Coronavirus - how is it/has it affected you?

SocketRocket

SocketRocket

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Billysboots said:
Really? I’m not going to trawl back through every post on this thread, or indeed others where the issue of Covid has been raised, but there are contributors here who won’t go to a pub, restaurant, cinema, football match and so on, because they are terrified to venture out.

Whilst absolutely acknowledging that some have really good grounds for keeping themselves out of harms way, equally there are others who really are being ultra cautious when they perhaps have little valid reason. How do I know this? Not least because I was one of those people. I believed what I read, saw and heard and, because I have a mild underlying condition I was absolutely terrified Covid would kill me. Yes, seriously.

I accept everyone has their own stance on what is right for them, but maintain that too many are really struggling to view the general threat posed by Covid, as well as the threat to them personally, in any sort of perspective. Recent weeks have seen around 100k reported infections every day. They are the ones we know about, and clearly the true figure is way, way higher. And yet the deaths WITH Covid are a fraction of that. A tiny fraction.

In two years I have only come across one person who has lost someone known to them as a result of Covid. That’s despite working in an organisation which employed around 6,000 staff. None of my social contacts knows anyone, or knows anyone who knows anyone, who has lost someone because of Covid. That does not dismiss the fact that there have been Covid related deaths, but when you consider there will be tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, just like me then maybe you can start to see why I start to question perspective. Less than 1% of those known to have been infected with Covid in the U.K. have died with it. The true percentage of those actually infected with Covid who have died because of it will be far less. That is undeniable.

So maybe, just maybe, the decision makers are right to start easing restrictions. And maybe, in a couple of months, they will be right to relax the requirement to self isolate. There can’t be many people left who either haven’t had Covid, or aren’t fully vaccinated. A good number fall into both categories.

So I repeat the question I raised a day or so ago. To those who think the relaxation of restrictions is happening too quickly, just how long do you want to retain them? I wholeheartedly agree the restrictions are not onerous but that is not the point. My point is how long do you think we should retain them?

If those sections of the press/media who have peddled their scaremongering articles for two years dipped into this forum at times, they really would be rubbing their hands in smug satisfaction at what they have achieved.
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How many of the 6,000 are your social contacts. By your comments you appear to be suggesting the deaths are insignificant due to you not knowing anyone who's died, these deaths are real people, not just a number on the BBC evening news, they had loved ones who will be distraught by their loss. A lot of people died through strokes and sepsis in the last year but because I didn't know any of them it doesn't diminish the fact.
 
Ethan

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Billysboots said:
Again, I agree with much of what you say. Apart from hating Huddersfield, obviously.

I never want to catch an illness. I much prefer good health. And I’m in absolutely no rush to wind up in ICU, I assure you. Please be reassured that I am in no way dismissive of those who have suffered directly because of this awful virus, either those who have fallen ill or died, their friends and loved ones, or those in the NHS who have worked so hard. Nobody will ever forget the awful TV images which appeared on our screens in the spring of 2020.

But we are no longer in the spring of 2020. We have moved on. As of yesterday there were fewer than 700 in ICU. The virus is still with us, but there is no denying it has evolved, as has the way we treat and prevent it.

What hasn’t evolved in too many cases is our view of it, and what it means, both in general and to us as individuals. A bit more perspective is required.

EDIT: And certain sections of the press haven’t been advising caution. They’ve been scaremongering, pure and simple, and I hope at some point they will be censured for their behaviour.
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The first big occasion I took the kids to was the Reading - Huddersfield play off final in 2017. Cost a packet and we were leading 3-1 on penalties as Hudde4rsielf stepped up for thei 3rd, and we then lost 4-3. I really blame the Reading players who missed, but have chosen to transfer that onto Huddersfield.

In the Covid world, the new normal will be much like the old normal, but with a degree more caution for a while.
 
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SocketRocket said:
Yes I do and in general it's in response to posters like yourself who keep telling us there's nothing to be concerned about and how we just need to get on with it.
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Usually in response to people like you who want to lock us away for ever. Covid is going nowhere fast. I never say there is nothing to be concerned about. I am in favour of ending the current restrictions over the coming weeks, like what is actually happening and believe it is the right course of action given the full balance of risks of covid death and other exonomic, medical and societal factors. You can still lock yourself away, mask up or do as you wish and other people can do what they want
 
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Billysboots

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SocketRocket said:
How many of the 6,000 are your social contacts. By your comments you appear to be suggesting the deaths are insignificant due to you not knowing anyone who's died, these deaths are real people, not just a number on the BBC evening news, they had loved ones who will be distraught by their loss. A lot of people died through strokes and sepsis in the last year but because I didn't know any of them it doesn't diminish the fact.
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You quite clearly need to read post #24782, which explicitly sets out the fact that I am in no way dismissing the impact this virus may have had on others. Far from it.

My point was that, directly or indirectly, I know thousands of people through my former employment and socially, and only know of one person who has lost someone to Covid.

It is that which gives me my perspective on the virus. A perspective which appears to be supported by both the daily figures, and the easing of restrictions.
 
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Ethan said:
The first big occasion I took the kids to was the Reading - Huddersfield play off final in 2017. Cost a packet and we were leading 3-1 on penalties as Hudde4rsielf stepped up for thei 3rd, and we then lost 4-3. I really blame the Reading players who missed, but have chosen to transfer that onto Huddersfield.

In the Covid world, the new normal will be much like the old normal, but with a degree more caution for a while.
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I have no problem with people exercising whatever caution they feel is required to keep themselves safe and well. But we are fast approaching the time when the caution exercised will be a matter of personal choice rather than a diktat.

Enjoy (endure?) the football.
 
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Knowing the DVSA as I do it wouldn't surprise me if there's a continuation of wearing masks during driving tests for some time yet..
The kids ( and us)have had to wear them since we came back from lockdown last April...even through the Summer
So if they need to wear them for test we, effectively, will have to wear them for lessons so they're used to wearing one...
Either way, we won't find out until the night before at best....probably not until a couple of days after.....:rolleyes:
 
SocketRocket

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Billysboots said:
You quite clearly need to read post #24782, which explicitly sets out the fact that I am in no way dismissing the impact this virus may have had on others. Far from it.

My point was that, directly or indirectly, I know thousands of people through my former employment and socially, and only know of one person who has lost someone to Covid.

It is that which gives me my perspective on the virus. A perspective which appears to be supported by both the daily figures, and the easing of restrictions.
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If you consider the number of deaths from Covid over the last month it's not far off the number of people you know socially and through your previous employment.
 
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SocketRocket said:
I do get your point, it's just that I think it trivialises the Covid deaths and has the potential to easily throw away the improving situation by scraping sensible restrictions too quickly.
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Have you even read #24782? I am not trivialising Covid at all. Far from it.
 
bobmac

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SocketRocket said:
Who suggested anyone wants to lock us away for EVER..

That kind of argument is what is becoming the normal exaggerated response to anyone suggesting a cautious approach to removing restrictions.
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You mean like your exaggerated response?

SocketRocket said:
I don't understand what this 'We need to live with it' society looks like. Is it where we turn off the ventilators in hospitals, leave those seriously ill with Covid at home to fend for themselves so we can fill football stadiums and night clubs, is it where we decide who should live and who should die by age and vulnerability.
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We get it, you think the easing of restrictions is happening too soon, others disagree.
Repeating yourself over and over again isn't going to change anyone's mind.
I'd suggest if you've nothing new to say you move on.
 
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