The Covid-19 Thread

[Raid]

Yeah, I pretty much lost faith in the electorate doing what I personally think is right years ago.

My dad, a reasonably well educated man who had a decent job at the time ended up voting UKIP in 2016 and Leave in the referendum. I only found this out at Christmas that year. A very small part of me is glad that he's not around any more as I had to avoid talking politics whenever I saw him, and I don't think that would have been possible after this year.

[Mantis]

So who's betting that a full national tier 4 status, ie. pseudo lockdown, is announced immediately after Christmas?

[Hatredsheart]

So who's betting that a full national tier 4 status, ie. pseudo lockdown, is announced immediately after Christmas?

At this point I'd bet my last quid on it.

[Rossell]

Saw some friends for the first time since January so they can pass on a late birthday present. I turned into a blubbering mess after I closed the door, so many emotions. It doesn't help I've practically only had face to face conversations with my mother and sister so I had trouble reading my mates properly (I have trouble at the best of times anyway).

The day can't come soon enough I think.

[Mantis]

So, someone I was working with last week came down with Covid and our bosses recommended we all self isolate until we can get a test.

My home kit arrived today. Not only is the government page that you have to register your kit with before taking the test completely broken and refusing to accept my details, but having checked further on in the instructions there is also a part of my kit missing. So I can't use this test even if I could have registered it.

What a shambles. I wonder how many people run into problems like this with the home kits.

Chances of me getting a test before Christmas now don't seem so good.

[Sly Boots]

So, someone I was working with last week came down with Covid and our bosses recommended we all self isolate until we can get a test.

My home kit arrived today. Not only is the government page that you have to register your kit with before taking the test completely broken and refusing to accept my details, but having checked further on in the instructions there is also a part of my kit missing. So I can't use this test even if I could have registered it.

What a shambles. I wonder how many people run into problems like this with the home kits.

Chances of me getting a test before Christmas now don't seem so good.

Is there a testing site anywhere near you?

[Mantis]

There's one not far away. I opted for the home test just to be extra safe though.

I'm going to ring the helpline and see if it will cause any issues if I try to register for a walk in test now that I've linked all my personal details and contact info to another kit which I won't actually be able to complete.

[Raid]

I don't recall having any issues with the home test experience back in June or July.

I'm currently off work because my housemate had to get a test, and company policy is that I need to stay away until she gets her results. As I can't do my job remotely, I'm basically sitting around at home playing videogames while my poor colleagues are put under extra pressure due to my absence. I feel guilty as hell.

[Animalmother]

If it's any consolation you could be a lorry driver stuck in Dover alongside an apparently piss soaked ditch

[Raid]

Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55428017

[Sly Boots]

Yep, we'll be one of those.

[Mantis]

New lockdown to be announced in the next few days?

Of course, you can't really call it a lockdown when most retail shops are open for click and collect, and every food and coffee outlet is open serving takeaway.

I've had to travel for work and seen in three different cities so far how far people are pushing the guidelines to the extreme end of compliance. Since Christmas I've seen so many people stood around town centres, chatting in big groups on the street all drinking coffee. They just don't get it, everyone has the mentality now that it's okay to bend the rules a little.

[Sly Boots]

OTOH we had a letter from our primary school yesterday which said that while the school would be open, they would respect parents' decisions as long as their reasons were provided in writing. So I emailed to say we'd be homeschooling the kids for now as I'm in the high-risk category.

My wife, who is midway through a college course to become a learning disability nurse, was also due to start her work placement this week. On a conference call just now they said most if not all of the placements would now be working from home, which is awesome.

[Mantis]

My sister has pulled her kids out of school today too even though they're open. It's a mixed bag for which schools are actually closed outside of London but the simple fact is that infections will continue to sky rocket into the wider community if kids are allowed to keep mixing.

Teachers and children may be fairly low risk in terms of being hospitalised, but critics of the unions recommendations don't understand that the kids are picking up the infection and then taking it back to their families.

[Wrathbone]

My sister’s a primary school teacher and her union recommended to all the teachers at the school that they refuse to go in on grounds of safety. As of this morning, only one teacher there has done that. All the rest are too afraid that the academy will absolutely screw them, as they did with another teacher last year who went against the academy and was transferred to some shit heap of a school miles away from where he lives. It’s completely dystopian - very few other industries in the UK would accept that sort of nonsense. Frankly I’m dubious some of it is legal. They won’t even let the teachers wear masks in lessons, FFS.