Over 70s

Well if lots of people decide they wont isolate any more I guess we have to be prepared for that second wave and for the death toll to shoot up again.

I just hope people remember that was the choice they made and don’t start blaming others,

Eglantine... only time will tell, I find it very worrying. It is the young people whose lives are lost trying to save gung-ho older people that particularly concerns me.

(Please note that I am not for one moment suggesting anybody on this forum is 'gung ho', but I know of some in real life who glibly say that at their age there's no need to worry about catching the virus... 'I'm alright, Jack, I've had my life')

I hope there will be reliable antibody tests readily available before that long ahead as I'm sure some of us could be let out of quarantine if it's thought we have built up resistance.

I shall do what I am told, when I am told
There are plenty of things that people are being deprived of at present besides seeing grandchildren, and there is no comparison between that and a real bereavement.

Looking at it another way, how can one build up any sort of resistance by being incarcerated ?

Eglantine I know at the moment it's strongly advised (apart for those who received the letter and therefore have to stay at home at all times). Let's hope they'll keep it that way and then we can make our minds up.

I couldn't even pick-up chicken-pox as a child ( from brother ), nor from my own children, or theirs or my GGC, so I had a shingles jab last year. Wish it was the same for this virus

A valid point EllaVannin

Well I wouldn't be happy. I am already worried about my 90 year old mother who is finding isolation very difficult. She may not have another 12/18 months to live and the thought of her spending the last part if her life upset and depressed, not seeing anyone and never going out again is very worrying. My sister in law is even more worried about her elderly mum who lives with her alzheimer's suffering husband. She has no family living locally. I know there are no easy answers but another 12 months or so of isolation is a terrible thought.

When the first daily updates started, weren't we told (and shown graphics to demonstrate) that the aim was to have a series of ever-decreasing 'peaks', with the intention of keeping the numbers hospitalized at any one time to a manageable level?
Less about preventing deaths per se, and more about preventing our hospitals from being overwhelmed at any given moment.

On that basis, and assuming that the battle-plan hasn't changed (though it doesn't seem to be mentioned any more), there presumably will have to be a relaxing of the lockdown rules every so often?

Yes, those deemed most at risk, which includes those over 70, will almost certainly be advised to continue to stay at home even when that relaxing of the rules happens,, but we do still live in a free country where people will still be able to decide for themselves whether or not to follow that advice.

I am not in this catagory, but I can well understand why someone who already feels, for whatever reason, that their life is almost over, would feel heartbroken at the thought of possibly not being able to see their family ever again. In their position, I think that I too would put living that last bit of life, and seeing family, above all else - as long as I wasn't endangering them!

It’s the potential for overwhelming numbers of 70+ that’s the difficulty.

We need to get the likelihood of infection down first. If we all stop social distancing together a very high proportion of the 9,000,000 70+ will be infected and 1 in 5 of those will need hospital treatment.

The medical services simply couldn’t cope with that.

I understand people want to get out and about, they want to see their family but is that really more important than risking other people’s lives?

Could you really sleep at night knowing that people died because you had to have your way.

I guess if the answer is yes it wouldn’t bother me, then there’s nothing more anyone can say.

Good post Eglantine21 I do understand though the points made by anna7 such difficult decisions and there is no one size fits all solution.

Reading about the damage this virus does is horrifying and the way some people must have died doesn't bear thinking.
It attacks the brain by creating clots, the heart and kidneys causing kidney failure and of course the lungs.

Is it worth committing suicide by not adhering to rules ??

Not all those in the shielded group are over 70. My neighbour is married, his wife is a NHS front line worker, he has a young family and runs a successful business. Is he expected to continue to incarcerate himself for another 12 to 18 months?

I believe in 'the Science'. There will be Covid19 testing, contact tracing, more equipment and less strain on the NHS. If I chose to go out, yes, I could be exposed to Covid but if the testing and apps that go with it tell me I'm in danger, I will isolate myself.

People won't die because I choose to go out when there is mitigation in place.

