travolta
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Post by travolta on Aug 11, 2020 14:28:21 GMT
Stepping away from the detail for a moment, what's the mood of people here at the moment w.r.t COVID? Obviously this is going to drastically differ based on age, health, tolerance for risk and perhaps even location, but I'd be interested to know. Personally (speaking as a reasonably healthy male in his 30's) I was somewhat fearful/alarmed in March, distinctly wary until about June, and now....well... Rightly or wrongly, I'm not now feeling particularly fearful or wary. That's probably partially a (I hope) rational assessment of the low risk in my case of contracting a severe case of it, and partially just a 'life must go on' attitude after so many months. I hasten to add I still very much abide by all regulations where I am and do my utmost to keep distant from the elderly especially. But, I'm not washing my hands every 5 seconds and applying antiseptic to doorhandles anymore, and obviously this could all change dramatically in the Winter and/or if the virus mutates. Am I being too carefree in the circumstances? I don't know, you tell me. (I'm in central Europe for whatever difference that makes) Historically a bad place to overwinter@anytime. Easily overrun by anything ,if only Russian Motorbike Gangs bearing chemical warfare. I'm 70 @the end of next month and feel that should Covid take me 't would be to the benefit of family and nation. I'm unlikely to succumb tho, as have the metabolism of a 35 year old due to good genes, wealth and healthy lifestyle.
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iRobot
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Post by iRobot on Aug 11, 2020 14:28:51 GMT
Stepping away from the detail for a moment, what's the mood of people here at the moment w.r.t COVID? Obviously this is going to drastically differ based on age, health, tolerance for risk and perhaps even location, but I'd be interested to know. Personally (speaking as a reasonably healthy male in his 30's) I was somewhat fearful/alarmed in March, distinctly wary until about June, and now....well... Rightly or wrongly, I'm not now feeling particularly fearful or wary. That's probably partially a (I hope) rational assessment of the low risk in my case of contracting a severe case of it, and partially just a 'life must go on' attitude after so many months. I hasten to add I still very much abide by all regulations where I am and do my utmost to keep distant from the elderly especially. But, I'm not washing my hands every 5 seconds and applying antiseptic to doorhandles anymore, and obviously this could all change dramatically in the Winter and/or if the virus mutates. Am I being too carefree in the circumstances? I don't know, you tell me. (I'm in central Europe for whatever difference that makes) I don't fear for myself. My biggest concern is my partner's elderly parents (in their 70's and Mum has a heart condition) and doing everything we can to avoid potential exposure so we can continue to be their 'doers' without bringing it to their doorstep whilst they continue to avoid the rabid hordes. If it weren't for them, I think my attitude would definitely be different and would probably have accepted invitations to numerous SD-BBQs and the like which, to date, we've politely excused ourselves from.
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aju
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Post by aju on Aug 11, 2020 14:50:15 GMT
Stepping away from the detail for a moment, what's the mood of people here at the moment w.r.t COVID? Obviously this is going to drastically differ based on age, health, tolerance for risk and perhaps even location, but I'd be interested to know. Personally (speaking as a reasonably healthy male in his 30's) I was somewhat fearful/alarmed in March, distinctly wary until about June, and now....well... Rightly or wrongly, I'm not now feeling particularly fearful or wary. That's probably partially a (I hope) rational assessment of the low risk in my case of contracting a severe case of it, and partially just a 'life must go on' attitude after so many months. I hasten to add I still very much abide by all regulations where I am and do my utmost to keep distant from the elderly especially. But, I'm not washing my hands every 5 seconds and applying antiseptic to doorhandles anymore, and obviously this could all change dramatically in the Winter and/or if the virus mutates. Am I being too carefree in the circumstances? I don't know, you tell me. (I'm in central Europe for whatever difference that makes) good question..... So myself and Mrs aju are in our 60's, I'm now "real" pensioner just but have been retired for nearly 13 years on personal pension funds etc. Mrs aju is a WASPI thingy and so as yet not a "real" pensioner - although in my view she should be along with all the WASPI's - she has been retired now since mid 2014 again on personal stuff. We are not exactly unhealthy although mrs aju has some heart problems - solved by pills etc. Up until early March we were very active travelling around the world etc - we are now in self imposed isolation and must have watched and read every snippet of detail on this damned covid issue since we were due to travel to Seattle in USA and had to cancel things starting from there due to it starting to surface there. (we have been really lucky with refunds too, not all whole ones but yet still really good companies we have had - except BA sadly but we are getting there). We have probably watched more programs/docs regarding how covid affects people going forward even though they have not died. The number of doctors we have seem who seem to be on the front-line and are completely flummoxed as to what might happen next and worse how to mitigate it for those patients. So yeah we are not in a great place psychologically. On the other side of this we have a son who is quite a handful and as parents its surprising how one can go from protecting oneself to completely dropping the scared persona to attempt to help him. All in all in the words of Steven Stills at CSNY 2nd gig "We're scared shitless man! ..." but thankfully it cxomes and goes. We have not been inside a supermarket since the lockdown, we tentatively used the toilets in exeter services a few weeks ago and our daughter and her husband came from london to our garden a few weeks ago but apart from the Thursday clap on our street not much else other than saving our investments on RS/Zopa has been troubling us but in an interesting way!. (We have watched a lot of box sets and Mrs Aju is still shopping albeit online now.) One really positive thing is Mrs Aju has discovered ancestry and cooking again so we are delving into the 1600's and eating really well!.
