How do you assess your risk?

[FeelingJittery1]

Since delta is twice as transmissible as the previous variants and everything open with no safety measures how does one asses the risk?
For example I took my daughter to the library- 2 more ladies were there with two children each..all masked and did not get close. But one lady had to keep shouting to get little one to stop him running off..she was masked but does this create more droplets? I wasn’t close to her but was I/daughter possibly infected?

How do I know? I’m not trained to think like this…

You sound like you are over thinking things here. She had a mask on. There is no risk.

I’m not too concerned. I will probably get covid at some point and I’ll almost certainly be fine.

It’s a highly infectious disease. There is a limit to how much one can protect oneself.

It's not accurate to say there's no risk. Pretty much any indoor environment with other people present carries some risk. If someone is infectious with Covid, shouting is likely to emit more virus particles than talking or remaining silent. But given that (a) you and your daughter did not get close to the other people in the library, and (b) everyone was wearing masks, I would describe the situation as fairly low risk.

I’m yet to get my second dose- maybe that’s why I’m hyper vigilant
And I’m 40 so not ‘young’

For example yesterday took daughter for lunch, it was outside- thee was a lady on our right hand table, distance about a metre and little bit who had to keep screaming about her COACHING ABILITIES to another lady , no masks as it was outside. Was that a risk…it’s too much to calculate

OP, how come you are 40 and have not yet had your second dose?

Massive anxiety- the whole blood clot hype didn’t help. Had a huge struggle but managed to get the first dose 4 weeks back

No, no one is trained to think that way. So, I don't bother. It just causes more anxiety and then it is hard to enjoy the activities you are doing.

When assessing risk i replace covid with norovirus or some other unpleasant illness that would take me out of work for a week but would most likely recover from without medical treatment. Would i still be worried?? Most people i know have accepted they will most likely catch it at some point if they haven't already. Obviously if you are vulnerable you may look at things differently but we all take risks every day and for most people we all do things far more dangerous than coming into contact with potential Covid-19 without giving it a second thought.

I don't anymore.
I've had both jabs. My daughters both had covid (almost certainly delta) and my thought are if I didn't catch it from them coughing all over me, then I'm not going to catch it by walking past someone in a shop or sitting next to them for half an hour.

We went to the theatre today and sat there surrounded by 300 people without masks for 90 minutes.

I’m older than you. I’ve worked throughout, been on holiday and nights out, been to restaurants and bars, kids go to clubs and I go to gym and yoga several times a week etc.

I don’t assess risk, I look after myself and keep myself as healthy as I can and that’s all I can reasonably do. I was far far more concerned about what the impact of all this was doing to my eldest daughter who I became really worried about.

I work from home.

I live rurally.

I have seen very few people at all throughout the pandemic.

My risk levels therefore were very low.

My kids are at school.

In July my son came home from school and over the weekend started feeling unwell. He has caught covid. Which we then all caught too.

It's not nice. But we got better.

I get in my car daily (school run) which is a FAR higher risk.
OP do you consider the risk every time you get in a car? Cross a road?
Calm down.

There is a uesful chart that categorises things into low, medium and high risk.

If it is low risk I do not worry about it.
If it is high risk I do not do it.
If it is medium risk I see how I feel on the day .
If it is work, I put it in the 'no control' category.

It is hard to stop thinking about it - but both the things you are describing would be in the low risk category by the sound of things?

OP do you consider the risk every time you get in a car? Cross a road?
Good point. And did you consider the risk of flu, norovirus, chicken pox or whatever else before covid was even a thing? We constantly do things which could cause injury or harm. Even climbing the stairs or getting out of the shower could cause an injury. We constantly assess risk in the back of our mind but its not healthy for it to be front and centre at all times.

I think the OP’s question is a fair one, and not one to tell her to calm down over.

We are in a new world now. Covid still around, jabs (yay) but fewer restrictions. It would be good to know what one’s personal risk is.

