Lockdown Over

I don’t think it’s a good idea to project so far in the future.

I agree with you Bluebell.
Living in constant fear and worry isn’t good for your health.

If and when the time comes to re-emerge, we will have to face up to it or what will become of us.?

Feel the fear, and do it anyway.

I get nervous whenever I leave the house. But you have to bite the bullet and get out at some point.
But constantly worrying about what if.

I get a bit frustrated when I see Covid 19 compared to seasonal flu. It is not like that at all. It is far more serious and, unlike flu, there is not yet a vaccine.
People say that 40,000 people die annually of flu and would normally still do so but, this virus does not replace the flu deaths (although I suspect that the social distancing is reducing those numbers too). This virus adds to the death rate.
Yes, people do recover and thank goodness for that but, sometimes people survive plane crashes. Does that mean that the deaths of those who do not survive is OK?

Beu1959 I think anybody our age who hasn't had this virus is afraid to some extent of what will happen after lockdown. I certainly am so I'm sure you're in a large company of people who feel relatively safe at the moment and will be very careful when we can finally go out again. It's very encouraging to hear of people who have actually had this and got over it without having to go to hospital but equally, by the time we reach 70 most of us have some underlying condition and it's perfectly normal to worry. Increasingly, we are hearing of how the underlying conditions are extending and it will not be for a long time when detailed demographic statistics are available that we can really say more about who is at risk. One thing's for sure, there'll be a lot of people avoiding supermarkets in future and I'll be one of them.

Are some of you really prepared and willing not to have any interaction outside your own four walls for another year? The very prospect is unthinkable and I cannot believe such a ruling would be enforced. We may not have a year left, and need to see the people we love. And as a previous poster has observed, the longer we are out of circulation the lower our immunity to all sorts of bugs, so we would be fearful of everything. Not a good way to live.

Bluesmum sorry you lost your DH You seem full of positivity and it's refreshing to read posts like that, personally they make me feel more realistic and they offer me the incentive to be more positive and less negative and fearful.

But of the 40,000 who would die of flu every year, surely we would not expect that figure also to include all the frontline workers such as doctors, nurses, care home workers, bus drivers, younger people who were fit and strong? Boris, aged 55 had a close call, surely we would not have expected a man of his age to suffer so badly from flu?

Am I the only person, other than many residents of Pennsylvania, that wish there was no lockdown. Would like to know what really would have happened without this? The country is financially ruined, this is probably one of the first of these. There are too many people in the world, a natural cull might have done us a favour. Roll on going freely about again.
Have had a great life and am old.

Since just before Easter this has become very real. Living in a rural village in North Wales it became very frightening when a friend of my sons died from the virus in hospital , as did a man who lived on the outskirts of the village, Last week a local farmer(who contracted the virus in hospital) died and a man who lived in the village a short distance from the church,

It really hits home when it is so close. I see that Aldi and Sainsburys are asking you not to touch anything unless you buy it!

So many people aren't listening do they really need it spelling out??

I'm looking forward to lockdown being sensibly eased, not rashly ended. Like lots of us on Gransnet, I live alone, and have been isolated since the end of February. Much as some really annoy us, it must be lovely to have a OH to share the isolation, I haven't touched another human in nearly two months, what bliss to hold hands (washing them straight after). Somehow online chats and facebook scrabble don't have the same effect, even though they do help.
I don't think the media help, giving infection and death figures every day, without giving population figures of each country to give a perspective. Like all of us, I'm hoping for a vaccine, but wonder how it will be prioritised. Definately Health Workers (NHS and private), and essential workers first, but how far down the rest of the population will us "Oldies" be? I'm just living one day at a time, and when the lockdown is relaxed, I will try and be as sensible as I can with the extra freedom. Stay safe all of you, xx

THink it depends on how it is lifted. DH is high risk and I work in hospital - I strip off at backdoor, put work clothes in washing machine and go straight into shower. I am careful to SD as much as possible at work and wipe everything down carefully daily at home and frequently at work. Also wash and sanitise hands +++

Washerwoman: found your post immensely encouraging! Since this began I've wondered why we don't have a 'Had it and Recovered' number under the Dead and Infected numbers (as far as can be known.) Thats what we all want to know, after all. My husband has become almost a different person lately. Very afraid to go out unless I'm with him. The thing is most of his walks in the past ended in the pub! His friends are all pub-goers too so he hasn't the consolation of a chat to get him through this. He's not a reader either - I always have a couple of books on the go or emails from family to answer. I really don't know what to do with him. I mean, we're following all the guidelines, and staying in unless I go shopping and you can't do anything more...

