Has anyone given up on clubs and groups?

[DevonBelles]

Just wondering...

I belonged to a reading group and a language group. Both involve sitting around a table in close contact with up to 10 people, one in a pub, the other in a booked room.

Since CV we went online but as from this month we are meeting up.

I feel quite unsure of whether to go back.

Age-wise I'm over 60 and DP has some health issues so some of my concern is for him .

I am going about normal day to day things, but am worried about sitting so close to a group of other people (am fine meeting friends 1:1) who may be infected but asymptomatic and many of them have teens at home.

Comments?

I'd be happier if there could be some social distancing in my clubs but there can't be- it's sitting round a table, cheek by jowl.

Have they explored different venues? And are you sure there’s been no social distancing thought of to reopen the groups? Most groups are quite conscious of all this and would be doing things to mitigate - extra ventilation, sitting further apart, meeting somewhere else etc.

Given up on group exercise classes like spin because lots of people in a small space, obviously involves lots of intense breathing and there are a few teachers and several parents of school age children in my usual group so it seems more risky than a masked trip to the supermarket.

When infection levels drop back down to June/early July levels then will go back!

I haven’t distanced throughout this - visited family etc throughout the lockdowns……
I’m doing all my indoor activities.

Life is for living, not hiding indoors afraid of a virus which may, or may not, make you ill.
But everyone makes their own choices.

Put it this way, we aren't much younger but have worked throughout. No way am I not doing fun stuff when I regularly am in a room with many people at work including very vulnerable (but vaccinated)

My fitness classes have gone from 12 to 22 to 35 with all the doors closed.

Don't go to things you feel uncomfortable with.

Some people are happy doing indoor things again, which is great, but my issue is that they expect everyone else to be the same, but things are not normal yet.

I know a senior NHS worker. The people getting seriously ill with Covid are either unvaccinated or have underlying health issues, primarily those that suppress the immune system. The reason why they are considering giving booster to over 70s and those with underlying issues is that even with 2 vaccines, a few people in those groups are still getting seriously ill.

My neighbour expected us go inside their house as part of a neighbourly favour, but we are not going inside people's houses yet.

Just because you have to accept extra risk in some form, e.g. work or DC in school, doesn't mean you have to accept ALL the risk everywhere. There is still some point in reducing risk where you can, if you want to.

Covid will never go away.. are you happy to live like this long-term?

This weekend I went to the local horticultural society show and a choral recital. Both indoors though with doors and windows open, very few wearing masks, mostly people in their 60s and older participating and attending. Clearly a good proportion aren’t so concerned that they don’t want to get back to the social activities that they enjoy

The virus will always be with us so you just get on with life as hard as it may be as you need to live not just survive. Life is so short

@DGFB

Covid will never go away.. are you happy to live like this long-term?

This is what I was trying to say. There's no elimination strategy so what are you actually waiting for?

@Ttbhappy

The virus will always be with us so you just get on with life as hard as it may be as you need to live not just survive. Life is so short

I agree and I don't want life to be poorer quality or shortened by long Covid/ Covid.

I think it's a weak argument to say get on with life.

I am getting on with life. Holidays, day trips, used the tube to see long distance family, dentists, hairdressers.

BUT if you read my posts, DH is more vulnerable and I am aware of his added risk.

I am hoping that eventually there will be more people taking up the vaccine, booster shots will be the norm like the flu vaccine, and we will have better meds to deal with Covid the more we learn about it.

From some posts here you'd think I had posted I was never going out.

I am quite happy to avoid meetings with groups in pubs etc until the current rates are dropping and more people are vaccinated.

I’m in one group of about 8 people in their 60s, early 70s. We don’t all of us turn up to every meeting, and most people seem to be happy with 4 but not with 7or8. Large conservatory with opening windows in walls and roof.

@DevonBelles avoiding group settings is not really living normally and clearly case numbers and the vulnerability of your DH might not substantially change over the coming months. You can do whatever you want to, but you cannot expect others to justify it as logical or rational.

