Dog owners over 70!

We are already self isolating as far as practicable. My husband captains a bowls team and has cancelled all remaining matches. We only shop for what we need and of course go to see to the sheep. My dogs are getting short walks at quiet times. If our land wasn't so wet they would come with me to the sheep but soaking wet and muddy I can't cope with.
Hopefully we will come out the other side of this in one piece. Finding all this surreal, can't quite believe it is happening.
 
I'm over 70 and will certainly not be staying in my house for 4 months! I have a dog and ponies to see to. I'm pretty much a loner anyway and will certainly staying away from other people much as normal. I can shop online if there is anything left to buy.

There are vulnerable people in every age group, it's impossible to cocoon them all.
 
I cannot totally self isolate or stay in my house the dog needs walks okay can do those during the night but the ponies are in a field 10 miles away so will have to be seen twice a day at least one is just recovering from colic and is checked day and night
 
And what about those over 70s who live with someone younger?

Yet another thing that hasn't been thought out properly! It is quite possible that one spouse/partner will be over 70 while the other is younger and working, at least p/t in a supermarket, dealing with the public all the time - what would be the point of the older person staying isolated? Where would that person be isolated?
 
There is no way they can make the over 70s stay at home unless there is a general curfew, and even that could only be after business hours because people are working.
How can those that have carers coming in and out be isolated?
 
Errin Paddywack said:
Leo, I am a fit and active 71. I have a flock of sheep due to start lambing literally any day. I don't live on the property so have to drive 5.5 miles to get there. If the Gov in its wisdom decides I 'have to' isolate myself how the heck am I to care for my sheep. I am no more of a risk to others than you are, possibly less. If I just abandon my sheep to cope on their own I will soon have the RSPCA round my neck. There are no easy answers to this. Yes people with compromised health should self isolate but just the fact of being over 70 should not be a reason to put us under lockdown.:mad:
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The over 70s don't tend to work. That's why they are being asked to isolate. There will be exceptions made for caring for animals the same as there have been in other countries. But dogs can get by without being walked. Theres other ways to exercise them and keep them occupied.
 
Penny Less said:
The 0ver 70s dont tend to work, no but they do volunteer, many places rely on them. My dogs certainly cant get by without being walked not if I want to hang on to my sanity !
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They will just have to manage without. Anyone over 70 or in the vunerable category is being sent home today and will work remotley if they can. We have incredibly important front line staff, but they will just have to manage without the people in those categories.

Its happening whether we like it or not. I'm dreading being stuck at home. But all we can do is abide by the advice and do what we can to keep everyone safe.
 
Leo Walker said:
The over 70s don't tend to work. That's why they are being asked to isolate. There will be exceptions made for caring for animals the same as there have been in other countries. But dogs can get by without being walked. Theres other ways to exercise them and keep them occupied.
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So all the senior MPs over 70 should be made to stay at home. Rather an extreme way to get rid of Corbyn but hey if it works!
 
Whatever our age or health status, we all need to be distancing ourselves from others. I can imagine it is fairly problematic for many but in order to protect everyone (especially the elderly and vulnerable) then we must all try. The situation isn't helped by the Government being fairly wishy washy about what people should or should not be doing. I am in the fortunate position that self isolating is not really anything new for me or my hubby, but my son is still in school and it only takes meeting one person and you've potentially met hundreds. I do think the schools will be closed in the foreseeable future but until then I will continue to send him, but make sure he understands the importance of hand washing etc.
 
i am sure there are a lot of us over 70's who are fitter and healthier than some younger people who spend most of their time indoors on their phones etc. i will carry on as i am, i am mostly in isolation anyway because i am a bit of a loner, i can easily not come into contact with other people while i walk my dogs and can arrange to have groceries delivered if necessary. i have at least 4 weeks of food for me and more for my dogs so wont need to shop for a while....
 
They are saying the over 70's because this is the age bracket most likely to see complications and need an intervention... and the most likely to die if they catch the virus.

Social distancing not isolation. Still walk your dogs feed your horses etc but consider not spending time with other humans who may unknowingly infect you with a virus that may kill you or leave you in need of hospitalisation. wash your hands regularly-even soap will help, dont put those virus particles you picked up from that surface you just touched in your eyes or your mouth...etc

In pandemic situations, they chose the most likely to survive and live longterm to be treated.

Age is one of the factors. A history of cancer or cardiac or resp issues diabetes etc.
If you have any of those things that are already impacting your longterm lifespan you will not be given a ventilator ahead of a young healthy person who is more likely to survive after...regardless of how healthy a 70 year old you were up until this point.

That's why this is terrifying. That's why this should have been taken waaay more seriously everywhere sooner.
We are going to lose people to this who should have survived due to lack of equipment and people available to save them all at once.

if we can keep the highest risk people from catching it all at once then more will be saved when they develop complications ...thats what flatten the curve means.
Its a numbers game. if there's dozens of people needing a ventilator at the same time-then triage is what happens to decide who gets them.Not based on individual need but overall guidelines of save the salvageable first... like in a warzone.
if your already wearing a black sticker do not go stand in the firing line.

Young people do get sick with this and need ventilation as well. Just not in as high of numbers.....but when the numbers are across a population of millions who have been continunig to mingle for longer then most of Europe....this is likely to explode in the UK.

Pandemics are like warzones. You do what you can to get through. You limit your risk and you protect your loved ones.
 
