have been shielding and just going out for walks and my covid jabs thats it.

But in the last couple of weeks I have gradually been to see my mum, been to visit one set of friends in their garden, been to a fruit and veg shop at the weekend which has a roof but one side is completely open to the elements so it feels outdoorsy and I am planning to meet up with another friend in the next couple of weeks. Some people think I am mad for following the rules especially my siblings who have had my mum in a car, have been to visit relatives and friends as a family and indoors for weeks etc.

[FTEngineerM]

I think the government has done a great job at petrifying lots of people into reclusion.

My very dear aunt and uncle are the same; too petrified to leave the house. Both been vaccinated and also seeking mental health support because they’re so obsessively scared.

[CruCru]

If they both agree to live like that then that’s up to them. However I bet there are a lot of couples where one person is making the other stay inside “because it is unsafe”. Someone on here said that Coronavirus has given controlling people a lot of ammunition.

[Lassy1945]

No loss

Seriously what does a couple like this actually contribute to the world?

They can stay in their homes and online shop forever for all i care

[Racoonworld]

They are free to do as they choose, but they will be waiting a long time seeing as covid isn’t going away. We will never have zero covid.

[IrmaFayLear]

I was joking about the hazmat suit! . Dd goes to school so I am having to be a bit more zen about exposure.

What prompted this thread was bil putting the wind up dh. Dh said we had booked a pub garden spot for a few weeks’ time and bil was all, “Ooh, I’m surprised at you. Aren’t you being foolhardy?” etc etc and even said he didn’t think he’d ever be happy going to a pub or an indoor venue again!

[askingrandomsonlinemighthelp]

We still see cases of the bubonic plague. So... they'll just have to stay in.

[beginningoftheend]

I don't consider it stranger than the response of those people who don't accept covid exists, but probably rarer.

[Cornettoninja]

Overall I think this is an incredibly divisive and toxic thread.

In the OP’s description I read a couple have been badly affected mentally by this pandemic and have a completely disproportionate view of the risk yet people still feel it’s fit to stick the boot in because mental health issues manifesting in any way other than a desperation for this all to end isn’t worthy of compassion?

Fwiw I don’t think this will be common but there will be people who either struggle with some degree of agoraphobia along with those who are still vulnerable because for whatever reason they can’t make use of the tools we have for mitigation who will really struggle. These groups will need support and understanding.

[Silverfly]

I think this level of fear is unusual. I know some people who have been super cautious, but they've still been out for walks etc.

[ExConstance]

Now that the vulnerable grops will all have had two vaccinations soon and all of them have had or been offered one I feel fairly safe. There is a balance to be struck between risk and benefits of all activities and I thinkk it is all now down to individual risk assessment.

[AcornAutumn]

@IrmaFayLear

I was joking about the hazmat suit! . Dd goes to school so I am having to be a bit more zen about exposure.

What prompted this thread was bil putting the wind up dh. Dh said we had booked a pub garden spot for a few weeks’ time and bil was all, “Ooh, I’m surprised at you. Aren’t you being foolhardy?” etc etc and even said he didn’t think he’d ever be happy going to a pub or an indoor venue again!

Does your DH mind that he'll never see his brother?

[IrmaFayLear]

@CruCru - you have a good point there, as bil also kept saying that “Jill” was adamant they must stay in for the foreseeable future. I was wondering if he was trying to make himself feel good about their stance by making others feel reckless.

[IrmaFayLear]

We don’t see them much - sil cleaves to her own family (but that’s another thread!)

[CirqueDeMorgue]

Brainwashed

[XiCi]

No I don't think there are many people like this. Its madness and I'd be worried about their mental health if it was my family.
Do they feel this way about flu and other contagious diseases? Ive had covid and flu and flu is much much worse.

[Cowbells]

That's so illogical. Like saying they won't go out until flu is cured. It's a virus. They mutate. They also weaken over the course of two to three years. Covid is here forever. Forever and ever. It will continue to kill some people just as flu does. But it won't always have the vicious pandemic status it has now. How do some people not get that? We have to learn to live with it and manage it and our health and our lives. Not hide from it.

[frumpety]

So SIL will be happy to never see her family again indoors or anywhere else ?

[Rockbird]

I agree with @Cornettoninja. If they're genuinely that scared then that's a mental health issue which needs treatment and understanding. But this thread shows that mental health still isn't taken seriously by most.

[Wakemeuuuup]

At some point, probably in the next 18 months, the world will stop reported on covid cases. At that point it will appear that there are no cases.

I hope they venture out before then though