Corona-virus - How worried are you?

silverwhistle

I keep abreast of the situation in Italy as I have friends there and read the Italian newspapers. They are already in a situation of treating people in corridors and some are dying as they don't have enough intensive care beds, ventilators etc, and all other treatments have been cancelled as far as possible. The doctors are in the invidious position of choosing who they can treat. The NHS has _far_ fewer beds and has been operating at full capacity for years and is in no position to cope with a large escalation (though far better than in the US).

So with an aged and health compromised parent I am worried, and the headline quoted above  ("What's the risk for people like me?") could be regarded as really selfish and inappropriate.

50Twuncle

Pollycat said:

50Twuncle said:

pickledonionspaceraider said:

50Twuncle said:

Cheltenham festival should be cancelled - because over 250,000 people are going to be a breeding ground for the virus - the government obviously have shares in horses or champagne !!
Italy and other European countries are doing the correct thing - whereas our complacent leaders appear to believe that since we are leaving Europe - the virus will not affect us ..... INSANITY !

They know it will affect us.  But it won't affect them - or if it does, they will get healthcare.  We have got people with COVID-19 just self isolating and not offered any care

Wouldn't it be a treat for the government, if there were to be huge death toll?  The UK is really overcrowded in many areas and this would ease the strain on the services, if a decent number of the population were lopped off.

We are just a science experiment in a petri dish to them - they are just watching from their sheltered lives

It will save them a fortune in reduced benefits costs !

It might also kill off a lot of those people who are working and not claiming benefits who are therefore putting into the pot, not taking out of it.

And maybe those people we've spend lots of money on training, such as doctors and nurses.

The elderly are run at a net loss !
That's the way the government look at it

MoneySeeker1

I'm watching the situation from the pov of the elderly, as one of my parents has just had to go into a nursing home (we are told "for a months assessment", which I'm not inclined to believe and am cynical that that might actually turn into "for the rest of their lives" in actual fact). The only bright point I see to that being that at least it's the nursing home I personally hand-picked as the best one there is to them locally - however long this turns out to be for and not a "so-so" one or the "They are NOT going in that one" home I visited.

So I don't know whether it's going to be shortly deemed not allowed to visit them by the nursing home itself on the one hand and I don't know, on the other hand, whether the Government is going to prevent me travelling that far from my house as to be able to visit the area (as it's hours of travel away from my house) on the other hand or whether we are going to get into a lock-down situation equivalent to Italy. You know things are starting to get somewhat worrying when the first similar country to our own has been hit so hard (ie Italy being the similar country to ours and it's now on lock-down). An expert was being quoted this morning as giving his league table list when other countries similar to ours are likely to go into lock-down and it's this country's turn next Sunday according to his calculations. His calculations boiled down to Germany and France next Wednesday, Spain next Thursday, America next Friday, and us and Switzerland next Sunday if they are correct. (...and there's still idiots out there not covering their mouth with paper tissue or their elbow when coughing/sneezing and an idiot in a food shop just standing watching a cover sitting by the side of unwrapped cakes - till I told him why I was putting it over the cakes for him - duh!).

Meanwhile FutureLearn has just come out with one of their short free courses - "COVID-19: Tackling the Novel Coronavirus". Unfortunately, not starting till 23 March - but some might be interested.

Pollycat

silverwhistle said:

I keep abreast of the situation in Italy as I have friends there and read the Italian newspapers. They are already in a situation of treating people in corridors and some are dying as they don't have enough intensive care beds, ventilators etc, and all other treatments have been cancelled as far as possible. The doctors are in the invidious position of choosing who they can treat. The NHS has _far_ fewer beds and has been operating at full capacity for years and is in no position to cope with a large escalation (though far better than in the US).

So with an aged and health compromised parent I am worried, and the headline quoted above  ("What's the risk for people like me?") could be regarded as really selfish and inappropriate.

Why selfish?

Why inappropriate?

It's a BBC article that gives serious analysis of deaths by age, sex & health.

Some people may find it interesting - not to mention reassuring - to find that they are in a category that is less at risk than others.

If some people want to stick their head in the sand or run around like Chicken Licken crying 'the sky is going to fall', that's up to them and fine by me.

But surely it's better to put things into perspective and understand risk than doing an ostrich impression.

MoneySeeker1

It's a mixed blessing categorising people according to the sex and age of their bodies. Plus side being that people might be more "careful" near the elderly agegroup (ie so as not to take the chance of infecting them). Minus side being categorising people by age is distinctly veering on ageism and I do wonder about the numerous comments telling either "the elderly" or "everyone over 60" to be more cautious/not go out. Even if I were "elderly" rather than "over 60 (but not elderly yet)" I am going to take precisely the same precautions (or otherwise) as I would if I were 40 years younger for instance - as the age of my body does not dictate what I do or don't do and I'm not going to take Government "advice" specifically designed for a certain agegroup - ie rather than designed for everyone regardless of age.