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michaelc
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Post by michaelc on Aug 11, 2020 15:18:37 GMT
Stepping away from the detail for a moment, what's the mood of people here at the moment w.r.t COVID? Obviously this is going to drastically differ based on age, health, tolerance for risk and perhaps even location, but I'd be interested to know. Personally (speaking as a reasonably healthy male in his 30's) I was somewhat fearful/alarmed in March, distinctly wary until about June, and now....well... Rightly or wrongly, I'm not now feeling particularly fearful or wary. That's probably partially a (I hope) rational assessment of the low risk in my case of contracting a severe case of it, and partially just a 'life must go on' attitude after so many months. I hasten to add I still very much abide by all regulations where I am and do my utmost to keep distant from the elderly especially. But, I'm not washing my hands every 5 seconds and applying antiseptic to doorhandles anymore, and obviously this could all change dramatically in the Winter and/or if the virus mutates. Am I being too carefree in the circumstances? I don't know, you tell me. (I'm in central Europe for whatever difference that makes) I'm in my very late 40s but I'm broadly similar in my wariness. I'm starting to view it as "just" a second flu albeit one that doesn't have a vaccine. As such I ought to be unlikely statistically to get it with symptoms and even if I do I should have an unpleasant few days in bed just like flu. That said, having a bout of flu wouldn't normally worry me hugely even though there is still a risk with it I could end up in hospital. If I had confirmed C19, I'd probably be more scared than I need to be and certainly a lot more so than if I had flu.
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aju
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Post by aju on Aug 11, 2020 15:26:59 GMT
Stepping away from the detail for a moment, what's the mood of people here at the moment w.r.t COVID? Obviously this is going to drastically differ based on age, health, tolerance for risk and perhaps even location, but I'd be interested to know. Personally (speaking as a reasonably healthy male in his 30's) I was somewhat fearful/alarmed in March, distinctly wary until about June, and now....well... Rightly or wrongly, I'm not now feeling particularly fearful or wary. That's probably partially a (I hope) rational assessment of the low risk in my case of contracting a severe case of it, and partially just a 'life must go on' attitude after so many months. I hasten to add I still very much abide by all regulations where I am and do my utmost to keep distant from the elderly especially. But, I'm not washing my hands every 5 seconds and applying antiseptic to doorhandles anymore, and obviously this could all change dramatically in the Winter and/or if the virus mutates. Am I being too carefree in the circumstances? I don't know, you tell me. (I'm in central Europe for whatever difference that makes) I'm in my very late 40s but I'm broadly similar in my wariness. I'm starting to view it as "just" a second flu albeit one that doesn't have a vaccine. As such I ought to be unlikely statistically to get it with symptoms and even if I do I should have an unpleasant few days in bed just like flu. That said, having a bout of flu wouldn't normally worry me hugely even though there is still a risk with it I could end up in hospital. If I had confirmed C19, I'd probably be more scared than I need to be and certainly a lot more so than if I had flu. Have you had flu by chance, its not anything like a cold most of us men think is flu, I had it as a teen and still have some side effects from quite apart from the two week in bed and the 6 week plus recovering from very wierd after effects. It's was the worst thing I've ever experienced but I guess it takes people different ways. Its the only time I've had real flu in my 65+ years. Despite that though I agree I never worry normally about flu but we are booked in for our flu jabs this year for the first time!.