This almost seems to be more of a ‘Fear Virus’ than a deadly one causing many deaths. This is due to the daily ramping up of fear by the government briefings and the media . Why are we never told of all the thousands who recover from the virus ?
We all need to be very mindful of the following data (WHO) that EACH YEAR ( despite having the flu vaccine available) there are up 650,000 deaths from the Flu virus . The deaths from the Coronavirus as of 20th April are 165,082 people . So far, far lower and it is highly unlikely that this number will reach anything like the Flu virus deaths of 650,000 as most countries numbers have already peaked or are peaking now and cases are decreasing already . We also need to bear in mind that the majority of the deaths ‘presumed’ to be from CV 19 are from people who had one or more underlying health issues and compromised immune systems .There has been recent data from Italy confirming that . Our hospitals had been told to record deaths as being from ‘Coronavirus’ by the symptoms presented but this is a falsifying off the true, much lower numbers that will have died actually FROM the virus.
I really hope all this puts the threat from the virus into perspective . I get so angry when the figures and facts are not told to the public and so we have many people in virtual ‘house arrest’ terrified of a virus that is only as potent as the yearly flu virus worldwide . There should never have been a lockdown on this scale - it’s consequences are far reaching such as the number of suicides and domestic abuse cases increasing , children not being educated , small businesses going under, mental health issues increasing , the economy crashing and the demolition of our civil liberties and freedoms . Take a moment to look at what the ‘Emergency Powers Bill ‘ contains - a shocking assault and annulment of our freedoms and civil liberties . All of the above is for what ? To deal with a virus that will not even come close to killing what the Flu virus kills EVERY YEAR worldwide. So why don’t we have lockdowns then ?
Something is not right about all this and the sanctions being brought in . I believe that it is to readying us all for mandatory biometric vaccinations to be brought in , which the likes of Bill Gates group ID 2020 publicly states on its website. Have a look and follow the money trail which will then uncover the agenda. And no, I am not a ‘conspiracy theorist’ - I am just someone who has felt that something is not quite right with all this and has done research into trying to ascertain what is going on . What better way to get populations to conform than by fear ?

I think I can survive without visiting pubs or even shops in the near future fingers crossed I don’t run out of red wine nor snacks

My plan 'on release' is not to hug a single adult even though I may want to. After all, it is a comparatively modern practice outside family circles and I can revert without too much difficulty in their interests and mine. As for the AC and GC, well that's a very different matter but I am going to let them call the shots and I will comply absolutely. It may be extremely difficult but I will abide by their wishes to the letter even though I would have previously proffered my point of view. I intend to approach this with utter compliance. They should make the most of this!!! A rarity indeed.

I’m with you blue belle, I shall be glad to live life again, there has always been risk in life, although obviously there is more risk now, but I shall take reasonable precautions, and try to live life as fully as possible.

aljocookie I fear you are wrong on so many levels.
We do hear/read about people who have recovered, including those who were close to death’s door and their descriptions of how severe, painful, debilitating and frankly dangerous this virus is and how long their convalescence is proving, often with permanent lung damage.
Until there is a vaccine or some proven therapeutic response there is no alternative to physically protecting or removing ourselves from the danger.
I think it is like TB was right up until the 20th century - everybody knew somebody or had a family member who died from it and it makes for heartbreaking reading.
We should also be aware that China is now admitting that their deaths were 50% higher than they said in the first place and that there have been new cases in the last few days.
Lockdown over?
Somebody recently compared it to saying imagine you had jumped out of a plane , would you advocate that as our parachute had slowed your descent, you could now jettison it?

