Chelsea Flower show and Covid

Jeanieallergy21

People seem to think that "living with the virus" means going back to living the way we did before the virus. It doesn't. We should still take precautions and wear masks in some situations e.g. large crowds in confined spaces. But sadly most people don't realise this which means the rest of us have to avoid those situations.

Well said Jeanie - I still wear a mask in supermarkets etc and would not travel on public transport (fortunately don't need to for work) but I realise I'm in the minority.
Many of my colleagues are of above average intelligence and it pains me that they act as if SARS Covid simply doesn't exist anymore. Surely we all have a social responsibility to each other to do simple things like wearing a mask when appropriate, giving each other space etc. It's not difficult.

Never liked hugging except for family, also hate shaking hands. I rejoiced when we all stopped doing it during Covid and I for one will not be going back to it. The Chelsea crowds gave me the creeps ditto football fans by the million this weekend. Cases do appear to be dropping but I shall still be on my guard and wear a mask in queues and crowded shops. I’m disappointed that standards of cleanliness in cafes appears to have gone back to pre pandemic levels. I’m having to ask for tables to be wiped at just about all the establishments I go to now. I put it down to laziness now it’s not as essential as it was.

* It is with us, we have to live with it, we cannot continually be fearful.*
Being cautious is not ‘being fearful’ though, is it, any more than dashing across the road without looking is ‘being fearful’. This is a novel virus which causes some people to die a horrible death , and causes organic damage in a third of people who get it. Thousands of previously healthy people are disabled by long covid.

The recorded infection rate where I live is 1 in 39 although as a lot of people are unaware that what they assume is a mild cold is actually Covid, the true figure is much higher. Others, of course, can't afford to buy tests.

For most it is a mild illness but can be serious for many and hospital admissions are still high. The infection rates are no longer dropping but, as expected, more or less on an even keel. I suspect that Chelsea will be responsible for many new cases.

To me, one of the most positive things that came out of Covid was not having to hug everybody I meet. It was embarrassing in church during the Peace when people who I hardly knew would throw their arms around me. Thankfully, so far, this practice hasn’t (yet) returned.

My son has just caught covid, just as he has a week off work and lots of plans for the Jubilee.
It is still around and still infectious. People must make their own decisions.

My helps still test and wear a mask when visiting me. One had mild Covid two weeks ago. Caught from her daughter who is a nurse. The.y wear masks in shops.

I am amazed at how many of my friends that were so careful in the first couple of years, wearing masks and avoiding situations, have now just abandoned masks, even in busy, unventilated places.
Covid is still with us, and many of us still have vulnerable relatives. I just don't think that we should abandon all sensible preventative measures.

Jeanieallergy21
According to www.worldometers.info/coronavirus the UK have carried out 522,526,476 tests to date. The most of any other country apart from USA and India where the population is enormous compared to UK. It is likely, therefore, that we will have more cases recorded.

totally agree @wildswan16!

I'd love to visit Chelsea Flower Show but have never made it. I watched all on TV and didn't give Covid a thought. Is it still a 'thing'?

Thankfully I’m safe because no way could I afford tickets or travel to the show☹️

Daisymae were people at the flower show "hugging random people"? I've never been a hugger, other than close family, although I'm slightly less uncomfortable hugging people I do know, these days, e.g. my son-in-law's parents. Surely no one goes round hugging random people unless they're a bit weird? I'm pretty sure GG13 wouldn't dream of it!

ExDancer

I'm like Kate and never liked hugs, except for close family and thought one good thing about covid was seeing the end of unwanted hugs.
Now they're back - worse than before - how do you avoid them? I've tried holding my hands out and even saying "I'm not a hugger" but I'm a small person and often get forcibly crushed into an ever bigger hug.
Its an invasion of my space! and I hate it!

I've tried holding my hands out and even saying "I'm not a hugger" but I'm a small person and often get forcibly crushed into an ever bigger hug.
Its an invasion of my space! and I hate it!

ExDancer, it strikes me that it isn't just an invasion of your space but tantamount to an assault if you don't like it and you have said no. Surely, no means no. I am afraid I would not be accepting of that. I am not a natural hugger but I tolerate it but you soon get the sense of who hugs and who doesn't. I have a group of friends where 2 of them just don't like it and we all respect that without having to say anything.

I know of people , similarly, 4All we know

I'm like Kate and never liked hugs, except for close family and thought one good thing about covid was seeing the end of unwanted hugs.
Now they're back - worse than before - how do you avoid them? I've tried holding my hands out and even saying "I'm not a hugger" but I'm a small person and often get forcibly crushed into an ever bigger hug.
Its an invasion of my space! and I hate it!

Surely cases appear to be dropping because people aren't testing?

Airports are the covid spreaders just back from majorca we travelled from Manchester airport they tell you to be there 3 hours before your checkin no problems at security when we got to the departure lounges it was a nightmare nowhere to sit queues everywhere and the tally is constantly saying keep your distance etc it was impossible needless to say we both caught covid

Since I no longer have to be extra careful since DH died I am slowly accepting life going back to normal and not wearing a mask. I have though become aware of lots of friends who have contracted Covid in the past month even though fully vaccinated. One 71 year old with no health issues is really ill with it.

People seem to think that "living with the virus" means going back to living the way we did before the virus. It doesn't. We should still take precautions and wear masks in some situations e.g. large crowds in confined spaces. But sadly most people don't realise this which means the rest of us have to avoid those situations.

Agree GrannyGravy13! Look at the figures for COVID - dropping like a stone! It has become a super-infectious, but mild or symptomless cold, just like the other coronavirus infections which are endemic. This was always going to be the fate of COVID: to become endemic. Mutant strains can only compete against circulating ones if they are more infectious; to be more infectious the virus cannot make you very ill, or you will take to your bed and not mix with others. That is a dead end for a respiratory virus. Those who are immune-compromised e.g. having chemo will want to avoid it, but everyone else can be confident they are very unlikely to be very ill. Our immune systems are like orchestras with many different instruments, and they need to practise to be proficient, so get out there and give them a chance to do their thing! We deal with hundreds of thousands of potential pathogens every day and rarely become ill. However. as GG said - it's personal choice: if you have health anxiety you will stay in - don't condemn everyone else.

Sparklefizz

^But the rest of the country must get back to normal working/living etc at some point.^

.... and continuing to spread it around. Let's hope no new variant pops up.

A new variant may pop up or then again it may not
Hospitalisation and death numbers continue to fall
Thankfully the country is now getting back to normal living

We cannot continually live as if we are in the midst of Covid but have to accept I think that there might be another strain and we will have into reintroduce strict measures. In the meantime it seems a pity that having all but lost two years by being very careful we can’t just get on with life, doing the things we have missed. If some people are not comfortable with this then they can restrict their lives but that seems a waste of life unless you are medically vulnerable.

Covid in various strains has been around for decades but not brought to the attention of the public until 2020. Flu been around for hundreds of years we deal with it annually. We all need to live our own lives as we see fit and enjoy life as much as is possible and Chelsea is certainly enjoyable and gorgeous. No-one can live in a bubble of 'what if' all the time. We all die sometime, that's evolution.

But the rest of the country must get back to normal working/living etc at some point.

.... and continuing to spread it around. Let's hope no new variant pops up.