COVID-19 — Coronavirus

[ayrshire_blue]

I'm not advocating painting an unnecessarily bleak picture either but I was listening to some mental health expert who had done a lot of work with the armed forces in Afghanistan. He was saying that you just have to be as honest as possible about things when there aren't certainties that you can give people. If you paint an overly bleak picture then clearly that is no good but he said they realised that if they gave soldiers an optimistic prediction of when they would be going home then it was noticeable how detrimental it was to mental health in the long run when those predictions didn't come to fruition. He noted that if you were just as honest as possible from the start, even if the predictions were not what people wanted to hear, they were able to prepare themselves for what was to come and tended to cope much better mentally overall. He was referencing this in the context of discussing covid and his view was that people need to know the most likely scenario where possible. Every time I have seen anything from that oncologist, it has been something that just seems unlikely and highly optimistic. I'm not sure that helps anyone tbh. But that's only my opinion.

My problem with him is that he doesn't appreciate the potential danger of his words. I follow him as I do think he says some useful things sometimes. Other times though he infuriates me. The other day he shared his thoughts that it may burn out. A theory that was basically just one possibility, literally just based on a hopeful guess tbh. Next day we've got articles in national newspapers saying 'leading professor says coronavirus could disappear'. This could then lead people to not take it seriously, dropping their guard and not 'staying alert', which could then result in the potential death of one our loved ones.

Yes, I know he didn't write those headlines, but he simply has to be more cautious. He's an intelligent man and should be aware of the potential effects of tweeting that out to 250k followers. You can literally see the effects on here - posters have cited their opinion that it could just go away, referencing him. Im not saying they have dropped their guard personally, but I guarantee someone would have. Its dangerous IMO, and it needs more consideration. I don't mind optimism, and I do appreciate it, but he needs to consider his approach a bit more at times.

Two good, well reasoned posts here guys. As I say, I'm not necessarily disagreeing with either of you or Karen here. I've said before that I prefer being told how it is, no matter how poor that picture is. Just feel we're getting told that A LOT over the past few months so in that time it's been a bit beneficial to hear someone scraping at the barrel for something a bit more positive.

Also, from what I've noticed, posts such as suggesting things might peter out are quite rare from him. His usual optimism seems to be in noticing infection rates drop, or death rates drop - and is quick to point it out. Or if there's a weekend lag and subsequently a big figure on a Tuesday then he'll point that out too. Then with other countries opening up certain aspects of normal life - I like hearing that stuff.

Hark at me bigging up a guy I'd never heard of 2 months ago, just think he and others like him might deserve to be cut a bit of slack.

 

[Uncle Wally One Ball]

Ah yes, how dare they get uneasy about losing their jobs, cancelling everything they have planned, worrying about vulnerable family members etc. If only they had 'common sense' hey? Cheers, BlueAndroid.

Edit - that 'BlueAndroid' thing was a flippant joke, before you get annoyed by it. It isn't fair to label everyone who is struggling as lacking common sense though. Quite cruel in fact.

Just ignore them both mate. Maybe can just sit back and enjoy how strong they are at managing issues compared with others. Or possibly they could sit back and wonder what type of prick would want to simple someone who feels things a bit differently to them. A cunts trick really. No idea where that came from or why soneone would feel the need to do that. What a ****. Ignore it mate.

 

[Gaylord du Bois]

probably anxiety which is mental illness and very common.

Anxiety isn't a mental illness. It's a natural response to uncertainty.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

Depends how things play out. If he's getting people through this stage which we're at, then the situation improves even by a different means, will he have done any damage?

I think people working in health and other front line services often need to see the glass half full and they sometimes help others to see there may be light at the end of the tunnel. Also, Prof. Sikora want to see the range of healthcare services restored, safely, because the continued lockdown is damaging lots of people.

 

[ayrshire_blue]

Interesting listening to Jeremy C u next Tuesday going on about how we had put all our eggs into the flu basket and been preparing for that and not a Coronavirus so we had been caught out, suggesting a huge element of bad luck resulting in our struggles.

I assume for a flu pandemic then hospital and care staff wouldn't need PPE and that's why we never had any then? Or perhaps we're just using excuses because you've been caught with your pants down completley unprepared despite advice for years on end eh?

 

[Tim of the Oak]

Nah.
Lots of implied criticism of government.
Like Germany, South Korea really great at testing AND
On schools opening - it is perfectly possible to have a rapid responsive testing system in place, that would be the scientific advice and it is an operational matter ( I.e. over to you Government).

Is your criticism that the scientific officer told the truth? These people are not news presenters by trainings and being involved in a response (albeit in an advisory capacity) to a pandemic that has cost tens of thousands of people lives would be likely to stress most people out.

 

[kaz7]

Interesting listening to Jeremy C u next Tuesday going on about how we had put all our eggs into the flu basket and been preparing for that and not a Coronavirus so we had been caught out, suggesting a huge element of bad luck resulting in our struggles.

I assume for a flu pandemic then hospital and care staff wouldn't need PPE and that's why we never had any then? Or perhaps we're just using excuses because you've been caught with your pants down completley unprepared despite advice for years on end eh?

The programme i watched yesterday said we thought it was like flu and the modellers didnt include testing ,that explains a lot

 

[Gelsons Dad]

For those who need more to worry about, it's having a go at the Mink now! Coming to a farm near you soon ;-)
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.18.101493v1

 

[west didsblue]

You really have no idea how difficult it is get a centralised beuauracracy to change track.
The main mistakes were made in 2004 and 2015 by not adopting the lessons of SARS and MERS. Topped off with total arrogance as to the benefits of face coverings on public transport and in enclosed spaces for fighting ANY virus.
The NHS and PHE are devolved functions to Wales and Scotland. Are they in a better position? No they aren't. Slightly worse actually on % of care homes with infections.

Scotland’s and Wales’ death rate is 30% lower than England’s so far. So at the moment they are in a better position overall.

 

[Uncle Wally One Ball]

Interesting listening to Jeremy C u next Tuesday going on about how we had put all our eggs into the flu basket and been preparing for that and not a Coronavirus so we had been caught out, suggesting a huge element of bad luck resulting in our struggles.

I assume for a flu pandemic then hospital and care staff wouldn't need PPE and that's why we never had any then? Or perhaps we're just using excuses because you've been caught with your pants down completley unprepared despite advice for years on end eh?

I dont think he is a reliable voice on this. He was turfed out of his post as Health Sec after Johnson won the leadership contest and he has the hump more than likely