I wouldn’t be happy, and I don’t think age should be the criterion.
If we’ve already been isolating for 6 weeks and haven’t developed symptoms, then we aren’t going to infect anyone else.
The danger is that we become infected and require hospital treatment, and overwhelm the NHS. But that has to be balanced against the effects on mental health of prolonged lockdown, which is not very different from house arrest.
If all the over 70’s can’t go out, many businesses won’t recover. Whenever we go out, whether it’s to the theatre, an orchestral concert, the cinema, a restaurant or a club, most of the clientele are definitely older people.

I will hate the idea.
But I’m too scared to risk it.

Grandchildren will be ‘cute carriers’ to us oldies.

And no matter how fit & well any of us feel the reality is that from the age of around 60y we no longer produce T-cells from our (?) thymus. Those are the fighters against illnesses - which is we we become so darned susceptible.

Children produce loads of them and young adults do okay too.

No, as a devout coward I’ll be missing them terribly but staying put.

As my husband said today ‘let’s hope we have 15 good years ahead of us - why risk it all in 15 weeks’ time?’

Well of course if the government hadn’t been so slow in locking down, the country wouldn’t be in this trouble and by now we would have been almost out of lockdown....anyone looked at Greece, it had infections start exactly same time as UK.....but it shut down immediately. Hardly any cases or deaths compared to this country. So we are all suffering now and probably will for months. When you are young a year or two doesn’t matter, but it does once you get over 70. I don’t want to get the virus so I will stay in lockdown., but I resent it cos I think it will last a lot longer than it could have if handled better......

Not all those in the shielded group are over 70.

Not all those over 70 are in the shielded group.

This is a difficult one I am afraid of the virus but the thought of another year of isolation is horrifying.I miss my time sitting on the seat by the harbour wall. Watching folk going about their daily lives. Small pleasures which in my eighties brighten my day. I have watched the lock down failing, more people in the village each weekend. I stay inside but sometimes feel that I am being punished because others won't stick to the rules. As long as the mostly young ignore guidelines and spread lnfection we have no chance of coming out of isolation, we will allways be locked down as we will forever be at risk.

Those of you happy to 'take your chances' are gambling with other people's lives too.

If you're seriously ill and somebody calls an ambulance, you won't have an opportunity to explain that you'd rather be left at home.

Of course, it's 'over 70s' here - only because many people are still working in their sixties - but the age varies by country!

I’m 75 and the thought of another 18 months of this horrified me. I belong to many clubs, choirs etc, which I miss a lot, but not seeing my lovely family would be the worst thing. We have FaceTime every night, but it’s no substitute for the real thing.

I'm 55 and 'shielding' as I have an autoimmune illness and am on immune suppressant drugs. I was made redundant in February and has my first ever spell in my life unemployed. I found a new job which I should have started on 24th March but because of this I'm stuck unemployed. I have arranged a mortgage holiday (3 months), We have been turned down for universal credit and council tax support because my fiances wages (not great .. works for NHS) and my jobseekers allowance put us over the limit! I have also received a letter saying my JSA wont be paid after 31 August as my time is then up!! So if I have to shield for an extensive period I dont know how we will survive financially as our outgoings with mortgage exceed our incomings greatly even before we think about food etc!! Very worried and will have to go to work and 'risk it' regardless. I cant retire until 67!

I will comply with whatever restrictions are put in place, but would like to visit family about 15 miles away - happy to socially isolate an stay 2M apart.- sit in the garden if weather is good - happy to take my own drinks and snacks. I know people who do this already, Skype is not the same as hugs from my grandchildren, but its lovely to see them. Grateful to the technology that lets this happen. I can't imagine a time when I won't have to queue outside the supermarket - but it will hopefully come. I count my blessings every day. Hugs to you all. Please don't take your chances with the virus - its too awful and you could put your loved ones and others at risk. be strong. This too will pass.

If that's what we have to do, what is the alternative? I won't like it but I'll do it.

some people will be ok with lockdown some not. RD Laing
the psychiatrist observed that humans are generally scared of 3 things; death, their own thoughts,and other people.I think he was pretty spot on with his observations.