If 1 million People get sick in the next 3 months, up to 50 000 people may be critically ill. Many many vulnerable people will die because we don't have the resources for that many critically unwell people all at once.
If 1 million get sick over the next 3 YEARS, the critically ill people will be spaced out across time, and we DO have the resources to give the very best medical treatment to the very sick. comes down to numbers.

Slowing spread is very important. Plus think of all the vulnerable people you know personally...those are the people to the numbers. Rational says slow as much as we can.
 
Oh and the other important thing people seem to be forgetting...when a hospital gets overran in a pandemic with sick people due to the virus....they are also unable to treat the day to day stuff.
Don't fall off your horse and break your back/don't have a heart attack that needs surgery or a stoke etc.... mid pandemic peak-the theatres are not going to be performing any surgery. They going to be being used as an icu bed area and the surgeons are going to be on the coalface of managing the virus victims along with everyone else- as the health care workers get sick as well. That's what the Italians meant by being at 200 percent capacity. There's more than one reason that they have ordered a lockdown. it limits day to day risk to the population at large.

This entire situation is something to be justifiably worried about.
It's a pandemic. They are worth overreacting to. Foot and mouth disease has nothing on what this is about to do.
I really really really hope I'm wrong but all the epidemiology and science says they shouldn't have waited so long before starting to respond to this in the UK.

With current infection rates (assuming still doubling every 6 days), with 1372 infections in uk as of March 17th we could have 2744 infections in 6 days. No big deal, right?
but its 5488 in 12 days, 21952 in 24...43904 within a month and continuing to rise...doubling every 6 days.
219520 cases - two months from now. May could be nasty...

Now if only 1% of those people need an ICU bed before they die, then that's a problem once the numbers add up.

How many ICU beds are there in the UK? How many in your local hospital....

Self-distancing and washing your hands sounds a lot better when you consider the situation it may be helping slow-not prevent fyi-that's cats out of the bag, just to slow down your and your families own risk so you don't end up in the statistics of infected when they are in big numbers and have to run the risk of being triaged if you get it badly.

The rest of the world also isn't like china where they flew in Drs and equipment form the rest of the country to fight and contain this....what we got now is what we got.
For example there are 500 ventilators in the entire Republic of Ireland-that's actually a much higher number then I was expecting, they clearly have been prepping...but that's for a population of almost 6 million. They may not have enough trained staff for all of them at once though...but those sorts of logistics are why there has been such a massive push in the republic to slow this....
 
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Leo Walker said:
And while you go about your life making your own decisions, you get sick and need hopsital care which isnt going to be avaiable, and no doubt infect other people on the way. This isnt just about you. its quite clear why it will need to be an order, if people arent prepared to listen.
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I think it's going to have to be a clear order. Some people I work with are really really not taking the situation seriously.
They are saying the media are causing this.
I was getting very annoyed with them yesterday.
people at work with colds and coughs. Saying anyone that's staying off just wants a week or two off.
I'm seriously considering contacting HR if they don't take things more seriously and start putting some plans in place.
 
Leo Walker said:
I've heard so many people banging on about fake news and media hype. I guess when you dont want to do something you can always find a way to justify it!
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Ignorance will always be bliss.

Plus actual thinking about the likes of this is scary. Humans don't like to deal with scary things they have 0 control over. Denial is easier.
 
From the Gov.uk website about self-isolation :

If possible, you should not go out even to buy food or other essentials, other than exercise, and in that case at a safe distance from others.

Even the Government is saying that you can exercise yourself and dogs out of doors, just be sensible and do it away from other people and high traffic areas if possible.
 
I have a terminal illness, the more I am at home the more depressed and suicidal I feel. I had several outings booked in the next few weeks just to avoid this. I am cancelling, but feel its between the devil and the deep blue sea, either Im going to die of the virus or the cancer.
On a normal daily basis I am mostly at home except for two dog walks and food shopping and trips to the library because I cant be without a book! So I feel I am quite isolated anyway. I can drive out of town to walk dogs in quiet places. I dont have relatives, my neighbours both have underlying conditions so they wont be shopping for me, they do have families though so they will be OK. I will have to soldier on. Apparently the NHS is sending a letter to all patients with serious illnesses. At risk people are going to be "shielded" for 3 months, does that mean forcibly detained ?

I have just missed a phone call from the hospital which I guess is cancelling my appointment with the consultant today to get my last scan results!
 
Penny Less said:
I have a terminal illness, the more I am at home the more depressed and suicidal I feel. I had several outings booked in the next few weeks just to avoid this. I am cancelling, but feel its between the devil and the deep blue sea, either Im going to die of the virus or the cancer.
On a normal daily basis I am mostly at home except for two dog walks and food shopping and trips to the library because I cant be without a book! So I feel I am quite isolated anyway. I can drive out of town to walk dogs in quiet places. I dont have relatives, my neighbours both have underlying conditions so they wont be shopping for me, they do have families though so they will be OK. I will have to soldier on. Apparently the NHS is sending a letter to all patients with serious illnesses. At risk people are going to be "shielded" for 3 months, does that mean forcibly detained ?

I have just missed a phone call from the hospital which I guess is cancelling my appointment with the consultant today to get my last scan results!
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If you have a terminal illness then it's somewhat different, I would still do the little daily things I enjoyed in your shoes and try and reach out to loved ones if that will help you feel better. They don't have to be blood to care. Strange though it sounds in times like these people will have more time for each other even if it's not face to face.

Sorry to hear your not well. They might be trying to organise a phone consult hopefully.
 
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