Anyone else who can't help feeling like it's just a bit daft?

[HotelRotel]

Before I go on I should say I know logically it's not daft and I understand the reasoning.

But I'm sat here, half way through isolation with positive DS and I can't help thinking it's all a bit ridiculous. He has not had a single symptom other than a very slightly raised temp the first day when I took him for a PCR. After that nothing, not a single cough, not a sniffle, no sore throat, no further temp, absolutely zilch.

I appreciate he's lucky but I have multiple friends who have either tested positive themselves or who's children have and they have felt perfectly fine.

Again, as I say above I do understand it, but the other half of me can't help but laugh at how crazy it is that I'm isolating my child who's perfectly well and doesn't understand why he can't just go about his normal life!

@HermioneWeasley

Agree. We don’t do this for flu or noro virus

Or chicken pox which does actually kill people.

With D&V you stay at home off work/school whilst infectious and the same with Flu.

With D&V you stay home because your vomiting and shitting everywhere and with Flu you stay home because most people couldn't get out of bed if the sheets caught fire.

We'd never know if people had "asymptomatic" D&V because we're not being told to test for it each and every time we leave the house and mix with people outside the house (as is the case in Scotland - I'll let you look at the stats and make your own mind up about how effective any of it has been).

It has to end at some point.

We are in a pandemic, that’s the crazy part. Life won’t always be like this, but the pandemic isn’t over so

This 'pandemic' may never end. We may have to accept that Coronaviruses will always circulate and we need to learn to live with them. Like we do with the Flu viruses.

@brogued

I agree but then I also think about that end bit of chicken pox when they're better and climbing the walls but still contagious and a risk to the vulnerable so I guess it's just similar to that.

That was my first thought tbh.

Pre-pandemic you’d sometimes see thread on here with people looking validation to take a child with chicken pox out to the shops or park because aside from the spots they were perfectly fine. You could probably search them out if you were inclined.

Same with the ‘is it really that bad to send my child to school even though they’ve spent the night having diarrhoea and puking’.

@Blubells

We are in a pandemic, that’s the crazy part. Life won’t always be like this, but the pandemic isn’t over so

This 'pandemic' may never end. We may have to accept that Coronaviruses will always circulate and we need to learn to live with them. Like we do with the Flu viruses.

If we had a particularly nasty strain of flu at similar levels to covid right now you’d be seeing similar levels of concern and restrictions.

The swine flu brought the statutory sick leave period raised to 14 days instead of 7, people clamouring to get their hands on Tamiflu and a hastily developed vaccine.

Yanbu it’s farcical

A high percentage of flu is asymptomatic. Hence we vaccinate children to protect the elderly.

What wave are we even on now? The 5th? Won’t there also be new variants? I don’t even know what the long term plan is anymore.

I hear you

The worst for me was when we had loads of school off isolating at home due to one case. Over 100 dc inside not ill or likely not positive

Hopefully it’ll all change soonish

Completely agree OP

My 8 year old niece is in floods of tears this morning this morning because she and her little friend have been booked into an activity next week they've been locked looking forward to for ages. The friend has tested positive and so they can't go. She has a bit of a sniffle.

[quote Lifeispassingby]@HermioneWeasley but we do don’t we? With D&V you stay at home off work/school whilst infectious and the same with Flu. If you’re ill and/or might infect others you don’t go spreading it about do you?[/quote]
Well not by law.

And if you had mild or asymptomatic flu a couple of years ago you’d have been accused of seriously taking the piss if you tried to stay off work for it (and besides, you wouldn’t even know it was flu). I’m not saying presenteeism forcing people to come in when ill is better, just that it’s actually not comparable to how we treat flu.

Yes and this will continue to happen. As Covid will always be circulating. So an endless cycle of cancelled birthday parties (for years) and all the other activities they love.

I wonder when we’ll all wake up to the fact we can’t actually live like this forever.

PPs saying that we do isolate for d&v or flu or whatever, we only isolate when we feel ill though. Nobody isolates because they have d&v if they aren't actually vomiting or having diarrhea, because then you wouldn't know you have a d&v virus that could infect others. Equally, we don't isolate with flu unless you feel unwell with flu. Even then, you mostly don't actually know if you have flu or some other virus making you feel ill. And once you feel better, you go about your business as normal again.