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cb25
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Post by cb25 on Aug 11, 2020 15:32:42 GMT
I'm in my 60s and have never been particularly worried for myself by Covid19, e.g. went supermarket shopping each week during lockdown without a mask (wear one now just because it's the law). Though my risk is quite a low higher than that for younger people, I don't consider myself to be particularly unhealthy/fat for my age. If I was in my 20s or 30s I'd probably laugh this off as being next to irrelevant in terms of personal risk.
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duck
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Post by duck on Aug 11, 2020 15:41:30 GMT
I have what could be viewed as a strange attitude to risk. I retired some years ago (enough cash to see me and my wife out) but not pensionable age yet. I invest in P2P. I've ridden motorcycles for the whole of my life and had a particularly enjoyable brisk ride a couple of days ago on my +200bhp supercharged home built lightweight Honda. I impaled my head on my garage door at the weekend which necessitated a visit to A&E (glue this time, staples last time) Past hobbies include cave diving (very dangerous) and a spot of motorsport on both 2 and 4 wheels.
Yet the virus still scares me.
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Post by Ace on Aug 11, 2020 15:52:54 GMT
I'm in my late fifties, happy to ride my Honda VFR800 (bought from new 20 years ago, only one serious accident in that time). I'm not at all bothered by Covid19 for myself (think I might well have had it early on), but very happy to abide by all laws and requests to protect others.
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ilmoro
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'Wondering which of the bu***rs to blame, and watching for pigs on the wing.' - Pink Floyd
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Post by ilmoro on Aug 11, 2020 15:59:32 GMT
I have what could be viewed as a strange attitude to risk. I retired some years ago (enough cash to see me and my wife out) but not pensionable age yet. I invest in P2P. I've ridden motorcycles for the whole of my life and had a particularly enjoyable brisk ride a couple of days ago on my +200bhp supercharged home built lightweight Honda. I impaled my head on my garage door at the weekend which necessitated a visit to A&E (glue this time, staples last time) Past hobbies include cave diving (very dangerous) and a spot of motorsport on both 2 and 4 wheels. Yet the virus still scares me. People normally have their heads impaled on things when they have been chopped off. So on the basis that you have had you head stapled and glued on we are going to have to rename you Frankenduck On the attitude question ... late 40s, getting on with life, complying with restrictions where necessary but generally fairly laid back about it. I ride a push bike on the excuse for roads around here so I guess I have a relative tolerance of risk plus P2P investing
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james100
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Post by james100 on Aug 11, 2020 16:12:59 GMT
Putin's announcement of a vaccine seems a bit dodgy to say the least! Less than 100 people tested and skipping full final phase clinical trials? Isn't that the bit where they make sure it's not going to kill the vulnerable? What was the balance M/F, by age etc does anyone know? And the giving it to his daughter just brings back fond memories of John Gummer shoving a beefburger down is kid's mouth at the height of BSE crisis. I'm pro vaccination in general, because clinical trials show overwhelmingly that they work...but take out that last bit and I'm afraid my enthusiasm evaporates.
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duck
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Post by duck on Aug 11, 2020 16:42:48 GMT
People normally have their heads impaled on things when they have been chopped off. .... I went in from the top, saves on the 'cutting off'.
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registerme
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Post by registerme on Aug 11, 2020 17:43:41 GMT
Have you had flu by chance, its not anything like a cold most of us men think is flu... Amen to that. I had flu badly once, and lost two stone in two weeks. It absolutely ravaged me.
