Cinema visit - yes or no?(another Covid-19 related thread-sorry)

I have read that it is expected that 80% of the British population will contract the Covid 19 virus. Today the tally is 51 who are known to have contracted the virus, but that is the clinch of the matter, not everyone will be very poorly, for many the virus will present as a nasty bug but no more.

The bottom line is that there is an 8 in 10 chance of catching this infection, maybe early is better when medical aid isn't overstretched?

I would recommend that we follow the advice given by the authorities unless you are immunologically suppressed or are particularly vulnerable for another reason, in which case you should follow the specific medical advice that you already should have.

I think it’s being blown up
Out of all proportion by the media. Think back to avian flu , swine flu , sars, aids ... even ordinary flu!
there’s always been something . Just be sensible , practise good hand hygiene and use tissues when sneezing or blowing nose. I’ve been wearing gloves on public transport and in supermarket . And go to the cinema!

Oh dear! I’ve been to the theatre twice this weekend. The second time the theatre was packed with families. We all used cardboard 3D glasses for part of the show. These were used ones taken from a cardboard box. We were asked to return them to the box for the next show. ?
Plenty of wipes and gels being used by the families though.
Then visit to restaurant!
I also used public transport .. train and bus this week. And visited city shopping centre.
I’m due to go on a cruise next month and am wary about going, but can’t let everything come to a standstill!!

Kirsten ‘underplaying it’ .......you must be having a laugh

Perhaps you could all do your own thing. If your husband and friend want to go that is their decision .you dont have to go with them if you are so worried.
I said in another post that I was pleased to hear newsreaders mention how many people had recovered. I do think some of the papers have been reporting in panic stirring mode. Worrying does you no good ..

Oh for goodness sake are you going to stay in every day for the rest of the year
I will just do what I normally do I will use the bus the library the supermarket, restaurants, cinemas, theatres, anything as normal until it takes on much bigger feet than it has got now

I am quite concerned about this virus. Are the Authorities underplaying it to stop us panicking? personally, I believe we should follow our gut instinct and mine would be to avoid cinemas etc. at the moment.

Spare a thought for all the businesses which will suffer and collapse if we all decide not to go anywhere or do anything. I think this virus will make 2008 look positively trouble-free if it really does last for months, and as for the effect on our mental health if we are all confined to home .......

There are 51 confirmed cases in the UK. The total population is 67,770,309. If you take precautions, like washing your hands, you will probably be fine, especially if you don’t live in an area where there have been confirmed cases. We all face common viruses every day. Don’t forget, where the Coronavirus has been most prevalent, in China and Italy, not everyone who has been in contact with it has caught it. I think we need to keep a sense of proportion.

I wouldn't go. It makes no sense to say there are no cases in your area as the virus spreads before people manifest symptoms.

I feel you have enough ill health to cope with your husband's cancer. He probably feels you need to get out and enjoy yourself, which is fair enough, but I wouldn't run the risk in your place.

The issue I have is that if everyone stays at home, the impact on businesses is going to be catastrophic. They are already predicting a recession because of this virus, and it's not just a UK recession.

I understand that those who are in a higher risk category are going to be more cautious, but I think we need to put it all into perspective - under 100 cases in the entire country. And none fatal that I am aware of.

Personally, I would go. But I've always had the view that our time on earth is already decided at the moment of our birth, and if it's your time to go - go you will.

So you may avoid a trip to a theatre, or a party, or cinema, whatever, to keep youself safe from Corona, but could choke on a biscuit at home, or trip downstairs.

I remember the swine flu outbreak about 10 years ago. I don’t think there was such widespread doom and gloom about it. In fact, our daughter caught it right at the end of her college term and had to stay in her college room alone until she got better. We wanted to bring her home, but she stuck it out. We did go and visit her though and didn’t think about the possible outcome if we caught it. We didn’t and eventually she was well enough to come home.
By all account, the Coronavirus is milder than the swine flu. I’m a bit worried about it, being elderly and asthmatic and just recovering from a nasty chest infection, but it’s impossible to live like a hermit, so, apart from avoiding crowded places, we are just carrying on as normal unless we get advice to the contrary. What else can you do?

