I see your point @steveTu. Obviously I don’t think I am immune to the virus but I am not frightened of it, I am not immune to any of the 100s of things that can kill me but I refuse to be constantly terrified. If I was afraid I couldn’t do my job and while I try to minimise the risk the idea that you can control a virus that in many is asymptomatic is ridiculous. Viruses are successful for a reason and we will not control this one. We need to learn to live with it as we live with all the other dangers. The vaccine will hopefully protect the most vulnerable. If the government invested more money in the NHS it could cope better and I see that as the way to go.
You may not be frightened of it, but that doesn't necessarily apply to those other people in the chain does it? You may be immune, the rest of the chain may not. Neither you nor I have a clue. You can help to control it - as we've seen - by breaking the chain. OK - that's not a long term solution..but irrespective, is it really sensible to be a potential link when you don't really need to?
If NOT linking doesn't help control it - then the figures after Christmas won't change. But we all know they will. We all know that the numbers will increase after Christmas because people become links. Some poor sod that I have no knowledge of, is not part of my family or a friend and who is totally unsuspecting may end up ill because of something I didn't have to do and that I KNEW may hurt someone.
The numbers say you'll be lucky and you won't be a link - but I keep repeating that someone will.
How can me spending Christmas with family members be more risky for others than me going to work and going on the bus and going to the shops and getting my hair done and going to the gym etc etc? I spend my days interacting with dozens of people most of whom are strangers to me. The rules make no sense.
It's not Debs - well, having said that, I think families indoors will be inadvertently more lax. Shared bowls, things touched and passed between them, bathrooms not always cleaned, windows not open or driving the air towards others ,setting the table, passing the plates and food around the table,Christmas crackers, board games,not distancing, hugging relatives - silly things will happen I guarantee. Just being indoors with someone for hours - doesn't the gov app give 900 pts for being within 2 metres for 15 minutes?
But again (and I know I keep repeating myself - flogging that dead horse as Obelixx said) - I repeat, it's about breaking the chain when you don't need to be a link. If you work - fine. If you shop for food fine. If you use public transport fine. Of course they have risk, but they aren't being done for fun are they? People have to work and live.
I really think, like the gov announced a new bank holiday for Queenie, they should have stopped Christmas and announced a bank holiday in mid/late summer (when hopefully the numbers are low, vaccines in place for some vulnerable people and the NHS not stretched with other winter illnesses). Fine - again I know that some people would still have had a family Christmas. But some will people will 'do what they want to do' anyway - that will never change.
So basically do what you want but don’t have fun?? Why? The virus can’t tell if I am bumping into a stranger in the supermarket or hugging my daughter. It will either be there or not and spread or not and in the meantime the retail and hospitality industries are on their knees. It is impossible to control a virus. It cannot be done. It never has been done even in the days when we all lived in one place so how can it be achieved now when we travel and interact with so many strangers every day?
I repeat, Christmas is in mid winter for a reason. You cannot have Christmas in the summer. It won’t work.
My son is currently working for a pharmacy delivering prescriptions to the elderly and vulnerable and to care homes ... it is precisely because he is doing that sort of work ... coming into contact with the public which exposes him to risk ... that he has chosen to act responsibly and not visit me for Christmas Day.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
The argument about Christmas being mid winter for a reason is a bit naff. It was for a reason hundred(s) of years ago, not now. We have (central) heating, we have food in fridges or in shops in abundance, we have light (too much light as we have light pollution). Christmas is about a tradition that's all. If it isn't why do Australians celebrate Christmas? If I lived 100+ years ago maybe I'd see it differently.
I can only repeat - I know other activities carry risk. We all have our 'lines' our boundaries that define what we class as right and wrong, good and bad, sensible and not sensible. They are personal. To me, doing something that I know may hurt someone else is bad enough if I have to do that thing. To do that thing when I don't have to and put others at unnecessary risk is just not for me. Obviously your 'lines' differ to mine. The numbers after Christmas aren't just numbers. They are people - the same as you and me. They will be on the stats because links were forged over Christmas that didn't have to be forged.
I've been reading this thread but haven't been contributing but i have to respond to @debs64. It's precisely that attitude of 'well it'll spread anyway regardless of what i do so i'll just get on with doing what i want to do' that scared the s*** out of me working on self scan in a supermarket,so much so that i walked out mid October never to go back!
The number of people who wouldn't move back so i could get to the till,the one's who said 'we're all wearing masks so what's the problem' and those who didn't wear masks,move back or give a damn,i still had to serve.No thank you.
I'm in my 60's,husband not yet 50 and we've both had Covid. We had it November/December last year before it was truly recognised. I have never felt so ill in my life. The cough was relentless and my head felt like it would explode.My chest ached and i could do nothing but stay in bed.OH had it far worse.He was taken to hospital by ambulance. His breathing was painful and he cried with the pain he had in his lungs.
I understand the air flow reading for a man his height and weight should have read 600 to 700.His was 300 on a good day.He cried with the pain.A year on and his breathing is still not good and i worry about him,partly the reason why i quit work.
Please @debs64 ,never think it won't be you or that you're not going to pass it on.I understand the reasoning behind not being frightened and carrying on with life but please,give a thought to those who,like me,are terrified of catching this (again) and who are giving up so much to try and stop the spread.
I'd love to see my family and grandchildren.I've not seen them for months,not even facetime etc.It's a price i'm willing to pay to try and play my part in keeping not just my family,but other people safe.
Thing is... one may be asymptomatic and pass it on to family, and vice versa, then you/they pass it on to others when you go out and about.The whole reason we are advised to minimise contacts is help break chains of infection, not solely to prevent yourself from becoming unwell.
@debs64 Being a New Zealander, Christmas went well for our family. After a digestive siesta - the kids could have a swim! Yes, my mother insisted we have the traditional turkey with all the trimmings and Christmas pudding with small change baked inside.
Covid isolation: It's not about being frightened - it's about being careful, prudent and thinking of others (as we should be doing at Christmastime).
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Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Covid isolation: It's not about being frightened - it's about being careful, prudent and thinking of others (as we should be doing at Christmastime).