Pollycat

MoneySeeker1 said:

It's a mixed blessing categorising people according to the sex and age of their bodies. Plus side being that people might be more "careful" near the elderly agegroup (ie so as not to take the chance of infecting them). Minus side being categorising people by age is distinctly veering on ageism and I do wonder about the numerous comments telling either "the elderly" or "everyone over 60" to be more cautious/not go out. Even if I were "elderly" rather than "over 60 (but not elderly yet)" I am going to take precisely the same precautions (or otherwise) as I would if I were 40 years younger for instance - as the age of my body does not dictate what I do or don't do and I'm not going to take Government "advice" specifically designed for a certain agegroup - ie rather than designed for everyone regardless of age.

Maybe so.

But to do the analysis and publish it (and share it on social media) is neither selfish not inappropriate.

As you say, the 'plus side' may mean people take more care.

The 'minus side' isn't going to hurt you. Is it? Being classed in a more-at-risk group isn't going to give you Coronavirus.

Being a 'victim' of ageism isn't going to give you Coronavirus.

Whether to take Government 'advice' or not is entirely up to the individual.

Personally, I like to do my own research and make my own mind up.

Gers

 Here's the official action plan from UK government.

It's clear that the elderly and ill-health compromised are at most risk.  Nothing to do with ageism, just a reality!  Same with the annual 'flu vaccine being offered to the vulnerable groups.To suggest otherwise is plain weird.

EXTRACT:

The role the public can play in supporting this response
4.34 Everyone can help support the UK’s response by:
 following public health authorities’ advice, for example on hand washing
 reducing the impact and spread of misinformation by relying on information from trusted sources, such as that on www.nhs.uk www.nhsinform.scot  www.publichealth.hscni.net https://gov.wales/coronavirus-covid-19 and www.gov.uk/
 checking and following the latest FCO travel advice when travelling and planning to travel
 ensuring you and your family’s vaccinations are up to date as this will help reduce the pressure on the NHS/HSCNI through reducing vaccine-preventable diseases
 checking on elderly or vulnerable family, friends and neighbours
 using NHS 111 (or NHS 24 in Scotland or NHS Direct Wales) (including online, where possible), pharmacies and GPs responsibly, and go to the hospital only when you really need to. This is further explained on the NHS website - www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-services/urgent-and-emergency-care/when-to-go-to-ae/ and http://www.choosewellwales.org.uk/home
 being understanding of the pressures the health and social care systems may be under, and receptive to changes that may be needed to the provision of care to you and your family.
 accepting that the advice for managing COVID-19 for most people will be self-isolation at home and simple over the counter medicines
 checking for new advice as the situation changes.

RomfordNavy

Can anyone find an accurate source for how many people have died from normal flu this flu-season?  Would alsoo be good to establish what number have suffered from the flu but as it is not a reportable disease I suspect those numbers are not available.

Sea_Shell

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'm at about a 6 at the moment.  Concerned and aware.

Not so much for myself, but for my family, the economy and the wider ramifications of this all going Pete Tong!!

MoneySeeker1

Gers said:

 Here's the official action plan from UK government.

It's clear that the elderly and ill-health compromised are at most risk.  Nothing to do with ageism, just a reality!  Same with the annual 'flu vaccine being offered to the vulnerable groups.To suggest otherwise is plain weird.

EXTRACT:

The role the public can play in supporting this response
4.34 Everyone can help support the UK’s response by:
 following public health authorities’ advice, for example on hand washing
 reducing the impact and spread of misinformation by relying on information from trusted sources, such as that on www.nhs.uk www.nhsinform.scot  www.publichealth.hscni.net https://gov.wales/coronavirus-covid-19 and www.gov.uk/
 checking and following the latest FCO travel advice when travelling and planning to travel
 ensuring you and your family’s vaccinations are up to date as this will help reduce the pressure on the NHS/HSCNI through reducing vaccine-preventable diseases
 checking on elderly or vulnerable family, friends and neighbours
 using NHS 111 (or NHS 24 in Scotland or NHS Direct Wales) (including online, where possible), pharmacies and GPs responsibly, and go to the hospital only when you really need to. This is further explained on the NHS website - www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-services/urgent-and-emergency-care/when-to-go-to-ae/ and http://www.choosewellwales.org.uk/home
 being understanding of the pressures the health and social care systems may be under, and receptive to changes that may be needed to the provision of care to you and your family.
 accepting that the advice for managing COVID-19 for most people will be self-isolation at home and simple over the counter medicines
 checking for new advice as the situation changes.

They fudged that one then - as to what they class as "elderly" - with it not having been specified. We all know 80 plus agegroup are elderly. Many think 70 plus agegroup also count as elderly. Very few of us count those in their 60s as "elderly" and I certainly don't (despite being in my 60s personally).