Over 70s

janeainsworth the NHS is not over used now the nightingale hospital has 25 patients in as of yesterday, my friend has been put up in a hotel waiting to do her first shift for nearly three weeks
There are other big hospitals Manchester etc waiting The staffing was a problem but thousands have come out of retirement and the army has not yet been employed for non nursing hospital jobs PPE is still a problem worldwide but we were dreadfully slow off the mark there
N, old people aren’t being selfish they are wanting to live with the limited years they have left
Starbird you said it for me If I have 10 years left I don’t want to spent half of them in isolation I ll take my chances, within reason, how are we putting others in danger if we don’t have symptoms The young will be out and about if there’s any spreading to be done they ll be doing it not us older folks
I have followed the rules and would do so for another month or so but a year no not me I m afraid
I ll be the one in danger not you as you ll still be in your house

I’m pretty self sufficient and have been reading, drawing and finally clearing papers left by my late husband plus completely clearing out a room which had become a dumping ground. Without this lockdown, I would have carried on escaping the house at every opportunity. But the feeling this is all moving towards something is wearing off and if I, who love my own company am feeling rather strange, I dread to think what others with different temperaments must be going through.
Also now not bothered about my appearance which is not healthy. There has to be some light at the end of the tunnel.

janeainsworth
You are 100% correct. Older people putting themselves first! Clearly they think that they are not part of the problem. How many more children must lose their parents, the children of medics and other key workers, how many are they happy to see as collateral damage so that they can please themselves?

Indeed they are seen as the generation who had it all. And some of them are saying they will behave as if their rights trump the rights of others. I would like my grandchildren to still have two parents at the end of this. I guess it’s easy to say you’ll please yourself if your children aren’t key workers and your grandchildren will have parents at the end of this.

Sorry that should read ‘as a result of lockdown on vulnerable people being eased’

Starbird Remember, the lockdown is to prevent them from dying, not to prevent them infecting others

I realise you’re speaking from the heart, but I have to disagree with you there. The lockdown is to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed with patients needing intensive care all at the same time.
I’m afraid it isn’t simply a matter of personal choice, much as we would like it to be.
If there’s a second wave as a result of lockdown on vulnerable people (and that’s all older people) and ICUs are swamped with patients, and more NHS staff die as a result of contact with patients, younger people would rightly feel they have been sacrificed by a generation perceived to have had it all.

That's a brilliant post Starbird. It says everything I feel.

Yes, Starbird has put it very well. It's not a simple case of not wanting the lockdown to go for ages equalling being selfish and not caring about others.

And if, as is likely, other pandemics come along in the future, are we going to shut down our country each time? In that case we might as well all give up now as life as we know it will be gone anyway.

I am seventy-seven and my wife is seventy-four and we have both been working from home for our business. Our three daughters and their families all live within a mile or two of us and therefore have been rotating getting all our shopping. So for us isolating has not been at all bad, as they stand well back in the garden when delivering the groceries and we can have a good chat from the open door, lovely

As for the future, I believe it will be a very long time before our age group will be allowed into restaurants and pubs etc, but I feel that trips out in the car will soon be possible again.

We are looking forward to just the two of us packing up our egg rolls, a flask of coffee and off down to Exmoor to find one of those lovely quiet spots that are so abundant on the moor for one of our walks and that picnic.

Their is always a bright side to look forward too. ?

I agree, a good post Starbird

Well said Starbird.

Thank you Starbird the other side of the coin.

A very good post Starbird

According to the scientists...a second wave is definitely expected...one reason why the nightingale hospitals have been built.
Lockdown is going to be loosened to flatten the curve, but might be tightened again later.
This is going to be long term for sure.
If people start being selfish and thinking only of their own needs then it will only prolong this for other people.
And I agree with Eglantine21. Not being able to see your grandchildren is not the same as bereavement even though it might feel like it for some people.
How can that be a proper comparison. You can talk to your grandchildren on the phone and send them messages.
My DIL sends me pictures via WhatsApp.
There are many ways around this...although I know it is not the same.

@Starbird that’s a really good post. My neighbour was saying something similar yesterday as we talked across the gardens.

I'm almost 76 and my wife 64 but she is one of the 1.5 million at acute risk. This means that it is down to me to do the shopping which I do once a week. I take precautions by using masks and social distancing. My exercise is a 5 mile cycle on most days avoiding others if possible. We have no others to do shopping for us and I'm fit enough to help others if asked. So far so good.

Starbird. A very good post.

