Lockdown Over

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.

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?

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.

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 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

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 ?

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...

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 +++

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

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??

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

We won't be leaving lockdown until we can be vaccinated or the virus has disappeared. My DH has a dodgy heart and is over 70 and I just won't be taking the risk.
At the moment my car is at the garage waiting for parts and we will have to collect it at some stage, probably filling up carefully with petrol on the way home. Apart from this I can't see any reason to go out, unless there are medical reasons.
I do take online shopping to older neighbours who need it, but stay at a distance.

Being on my own, not doing my little voluntary work that I managed even with my bit of disability, not getting out for very long all drive me crazy. The worst part is that at 75 we never know how much longer we have so not seeing my Family & seeing how fast young GC are growing is so very scary. Cannot wait to hug them all again but will they still want hugs from me this time next year as it may be that long before the over 70's & others shut in are freed???? Hate this damn virus!!

Xrgran, leaving aside your other suggestions I would have to draw the line at washing vegetables in warm soapy water!

Like most of us I guess we are doing our best to protect ourselves from this virus - although I do think some of your measures are extreme and I don't think I could cope with them.

As to life under the lockdown, I have found one unexpected bonus. Walking through our virtually deserted town it is sad to see so many shops closed and wonder how many will ever open again although I expect the charity shops will survive. On the other hand it is so peaceful to walk on uncrowded pavements, no traffic and a lot less litter. Bliss!

It's a question of getting things into perspective. It looks as though the Infection/Death ratio will be in little more than with seasonal flu by the time the antibody tests are done on the general population, but it will be a couple of years before the picture is clear. For now we have to live with it. Like many infections, some people will become very ill, some will not even notice they've had it and most will be somewhere in between. The difference with COVID-19 is that it is that none of the population has had it before, so the reason for the lockdown is that otherwise, the minority who are ill enough to need hospitalisation would have overwhelmed the beds, staff and equipment available. The truth is that it is likely that lockdown is to slow down the rate of acquisition, but it will not stop people from catching the disease in the long run. We will likely have 40,000 excess deaths due to COVID-19, but most years we have 8,000 deaths from seasonal flu, and we hear about that only when the ambulances are backed up at A&E in the winter, we don't particularly panic about catching it, and hardly anybody takes any special measures to avoid it. Thinking about risk, 27,000 people are killed or seriously injured on the roads every year. We don't ban cars, we have speed limits and cars have set belts and air bags. I think that once lockdown is over, we need to take reasonable precautions but avoid panic. Keep calm and carry on, to coin a phrase!

I listen to the Australian Briefings instead of our own. Journalists don't ask such inane questions and the experts seen to answer in a straightforward manner . I do feel though that we're suddenly going to be 'free' , and fall prey to every infection going because we've lost immunity even to coughs and colds .

We sre both well and active, although over 70. I have a feeling we shall be the last "let out". As pensioners, we have no financial worries, no health worries.
Like some others, I believe however they try, the authorities will be unable to stop a second spike. so my philosophy is Carpe diem, and let tomorrow take care of itself.
May sound a bit devil may care, but since we don't know what tomorrow will bring, why worry about it today!

I read on the paper yesterday that the over 70s may be told to isolate until 2021! I am ready to spread my wings so that didn't please me!

I feel same ,i have type 2 diabetes ,am worried sick, I am also a foster carer. we are all safe at home ,but so worried when they mention opening schools ,I get a tight knot in my tummy, im hoping kids don't go back to school until sept.x