@AussieMozzieMagnet

This is a virus that is out to infect. I will not be attending any of my usual group activities until such time that I’m comfortable (when the pandemic is over). I have a family to look after and protect.

Covid is never going to be 'over'. It's endemic, now. If you're double jabbed this is probably as good as it will get in terms of risk.

That said, everyone must do what's best for them. Given that covid is going nowhere, though, how long will people feel unsafe/unable to do the sorts of activities @DevonBelles describes? Will you avoid them indefinitely? If you're CV or have loved ones who are it must be very difficult (I'm CV but I've had covid twice and am double jabbed, so feel a little safer going to gigs/pubs/theatre etc). If you're not CV and are fully vaccinated I can't imagine why you'd avoid doing the stuff that makes life worth living.

@DevonBelles you say you're going on trips, holidays etc - why do the social events you mentioned feel different in terms of risk to these?

So long as you're happy to miss out on them then crack on.

I wouldn't be but I think it's great that we're all now free to make these decisions for our own circumstances.

However I do wonder why you ever did group activities in the past, as there were always other diseases floating around in the population that could potentially have put your dh at risk.

@musicalfrog I think comparing covid to flu like illnesses is on shaky ground. And rather a flippant remark from someone who clearly hasn't any ill health issues.

I'm double jabbed and going to a choir... which is socially distanced to a point. Covid's not going away and I'm not going to hide away forever.

[quote Stasiland]@musicalfrog I think comparing covid to flu like illnesses is on shaky ground. And rather a flippant remark from someone who clearly hasn't any ill health issues.[/quote]
To be fair flu can be very dangerous to some with underlying conditions, or those who are immunocompromised. Long before covid I had to be very wary of catching flu (or any infections) because of medication I'm on. It's not flippant to suggest that flu and flu like illnesses can be very bit as dangerous as covid to those who are vulnerable.

As an aside, I've had covid twice and was fine (pretty much asymptomatic post-jabs). When I caught flu a few years ago (despite having the jab every year) I was very unwell indeed. I'm not saying it would be the same for everyone, but that was my experience.

However I do wonder why you ever did group activities in the past, as there were always other diseases floating around in the population that could potentially have put your dh at risk.
This type of argument is the equivalent of saying, "I don't understand why don't feel confident about cycling on the A1. You did it in the 1950s and you could have had an accident then too." The point is that the likelihood of the risk materialising has dramatically increased. It's perfectly sensible and rational to take into account the likelihood of a particular risk materialising, and to decide to stop doing something if the risk involved has dramatically gone up (even if that risk was always present to some extent).

It’s not endemic. We are in the midst of a pandemic. Just because ignoramus politicians tell you otherwise, does not mean it’s true. I refuse to risk my life or my family’s to bow to schoolyard peer pressure.

I think it's one thing to choose your own activities and routes and manage your own risk, and quite another to sit with a group in a confined space with no doubt poor ventilation/windows closed, all talking and potentially exhaling virus. You've no idea what sort of mitigating measures they are or are not taking (possibly none), who they are mixing with; who and how their friends, partners, teens, etc etc are mixing with and behaving; or whether they have been vaccinated.

I wouldn't be attending book group in person, etc.

I completely understand your viewpoint. I would also give them a miss. I'm sorry. The pandemic has changed things for a lot of people.

This type of argument is the equivalent of saying, "I don't understand why don't feel confident about cycling on the A1. You did it in the 1950s and you could have had an accident then too." The point is that the likelihood of the risk materialising has dramatically increased. It's perfectly sensible and rational to take into account the likelihood of a particular risk materialising, and to decide to stop doing something if the risk involved has dramatically gone up (even if that risk was always present to some extent).

Yet another post that seems to have weirdly overlooked the fact that we have a vaccine that's very effective at preventing serious illness and death....

Covid was a far more risky proposition pre-vaccine - though even then the vast majority were fine - but post-vaccine the risks are much more comparable to the flu.

Yes I am CEV and giving groups a miss until Covid rates fall significantly and/or I get a booster.

None of my groups is worth dying or being hospitalised for.