Well that’s a definite no go area for me…
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I think that I am the only person participating in this conversation who has actually had proven COVID-19. I also know literally dozens of friends & colleagues who have also had it including 3 who were hospitalised. None of us enjoyed it & for some it was worse than any other infectious illness we have ever had but we are all recovered & all back at work. There were also many who had no symptoms at all & only know they had the virus because of antibody testing.
Hence the need/obligation to wear masks in enclosed spaces, crowded outdoor spaces etc. Might not give total protection, but anything is better than nothing.
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My colleague died, two more were in critical care another couple have been off sick for a considerable time
It’s not about Covid19 top trumps
It’s all about gettingng a sense of proportion regarding the risks. Here is a link to a BBC article from last May that I have linked to before that quotes risks when 1:400 people had the virus. Prevalence is now about one twentieth of that so the risk of infection is far lower.
There is no obligation to wear masks outdoors.
I’m happy to say that my antibody test came back negative - which was not a surprise having had no symptoms.
Interesting the colleague who we all thought was a dead cinch on clinical grounds also had a negative antibody test. A couple of colleagues with mild symptoms came back positive.
But as Eddie says it should not be about a Covid-19 dick size contest - “I’ve had it so I’m not a/at risk” strikes me as a slightly dangerous place to be, we know that duration of immune response to coronavirus infections has a fairly wide range - from a few months to most of the ones causing “common cold” type symptoms to perhaps a couple of years for SARS-1 but at the moment we don’t know how durable the response to Covid will be.
Yes, the levels circulating are clearly much lower than the peak - but 95% of the population still have no immunity to Covid, if we take the brakes off it has the potential for another exponential rise in case numbers.
As Mat says - if wearing masks in public could be an effective way to keep that from happening, is it so much of a cost to bear?
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I have a very poor immune system, so I keep my circle of friends very small. We all social distance and use hand gel and meet outside.
I do not want there to be a second wave, so I would appreciate it everyone else took precautions to prevent that from happening.
A friend told us yesterday that she had been driving back from Haute-Savoie and passed by a beach, presumably a lake beach, and it was packed with people no one wearing masks or social distancing. We have seen the same happening in Paris and on Bournemouth and other beaches in the UK.
We have been getting many requests for our gite coming from UK, but we are not taking any guests at the moment and are saying if they would like to make a preliminary booking for next year, without deposit, we will be able to look at the situation with a better oversight then.
We have had so many enquiries, that it would seem that there are not that many people wanting to take visitors from the UK.
What makes you say that?
Because I am the first one to catch anything going and it has always been like that.
So, almost certainly you have a normal immune system then.
There are medical conditions that lower immunity - hypo-gammaglobulinaemias or congenital neutropenias amongst them as well as cancer, especially involving the immune system or blood forming elements themselves (the various lymphomas and leukaemias); there are medical treatments such as chemotherapy or steroids which interfere with the immune system but, honestly, most people who claim “low immunity” have a perfectly normal immune system.
PS
Very sensible.
Doesn’t surprise me, TBH but possibly illogical given that the official infection rate is similar to France.
I’m concerned at the needless levels of anxiety regarding the virus from some healthy individuals. I saw someone in the 50s with a sprained ankle the other day who mentioned that they had been shielding since March. I delicately inquired why on the assumption that they were on chemotherapy or immunosuppressed after a transplant or were shielding for some other similar reason but it turned out that they were fit & healthy but had just hidden themselves away for the last 3 months for fear of catching the virus.
My mom’s thinking ahead Paul about how to handle things like going in a taxi to the hairdressers and going to lunch and visiting favourite little charity shops with her friend…
Has anyone had an anti-body test in France? If so how do you get one.
My wife’s lung capacity is down dramatically and it would be interesting to know.
What compulsory for an experimental vaccine rushed to market and for the age group who have almost zero susceptibility…??? What about exemptions…???
Here’s the full list of vaccine candidates…
“These landscape documents have been prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) for information purposes only concerning the 2019-2020 global of the novel coronavirus. Inclusion of any particular product or entity in any of these landscape documents does not constitute, and shall not be deemed or construed as, any approval or endorsement by WHO of such product or entity (or any of its businesses or activities). While WHO takes reasonable steps to verify the accuracy of the information presented in these landscape documents, WHO does not make any (and hereby disclaims all) representations and warranties regarding the accuracy, completeness, fitness for a particular purpose (including any of the aforementioned purposes), quality, safety, efficacy, merchantability and/or non-infringement of any information provided in these landscape documents and/or of any of the products referenced therein. WHO also disclaims any and all liability or responsibility whatsoever for any death, disability, injury, suffering, loss, damage or other prejudice of any kind that may arise from or in connection with the procurement, distribution or use of any product included in any of these landscape documents. ”
There are new cases occurring… here in France… let’s not be complacent, please. 
I am shocked at the idea of a medical professional saying patients were too concerned about catching the virus
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In the UK there were double the reported deaths yesterday than a week ago and it was the highest Saturday number for a month. People are way too complacent. There are too many young and fit people dying to dismiss it as just a disease that kills the old and the sick.
Anyone not practicing social distancing, hand washing/sanitising, wearing a mask indoors where there are vulnerable people etc is just selfish.
Izzy x
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I have always had problems since I was a child. Terrible catarrh, eczema and then food intolerance which was diagnosed until I was forty. My daughter became worse than myself when she was ten and we found a doctor that could help us.
I became asthmatic at fifty after a very severe chest infection.
I have had endometriosis and breast cancer, pancreatitis and had my gall bladder removed.
I catch every cold going and have to be very careful that it doesn’t turn into a chest infection.
It is not much fun.
I was describing the routine childhood vaccinations not a future vaccine for coronavirus. It may well be that coronavirus vaccination only needs to target susceptible groups & as children are all but unaffected by COVID-19 we might not want to vaccinate them.
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