DP is still extremely risk averse about Covid, to the point that she doesn’t want us taking public transport. I’m going to make her sit down and work out our chances of (a) getting Covid (b) ending up in hospital with it and (c) dying, so we can put it into perspective with other risks. (She’s very maths-y so it’s not a ridiculous thing to ask her!)

I wish there was some sort of online calculator that can do that for you already.

I'm 70, classed as cev and double jabbed.

I think I must of us are bad at risk assessment. I tend to use a risk v reward strategy. So I meet other friends, also double jabbed, in an airy well spaced out restaurant. We know the risks, but continuing social isolation is, for me,also a risk. But meeting them gives me the reward of their company.

Later this week (fingers crossed) I'll be going abroad for a month. Everyone on the plane will be either double jabbed or had a recent pcr negative test. So that's a mitigated risk, though still a risk. I'll be going to an island that has never had a covid case, and I'll be seeing friends who live there. That's the reward.

Most 'normal' ie. untrained people can't assess Covid risks. The maths is too hard and there are far too many variables.

However, our perceptions also change.

I have been very careful. Other than my bubble, only meeting socially outside, only sharing a car with masks on and windows open etc. But I am now back at non-socially distanced, non-masked work full days now. After two days, it genuinely felt completely normal and putting on a mask to pay for petrol seemed very strange.

I don't know what I think my risk is now, other than much higher than previously.

It just doesnt occur to me. I dont go around assessing risks for anything really so why start now.

I don't risk assess when I cross a road either, I just look both ways and go when clear.

I've spent all afternoon in a hall with over a hundred different people coming through and the risk of covid hasnt occured to me once. 🤷🏻‍♀️

My dad passed away with Covid 4 days back, I’m trying to get me second jab early with a view to travel, the country I’m from is under lock down due to cases so there is a lot going on..which is making me quest everything

But as @Rainallnight is saying I believe my question valid given the government doesn’t have a plan..

qcovid.org/

Oxford Uni risk calculator.

It may help you regain some perspective?

@SpnBaby1967

It just doesnt occur to me. I dont go around assessing risks for anything really so why start now.

I don't risk assess when I cross a road either, I just look both ways and go when clear.

I've spent all afternoon in a hall with over a hundred different people coming through and the risk of covid hasnt occured to me once. 🤷🏻‍♀️

You DO risk assess - I bet you don't ever do this on a motorway? Or fast dual carriageway? Or cross somewhere you can't adequately see the traffic? Presumably sometimes you say 'let's go down to the crossing' and other times you just cross where you are?

We all make risk judgments all the time, sometimes not too accurately, but we do do it.

@FeelingJittery1

My dad passed away with Covid 4 days back, I’m trying to get me second jab early with a view to travel, the country I’m from is under lock down due to cases so there is a lot going on..which is making me quest everything

But as @Rainallnight is saying I believe my question valid given the government doesn’t have a plan..

If you have just lost a family member to Covid, then you will be feeling very risk averse. Take care and don't give yourself a hard time. Maybe just now you need to take it a bit easy - not because you are at high risk from Covid but because you are understandably extremely Covid-aware right now.

I'm really sorry for your loss.

Eating out or visiting a library are non essentials so if you’re thinking in terms of risk then was the activity worth the risk is how I would look at it.

@FeelingJittery1

My dad passed away with Covid 4 days back, I’m trying to get me second jab early with a view to travel, the country I’m from is under lock down due to cases so there is a lot going on..which is making me quest everything

But as @Rainallnight is saying I believe my question valid given the government doesn’t have a plan..

Sorry to hear that OP. I remember you saying he had been in hospital for a while.

If you do want to assess the risk of activities, then look into it before you do them. It is pointless thinking about the risk of catching Covid when you are there, or after the fact. Going over it, or considering figures, wont change anything at all. It will just stress you.

Wow @equuscaballus, that’s so handy!

OP, that’s such a terrible loss. I’m so sorry.

I am double vaxxed, wear a mask in indoor public places, wash/sanitise my hands when I've been anywhere outside home and get on with my life. If I didn't I would be assessing the risk to my mental health which I think would be greater.