If the government goes for a points system, I believe the idea will be for the most vulnerable to submit to a more severe lockdown than the more fit 70 year old. Hence a person of, say, 85, and/or with underlying health problems will have severe restrictions for maybe a year or more, but a fit 70 year old will have more freedom.
However, the 85 year old may not be bothered about clinging on to life - they may be in pain, need the help of a carer to get dressed etc, sit at home and do nothing all day, the high point in their life is the visits, perhaps once a week, from a friend or family member. Take that away, they may go into a complete mental decline and have no reason to stay alive. Remember, the lockdown is to prevent them from dying, not to prevent them infecting others. Preserve life even though staying alive has no purpose and even if it leaves a person depressed and in constant pain and never able to see a loved one, or let people choose to be put at risk and if they become ill from anything, give palliative care to let them die peacefully.
Many older people even if fairly fit, will emerge from a longer lockdown less fit, less mentally agile, perhaps even with hastened dementia through lack of stimulation. As a person living alone with no pets, I have already noticed a decline in my mental alertness and mood, even though I still work (part time) from home, and sometimes my feet are too swollen to get shoes on. I may not die of COVID 19 but I could die of thrombosis.
If the purpose of the lockdown is to preserve the life of the elderly, we need to ask if, for them, the resulting quality of life is going to be worth preserving, and give them the choice as to whether they continue to take precautions or risk dying and be assisted to have a peaceful end. I was already finding it a struggle to visit loved ones who live 4-5 hours away and are not well enough to visit me, I only have one family member, not the nearest and dearest, near to me (but still a car ride away). I work because I was saving up for one last holiday away but was already wondering if I will be fit enough to enjoy anything more than to stay at the nearest bit of coast about 2 hours train ride away. If I am to be isolated for what could be the last year of my meaningful life, only to emerge into a nursing home and use up the little money I would leave behind, that would greatly enhance the life of my children, in paying for care, I would rather they shoot me now!

All I’m saying is, ask me what I want. It’s my life and I want the same chance as a younger person, to live it while I still can. I’m not asking anyone to use anything other than some morphine or equivalent, if I should catch the virus, which I would, like others, of course take measures such as wearing a mask and distancing, to avoid.

It’s very selfish of the over 70s to not do as the government dictates. If you all start going out and about and catch the virus (as you’re more likely to catch it than any other age group) then you will quickly overwhelm the health system and will have ALL of us locked down for even longer than is the current plan. Don’t you see that the government could have us all under lockdown until there is a vaccine. Try for a moment to think of those of us still working with businesses to support who desperately need the country to get back on its feet economically. It’s ok if you’re retired on a full final salary pension scheme with no mortgage; try to think of others trying hard to make ends meet with no financial security whatsoever with the threat of homelessness looming. Stop and think before your selfishness takes over.

Eglangtine and Callistemon
Worry yourselves not, it is clear that patriciageegee has indeed grabbed the wrong end of the stick. Don’t worry about it, she simply doesn’t understand what you’re saying. You could easily lose the will to live trying to explain to someone who doesn’t want to hear.

Eglantine21
I am with you all the way. I also have family members who are medics and seeing patients with Covid19 ( as GPs seeing patients in care homes) and I’m desperately worried about them. People who think that they’re not at much risk because they’re healthy, whether they’re 70 or 30, and say they can’t bear to be without their grandchildren or can’t possibly stay in, these people are selfish. Eglantine and myself, and other Gransnetters with relatives on the front line, we’d like to see our grandchildren too. But we’d also like the virus to be contained, and it never will be if people act selfishly. And the main reason we’d like it contained is so that our relatives aren’t any longer first in the queue to be infected, and therefore they’ll stay alive and our grandchildren will have parents at the end of all this.

CBBL I am so sorry for your plight. Perhaps there is a community forum for your area on facebook. I have found help on ours.

I too am torn between fear of dying and wanting freedom. I won't go out but I don't think I will survive mentally. I have a husband but most days he puts his headphones on and finds something to do in the garden. Or reads. He's perfectly content alone. I miss chatting with my friends so much and the fun at art class. And wandering round shops and nice walks in favourite places. 18 months would be very difficult.

Justwokeup
I think we all have people whom we long to see who are in more desperate straits than us but there is nothing we can do about it at the moment.

I'm still hanging on to my stupid bucket list, though nannysprout.
If we have nothing to look forward to then what is the point? We may as well just lie down and accept that we're done for.

Exactly Framilode
Thank you Justwokeup

I live half in fear and half in a need to be free! The fear is winning. I’m in my mid 60’s reasonably healthy but with a few issues. Heartburn and thyroid to name but two. When I get a cold or a flu type virus I suffer terribly with a cough that will take me weeks to clear so not keen to experience this new virus! My children aren’t keen on me getting it either so they are doing what they can to keep me safe. I’m a widow and live on my own so the solitude is a bit trying but I’m quite good at keeping myself entertained. I have FaceTime with my family and that is helping to keep me sane and I count my blessings every night before I sleep. Which I do quite well thanks to the low thyroid! There are just some days though when I think “sod it! If I get it I get it!” And try to stop stressing about it and if things go back to normal I’ll just go out there and live and take my chances. My poor Mum lived a lot of her life in fear especially towards the end. Afraid to live and afraid to die. But this is a bigger dilemma than that as my actions could easily effect others. So I sit tight and dream of better days and behave the best way I can but it is one of the saddest soul searching times I have ever had and trust me I have had a few. I completely understand how people a bit older than me must feel. Cheated of what they have left . We just have to patient with everyone’s point of and pray that very soon we find a way out of this awful situation. One thing I do hope when we do emerge from the fear is that we are all less demanding and less selfish and for the sake of the planet chuck those stupid bucket lists in the bin where they belong ??