10 feet range for a sneeze, some people sneeze and only then take their hankie out, afterwards. How many rows behind is that? Washing hands will not prevent covid in that case, just breathing is enough to become infected from a sneeze

Telegraph on line say 51 confirmed cases now. My husband has bad asthma and even with a common cold finds it hard to breath so myself I would not risk it. I thought our town would be ok for a while but a visitor to offices here has been confirmed positive and thankfully my daughter in law is out of that office on maternity leave. You just never know. I see that people that have died in Italy have been 63 and upwards, I don't want my spouse to make the numbers up here. You have to make your own choices and if your husband is ok with it then go.

If you go I don't think you are going to enjoy it as you are already apprehensive. We can all whistle in the dark and take what precautions we can but at the end of the day the risk of serious illness and even death to people over 60, over 70 and over 80 and anyone with poor health if they should catch coronavirus is high. You may not think it is in your area but it is popping up everywhere. Some employers are telling their workers not to travel to meetings in London unless they are unavoidable.
You must decide what the risks are where you are and act accordingly. But please also consider everyone else where you are.

I went to the theatre on Saturday. Just made sure I washed my hands more. And put my sleeve over my hand when touching handles. But I think we just have to be more careful, not paranoid. Go to the cinema MotherHubbard, and enjoy thr film

I think that the chances of encountering someone with the virus are very low at the moment - and WILL be going to my U3A annual dinner on Thursday, with 132 others, but think that we must be prepared to adapt our behavior as circumstances change, as they almost certainly will within a few weeks.

This is a useful summary of Johnson’s press conference with two experts:
www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/mar/03/coronavirus-live-updates-china-latest-news-us-australia-deaths-markets-italy-iran-update-cases-italy-south-korea-japan

It was reassuring to see Johnson deferring to Prof Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance. I thought he showed good leadership (and I am not usually a fan.) Contrast with Trump’s presser on the Coronavirus yesterday, where he didn’t seem to understand the difference between a vaccine and a cure, and where he had to be corrected on some points.

VERY IMPORTANT......
Hand sanitisers MUST be AT LEAST 60% Alcohol based. This was advise given to me by my local pharmacist. I have a compromised immune system.

DH with cancer and I have a lowered immune system we tend to give cinemas a miss these days.
I think it is up to each individual as to what they avoid, I certainly give people who are coughing and sneezing a two metre gap.
We all have to shop so I sanitise my hands as soon as I get back in the car, shopping trolleys are never nice.

I had an afternoon to kill yesterday in Cambridge and went to see the David Copper field film (hilarious!)

There were 4 of us spread over the huge screening room.

I'm more worried that my flight home on Sunday will be cancelled.

Don't put your life on hold for something that may or may not happen. If you're going to catch the bug then you will at some point whether you try to avoid it or not.

Thanks for all the replies Grans(apart from Maxblank’s amusing but unhelpful contribution, someone having a bad day maybe?). Will probably go, but as suggested to an afternoon showing which will probably be less busy. Have a day trip out to York on Thursday which I’m not too concerned about- I suppose it’s a case of keep calm and carry on ?

I would go to the afternoon showing where its less busy MotherHubbard however I would be more concerned about your eighty year old friend with asthma, probably not a good idea for her.

None of us has any immunity to COVID-19. Those of us over 60, 70, and 80 are cumulatively more vulnerable than others. Those people with compromised immunity and that includes cancer patients, are also more vulnerable. We have no way of knowing who may be carrying the virus and one particular case only emerged with symptoms 30+ after contact with someone who had it. You need to work out for yourselves whether you would go to the cinema or the theatre - or in my case, take a tube. Maybe if I lived out in the sticks somewhere I would remain blaze about the whole thing, but living in London presents a whole different situation and I would definitely not be in a cinema or theatre at the moment.