Should we ask over 60s to stay in?

Will they still get paid for not going to work? Are you including doctors and other medical staff?

Probably!!

Only if there is a good reason.

I think everyone needs to do whatever they can as much as possible. If everyone over 60 that wasn’t working etc acted as if they were in lockdown then the fatality rate would drop dramatically. However I’m someone that is quite happy in a self imposed semi lockdown (I’ve been in one since early March). So I can’t really speak for others.

I would imagine many over 60’s are looking after over 80’s.
I am thinking of a friend, 62, who goes three times a week to her parents, 90 and 91, cooking their meals, helping them to shower, do housework, take them to doctors appointments, do their shopping,......

This over 60 is still working and doing GC care 3 part days a week so that their parents can work. If I can still be paid my full wage, plus the costs of alternative child care, I'll stay indoors for you!

I think by now we all know what we should or shouldn’t do to keep safe regardless of age. Big mistake singling out older people as it gives younger ones a false sense is security.

It’s not practical really is it? Many are still working at 60, and even those who aren’t, can, if careful live a semi locked down life but still go out, masked now and then.
If teenage and older DGC are visiting however and not being careful themselves, then Covid will still spread.

What about clinically extremely vulnerable people aka the previously shielding?
They are back in the work place.
The reason that the government 'paused' shielding is that it would have played havoc with schools and other public services.
I, for one, are sick and tired with what people think 'vulnerable' means.

Why? On the whole it's not the over-60s that go out in great gaggles, not wearing masks, not maintaining social distances and losing their inhibitions through drink.

It's possible to keep reasonably safe by following the guidance. Why allow ourselves to be imprisoned to spare the blushes of government?

Good grief, my Dh and I moved abroad for work when he was 60! If we’re over the hill at 60, I’m not sure what the point of living beyond that is. ?

Btw, my mum is 92, being careful, but still going strong.

Good job no one told me to stay home when I was a keyworker at a hospital through lockdown. Many experienced medical staff are over 60.
I would not take kindly to being told to stay home even though I have retired now.

I don’t think so. 60 is actually very young. Would you also ban visitors to those over 60? Many people over 60 have responsibilities out of their home - employment, childcare, family and neighbour care, voluntary work. They have mortgages, families to support, bills to pay. Not everyone can have the luxury of being away from others. Isolation can and does impact mental health, living with a loved partner is very different to being alone or in an unhealthy relationship. There are many older people who are unable to order groceries or buy other essentials on line, not all areas are well populated with people to shop for others. There are so many reasons why a blanket shutting away seems wrong to me no matter how well meant. I’d much prefer to see mask wearing enforced everywhere out of the home and a greater focus on encouraging and if necessary enforcing appropriate behaviour across the age range. The thought of singling out any group because of age alone makes me uneasy.

My dh worked for the nhs till he was 71 but over 60s are disproportionately responsible for high hospital admissions currently.

Definitely not!

As others have written, many over 60s are still working. Many clinically vulnerable people are under 60 and have had to return to work.

Seriously are you having a laugh?Some of us over 60 are very busy looking after family.

Gosh good luck trying to keep my DH indoors. He out of the house playing golf more than he is in.

I don't think we can put an age on it Kitty but I do think that if those who can, do and those who can't follow the hands, face, space rules and stop visiting in other houses as far as possible, just until the spring, we might get the numbers down.

Don’t think so. I’m over 65 and a great deal healthier and fitter than many half my age. I don’t take any meds, walk 10 miles a day and regularly swing my kettle bells for a 20 minute work out. I swim regularly. I don’t eat junk or processed food, don’t smoke or vape and have a bmi of 22. Ok I do enjoy red wine so not a total goodie two shoes but certainly healthier than many much younger than myself.

Well I think 60 is way too young but I do agree that it should be older, ill infirm or frightened who should stay in whilst the younger workforce keeps the country open
So in theory I agree kitty just think you ve got the age group a bit wrong

I think locking down the over 60s is excessive. When you analyse the age and conditions of those who died, it was mainly the over 80s with pre-existing medical condtions who were most affected and many were in care homes. While I appreciate that many of those in care died because residents with the disease were discharged from hospital to these homes and staff had insufficient PPE and little testing. The fact remains that whether, at home or in care, it was the most frail who were most affected by the disease.

If they can have three tiers for controls for shutting down areas, I see no reason for not doing something similar for older people and those with underlying medical conditions. I think this cohort of people are generally being the most careful because we know it is our lives that are on the line.

We are both over sixty but we have childcare responsibilities during school holidays, and one day a week every week childcare with a three year old. The children’s parents are doctors, therefore key workers, and need to work for the rest of us. We also look after my 93 year old mother who lives in a sheltered apartment nearby. We take her to medical appointments, and sometimes to the shops, and add her weekly shopping to our Click and Collect and clean it, and take it round to her. We also visit her several times each week, sort out any problems for her and so on.
Who would do all this childcare and elderly care if sixty plus people hung up their caring responsibilities and said they were looking after number one so s..d the rest of you?

No, just no.

Monica, I recently read that the average age of those who sadly succumb to Covid is 82 years. That’s roughly the same as modern life expectancy.

Also, that currently the number of deaths isn’t much different from what they’d expect to see at this time of year and that the number of people dying of flu and pneumonia is actually down. Whether that’s because people are getting CV instead of those conditions or whether it’s because people are steering clear of each other, I don’t know.