Although there is no legal requirement to isolate, the advice is still to do so.
How are people supposed to know they have it? And do you apply the same logic to other viruses?
This isn't for your benefit, it is for societys benefit.
The best thing for society is for us to reach endemic equilibrium; delaying that does not offer any benefits to anyone.
Also right now it benefits society if we generate more immunity now, in the Summer, before the Winter. To claim otherwise demonstrates a lack of understanding on your part.
Sure, covid isn't the threat it was
That's an understatement.
but there are still 'vulnerable' people (I was advised to shield) who shouldn't have to imprison themselves for the rest of their life to stay safe.
What do you mean by this? It makes no sense.
Everyone is going to be exposed to Sars-CoV-2, multiple times, in our lifetimes.
Yes someone who distrusts vaccines could imprison themselves for life in an attempt to avoid ever being exposed to the virus, but unless they have zero contact with other humans, it will be futile.
Iirc isolation is now 5 days, which is proportionate to the reduced risk.
Isolation is zero days as far as I am concerned.
On a tangent though - I'm sure comments about Christmas Covid are spot on and its a sad endictment.
It's simply sad that some people are not prepared to go about their normal lives at this point.
The thread wasn’t about what people do or expect to do, it was why people are still isolating. People will do what they want. I think that’s selfish.
If anyone is being selfish, it is those who are isolating and/or pressuring others to do so.
The vast majority of people I know continue to self-isolate for reasons mentioned above.
You can't know many people who are representative of the average population then.
That said, if you are referring to people isolating by not going to work, I am sure some people do use it as an excuse not to go into work; those people are less likely to not do other activities, however!
Granted but again, many adults and children do not know immediately if they are ill with chickenpox or mumps, adult or otherwise.
I would also suggest you read up on the dangers of varicella infection for developing foetuses. There’s a reason pregnant women are told to actively avoid individuals with rubella and chickenpox amongst others.
I've no idea what this has to do with Covid, but the average person will not know they have a Sars-CoV-2 infection and will quite rightly carry on their lives as normal. Anyone not doing this should answer this: what is your exit strategy?
If I thought I had influenza, chickenpox, or even tonsillitis I would be very careful about the contact I have with others. With something like chickenpox, would you advise that you don’t worry about being in contact with pregnant women because of the issues with pregnancy and varicella virus being ‘uncommon’? No. You would avoid pregnant women as they would avoid you. COVID has a much higher impact of causing illness in a wider group of people and presents the issue of causing strain on healthcare systems that other contagious illnesses do not.
You cannot avoid the fact you will be exposed to such viruses multiple times in your lifetime. Trying to avoid exposure to viruses is not going to improve your immune response when you are inevitably exposed. Your claim about Sars-CoV-2 is unreferenced and unverified, and sounds false to me. Do you have a reliable source to back up your claim?
Sensible thing to do in my opinion. You don’t know who you may encounter and inadvertently cause illness to or how that’s going to impact subsequent close contacts etc. It’s five days.
How can it be sensible to isolate when the average person isn't going to know they have it?
Also why would you want to reduce peoples exposure to the virus right now, when everyone who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated and it is Summer? Attempting to delay the onset of endemic equilibrium is both futile and counter productive; or are you claiming the virus will disappear? Your argument defies all logic.
The test for influenza is…..can you get out of bed? If the answer is yes it’s not influenza!
In terms of the fact we
colloquially - but quite incorrectly - refer to having flu to mean any respiratory virus (other than Sars-CoV-2) with more severe symptoms as being "flu", while having milder symptoms of any virus (including influenza but not including Sars-CoV-2) as a "cold", then yes what you say is right, but from a technical point of view it's not right at all.
In reality around half of influenza infections are likely to be asymptomatic, and of those that are symptomatic, the symptoms can be very mild in many cases.
Approximately half of influenza infections were symptomatic, with asymptomatic individuals transmitting influenza to 6% of household contacts. This suggests that strategies, such as quarantine and isolation, might be ineffective to control influenza. Vaccination of children, with the aim of...
www.thelancet.com
Approximately half of influenza infections were symptomatic, with asymptomatic individuals transmitting influenza to 6% of household contacts. This suggests that strategies, such as quarantine and isolation, might be ineffective to control influenza....