Very interesting aljocookie I'll investigate biometric vaccination. Spain publishes daily the amount of infections, deaths and encouragingly, the amount of people recovered. I think this would be useful to add into the UK figures. I suppose I will be wary about going out into crowds again. We are lucky to have family that shop for us, even though we don't quite fit the criteria for isolation. It is the hugs, especially from the 2 little grandsons we miss. We have a new baby gc due in May. I'm beginning to wonder when we will get to see him/her. For now the important thing is we are all well and able to get out and exercise each day.

Craftycat
No, your not the only one. And, like you, our small close has a get together twice a week. It keeps you sane ?

I think many people are feeling the same. It's something that none of us has had to face before and therefore the unknown generates fear sometimes. I think we will all have to maintain hand washing, social distancing etc for a while and not fall back into things too quickly until we can all gain confidence to go back to our normal lives - you're not alone.

It is worth mentioning, just for perspective, that about 550,000 people die anyway in the UK every year: it's about 9.3‰ of the population. That's a rough average of 45,000 a month.

After Christmas I had a lung-retching cough day and night, no respite. Was in or on bed for at least 20hrs every day for over 2 weeks and cough lasted until March...really.
Off food totally, only drinks, lost 10lbs, no strength to stand to even make a cuppa. Has to sit between filling kettle and pouring into cup. Even then I often had to stop in the middle and lie down. Seems daft now but death would have been a blessing, and I'm not joking but I had no temperature or other symptoms... bruised feet or headaches.
I've (thankfully) never been ill before and that threw me.
Covid-19 must have many guises but we'll never know how many have suffered some symptoms which have not outwardly presented as the virus but been thought of as winter flu or similar.
We can only do our best, each to their own particular circumstances.
I am not using gloves or masks or sanitising everything I buy.
No use being afraid of living as near to our usual way of life as possible using sensible guidelines.
I am not a lemming.

I'm with Craftycat and Bluebell. I'm not worrying about catching the virus, I'm social distancing and washing my hands when I get home (have always done this) and that's about all. It's thought that areas with a high Muslim population (eg Rochdale, Bradford etc) may have had a lower number of virus cases because they always wash their hands before praying 5 times a day. A retired surgeon remembers cotton face masks and says they were scrapped because they were useless. All the Chinese students round here wear face masks all the time - but many are not bothering about social distancing when out and about.

Washerwoman,if you've not been tested,how can you know youve had it?? I was very poorly at xmas (even at urgent care twice in 2 days) and looking back,i can assume i may have had it- we had been in venice a month before- and i was in bed a week and on strong antibios and antivirals- and it took 3 weeks to get back to my usual self,and i can honestly say ive never felt so bad- BUT- no one actually tested me for it,as it 'wasnt announced' as a thing by then- so im still only guessing it could have been it.as are you. Normally if im ill i can at least 'soldier on' & still try look after my two sons,who are at home,21&17 (but they've medical probs too) but i was so ill xmas i couldnt make dinner,i couldnt do anything i felt so bad.2nd visit to hosp i was taken by ambulance..i am waiting to see what it shows if we get an immunity test!

I clean door handles and hard services every 48 hours . I have to stop my husband , who refuses to ‘get it’ because he doesn’t go out...from answering front door to parcels , because he takes them off the driver without gloves on.... I’ve repeatedly told him to ask the person to put on doorstep ...then go and either put gloves on or get two wipes to pick up parcel with. He just says , “ oh he seems ok”. when you’re living with somebody who refuses to ‘get it’ it’s doubly stressful. I feel I’m forever running around after him to stop him endangering us! Trouble is his life has not changed at all, as he’s been ‘locked down ‘ for 14 months as he’s slowly becoming a recluse . Doesnt really understand it is it he doesn’t want to, and thinks everybody is making too much fuss. I just think he’s actually terrified like the rest of us.

My temp was 40 degrees and climbing,by 2nd visit (on boxingday) from paramedics,so they insisted they themselves took me to hosp.(on first visit xmas day 3am paramedics came 39degrees,said id to go urgent care but they had another call so my son took me in car.)so yes i felt so bad by then i agree with GabriellaG54 for once- it felt like dying..i couldnt do a thing..i was coughing constantly,and id already had a bad chest from months before.i was glad medics put me out of way of everyone else while waiting.my sons got ill too after me but its no surprise.one like flu symptoms,one with asthma was worse and had antibiotics& antivirals too.he was ill a week.