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Post by dan1 on Aug 11, 2020 21:40:20 GMT
Praise be! Sputnik 5 has arrived. We're all safe. www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/11/russia-approves-coronavirus-vaccine-despite-testing-safety-concerns-vladimir-putinMost and especially the press will be sceptical. I'm not. They've skipped the final large scale test. I suspect there are ethical arguments about testing different vaccines differently and yet it does seem to be a one size fits all approach that the west takes. e.g. If covid was killing 100x more than it currently is, presumably there'd be even more of an argument to release a less tested vaccine. Conversley a disease which isn't claiming many lives at all probably wouldn't justify mass vaccination at all. Hence a sliding scale of tests and Russia has decided to be first - no doubt in part due to the "prestige" value but not only that I suspect. All in all this is good news IMO. To be followed by Apollo 18 (?), Long March 12 (?), and the Dyson Cyclone V12 (?) In all seriousness, I hope it's nothing but good news but only time will tell I guess. michaelc - would you get the Sputnik 5 vaccine now (assuming you could)?
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Mike
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Post by Mike on Aug 11, 2020 21:57:08 GMT
During the worst of lockdown I got diagnosed with cancer (actually from encouragement on this very thread), had an operation, and went through chemotherapy leading to the NHS sending me shielding letters. Oh, and my wife gave birth!
Besides the times when my blood count was predicted to be very low/nonexistent from chemotherapy (even then I still went out daily and to the shops at quiet times), I've not been very concerned.
All the guesses on number of people with the virus in the UK put the probability of a random encounter very low indeed, and it's been that way for a very long time. Then I still have to catch it from them, before there's any issue (and issues are far from definite even then). During the chemo it was especially hard to remind myself of the numbers, and not get sucked into what the media tells me - it was challenging to stay in control of my thoughts even with a decent maths (PhD) background and my wife being a (medical) doctor.
Now, I'm out of chemo and no more cancer! Covid is still here though, but I'm reminded it's far from the only thing that causes death. You can hide inside for months in endless worry, but cancer can still come and get you!
I let our newborn be passed around friends and family and dont mind hugging my 90+ year old grandparents. One of them, unfortunately, is in a care home with dementia - so not allowed to see him! He remembered noone except his wife in March, but not anymore. I dont know what the point of keeping him alive at the expense of him seeing his family was. It's caused tragic deterioration. Worth it? Not for his family or, I expect, him.
Covid is not great but life is fleeting with or without it. Avoiding Covid doesn't save your life although it may prolong it (at a cost). That cost is quite high IMV given the slim rewards.
There are also many other things like tuberculosis leading to many more largely (and cheaply) preventable deaths every single year. It's disproportionate/inconsistent and unhealthy to still be so worked up over the current situation - which may of course change.
Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.
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aju
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Post by aju on Aug 11, 2020 22:17:21 GMT
During the worst of lockdown I got diagnosed with cancer (actually from encouragement on this very thread), had an operation, and went through chemotherapy leading to the NHS sending me shielding letters. Oh, and my wife gave birth! Besides the times when my blood count was predicted to be very low/nonexistent from chemotherapy (even then I still went out daily and to the shops at quiet times), I've not been very concerned. All the guesses on number of people with the virus in the UK put the probability of a random encounter very low indeed, and it's been that way for a very long time. Then I still have to catch it from them, before there's any issue (and issues are far from definite even then). During the chemo it was especially hard to remind myself of the numbers, and not get sucked into what the media tells me - it was challenging to stay in control of my thoughts even with a decent maths (PhD) background and my wife being a (medical) doctor. Now, I'm out of chemo and no more cancer! Covid is still here though, but I'm reminded it's far from the only thing that causes death. You can hide inside for months in endless worry, but cancer can still come and get you! I let our newborn be passed around friends and family and dont mind hugging my 90+ year old grandparents. One of them, unfortunately, is in a care home with dementia - so not allowed to see him! He remembered noone except his wife in March, but not anymore. I dont know what the point of keeping him alive at the expense of him seeing his family was. It's caused tragic deterioration. Worth it? Not for his family or, I expect, him. Covid is not great but life is fleeting with or without it. Avoiding Covid doesn't save your life although it may prolong it (at a cost). That cost is quite high IMV given the slim rewards. There are also many other things like tuberculosis leading to many more largely (and cheaply) preventable deaths every single year. It's disproportionate/inconsistent and unhealthy to still be so worked up over the current situation - which may of course change. Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. A most sobering thought indeed, thank you for sharing that. I wish you all well, stay safe ... In the words of Startreks Mr Spock, live long and prosper!
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