I have a ‘common cold’ at the moment - feel pretty terrible - much more terrible than when I had covid … though to be fair the after effects lasted months

I do understand where you’re coming from Op. But do remember the clinically vulnerable people you’re doing it for. My daughter tested positive after a runny nose for one day, while I ended up with a nasty turn and had to go to A&E. I felt exactly like you, the day before it turned nasty…
I do understand, I have to remind myself regularly of how scary that nasty turn was and how lucky I am.

@HermioneWeasley

Agree. We don’t do this for flu or noro virus

Because Flu and Noro haven't resulted in a huge upswing in the excess death rate like Covid has.

Check the ONS website - in the last year to 5th Dec we have had 130,000 excess deaths.

That's 130k deaths over and above the average level of annual deaths over the last 5 years.

I can't help but think of all the extremely vulnerable children and adults who will have suffered irrevocably due to the pandemic.

I think that should be the priority now.

It is weird.
I’m clinically vulnerable and for me covid was like a cold. Quite a ‘bad’ cold but I wasn’t lying in bed for weeks like many posters on here go on about. I was just being lazy around the house but getting on with cleaning, cooking and entertaining my dc. I know some people get it worse but it just felt so bizarre psychologically to essentially have a cold after over a year of being told (via the media etc) that I was pretty much going to end up in hospital or dead with covid.

@bluesky45

PPs saying that we do isolate for d&v or flu or whatever, we only isolate when we feel ill though. Nobody isolates because they have d&v if they aren't actually vomiting or having diarrhea, because then you wouldn't know you have a d&v virus that could infect others. Equally, we don't isolate with flu unless you feel unwell with flu. Even then, you mostly don't actually know if you have flu or some other virus making you feel ill. And once you feel better, you go about your business as normal again.

Yes it’s fascinating and what’s interesting is that it’s clear that in these cases asymptomatic spread is clearly occurring because if flu was only catching when you’re actually ill, it would be a shit virus. The illnesses force you to isolate because you feel too ill not to. But that’s not the case with Covid and this benefits the virus-or would if we hadn’t intervened and imposed isolation. The symptoms are so mild or absent that it’s a very efficient virus. I agree with OP - I was grateful for time off work though when I had it😂 but I was bored stiff.

@ComDummings

It is weird. I’m clinically vulnerable and for me covid was like a cold. Quite a ‘bad’ cold but I wasn’t lying in bed for weeks like many posters on here go on about. I was just being lazy around the house but getting on with cleaning, cooking and entertaining my dc. I know some people get it worse but it just felt so bizarre psychologically to essentially have a cold after over a year of being told (via the media etc) that I was pretty much going to end up in hospital or dead with covid.

That’s good can I ask were you vaccinated at the time?

When we got it here it felt so surreal. I had been worried about Ds as asthma attack when younger and he did have symptoms but ok

The more surreal part was Ds just totally fine and a positive and dh and I having nothing

If you just had sniffles a tiny raise in temp and never tested you would just go oh but under the weather with a cold and get on with life

Its the testing tbat screwing numbers esp lft which is wholly unreliable.

I haven't tested at all since covid began, I've had tonsilitus once and thats it and even then I didnt test because I still have my sense of taste and smell so need to

I post this everywhere cos this is how daft it all is

I understand completely OP.

I think we are allowed to have thoughts and feelings. It annoys me when people talk about "remember the vulnerable, we are protecting others as if it all worls better if you are virtuous about it...I'm taking my LF tests, wearing masks, following all the guidance at work, had my vaccines, I'll isolate if necessary...Its totally fine to think it's surreal, that a lot of it is utterly pointless and to be completely fed up.

What I find frustrating is that it's those who do lateral flow tests that are essentially being penalised.

My DS is in isolation as we all test twice a week. He is totally symptom free. The rest of us are negative (for now). I know for a fact that the majority of his peers are not doing regular lateral flow tests - he's primary school, they suggested we do it weekly but I know the majority do not.

I am under no illusion that there must be absolutely thousands of asymptomatic people spreading this around. They aren't testing because they don't have symptoms and there are no 'rules' around lateral flow tests.

So my asymptomatic son isolates because we tested, but others, also asymptomatic just carry on as normal because they don't want to test.

I won't be regularly testing for much longer. I'll follow the PCR rules and test myself (I work in a school). But enough with isolating the poor kids.

I also think they need to change the rules around testing, nobody has a cough from covid anymore 🤣

@Dreamstate

I post this everywhere cos this is how daft it all is

That just demonstrates your lack of understanding.

If you are posting that everywhere you are showing yourself up everywhere.

I won't be regularly testing for much longer.

I think many people will come to that conclusion, especially if Omicron is indeed a very mild virus.