The Mock Turtle

Donate your plasma! But lots of people have turned up to do so and been told theirs seem to have gone. Also, a colleague of mine ended up having two antibody tests in one day at different trusts, for long winded reasons. One was negative and one was positive! Done 2 hours apart. So...I’m not sure how reliable or useful they are!

sally maclennane wrote: ↑Wed Aug 05, 2020 12:58 pm Its easy to get complacent ( i have been similar, more lax about shops etc) especially as deaths have dropped a lot here but it shows how easily it can just ramp up again.

Apparently in Melbourne, they believe the increase in cases is partly due to people getting a positive test but still not isolating! What the fuck is wrong with you if you do that?

This is true. They’re door knocking to make sure people are at home who should be self isolating after a positive test and apparently 1 in 4 are nowhere to be found. I believe they’re introducing national pandemic paid leave to try and alleviate this. And on the spot fines of (I think) $5k. Melbourne’s dire at the moment. It’s showing no signs of slowing down and it’s rife in aged care.

What if you're in but just didn't answer the door?

I've specifically ignored the door twice last week because of someone selling chocolate bars to raise funds for some unknown thing, and a UNICEF (?) guy. The lack of anyone knocking unexpectedly over the last few months has been a tiny little covid19 perk.

I think we’ve finally seen off Mr O’s Jehovah friends thanks to no unsolicited callers.

Figaro wrote: ↑Wed Aug 05, 2020 8:51 pm Also, a colleague of mine ended up having two antibody tests in one day at different trusts, for long winded reasons. One was negative and one was positive! Done 2 hours apart. So...I’m not sure how reliable or useful they are!

My antibody test came back negative but I’m not confident that it means I didn’t have it back in Feb/ March.

School starts here next Wednesday!

We’ve opted for virtual learning initially but I’m in a massive flap about the damage I am doing to my children by not sending them in face to face. :(

I am so torn. The school are 100% doing all the right things (masks, bubbles, temperature checks (even though I think it’s pointless) but it still makes me uncomfortable given the numbers and horror stories I’ve heard about camps, who in fairness haven’t followed strict guidelines.

I really can’t believe our entire summer has passed like this.

That must feel so weird, Olive.

NHSBT chased me about the plasma again today, which is good because I thought they’d left the ball in my court. I’m on antibiotics again, so need to wait a week then we’ll see.

olive wrote: ↑Fri Aug 07, 2020 6:42 pm We’ve opted for virtual learning initially but I’m in a massive flap about the damage I am doing to my children by not sending them in face to face. :(

It is a horrible decision for you to make. If it's any consolation, I really don't think you will be damaging them. Without wanting to be a twat about it, if you have a secure attachment to your children (you do) they will be fine. They might behave differently in the short term but they won't be broken.

Interesting report from Independent Sage about the need to switch to local contact tracing systems and ditch the central system:

https://twitter.com/chrischirp/status/1 ... 9955249153

A 7 year old with no known underlying conditions just died of Covid, so I'd keep my kids home if they weren't adults. R just went through his school's back to school plan and they're teaching everyone virtually, but some children will be in the actual school. It won't be a great environment for them, seriously socially distanced and in masks, so I don't see any advantage to sending them.

eta I'm in the US, don't want to panic UK people!

That's horrible about the 7 year old.

Olive, what a nightmare choice. I feel like I saw a headline yesterday about a school in Georgia that had reopened and within a couple of hours had a case and had to close right back up again.

I am feeling like local numbers are low enough here that I will send my kids (we have one week to decide whether we are signing up for online or in-person schooling). I'm not sure I can cope anymore without any break, and they want to go. We will drive them instead of busing to reduce risk. It's something. I imagine I will pull them out immediately if there is a school case or if numbers start going up again.

Ruby wrote: ↑Fri Aug 07, 2020 7:24 pm If it's any consolation, I really don't think you will be damaging them. Without wanting to be a twat about it, if you have a secure attachment to your children (you do) they will be fine. They might behave differently in the short term but they won't be broken.

Thank you for the sensible words. I’ve made my decision to keep them home and I think I need to stop over thinking it. In the scheme of things the boys have actually been fine and they’re fairly robust so I need to stop projecting my worries on to them.

Also one of M’s classmates mums has posted a photo of her and 5-6 girlfriends shoulder to shoulder away at a beach house for the weekend having flown in from all over the South.

Five, I saw that about the 7 year old, so awful. :sad:

LM - yes two counties in Georgia have been hit by cases linked to schools. One has had 90 teachers go into quarantine due to expose and another had 260 school staff either test positive or exposed to COVID last week during pre planning.

Also, in your shoes I’d be sending my kids in if our numbers were as low as yours.

Arghh Olive, that must be so worrying.

The outbreak in Aberdeen has involved footballers from the local club, 8 players apparently went to a pub involved, despite the fact they were not allowed to be in pubs. Football was allowed to restart here on the understanding that players were tested regularly and kept themselves isolated. So understandably Nicola Sturgeon was very critical of them. Tonight, I was in the car, listening to a football show and one guy (a player or pundit, i don't know who) was bitching about her calling her aggressive

Because obviously she's the one at fault, not the idiot players who broke rules. No wonder so many people think football is just full of man-babies!

What a tool Sal.

Nicola has every right to be fuming, I hope Aberdeen / SFA haul them over the coals for being irresponsible fuckers thinking they are above guidelines.

The local strategy for track and trace is interesting. I'd read about Liverpool avoiding lockdown (for now) because a local outbreak was swiftly dealt with.

I agree with the others, Olive. I don't want to downplay the long term damage because let's be honest, none of us know if it will be nothing or huge or somewhere in the middle. But you can hopefully be reassured that the boys already have any potential damage severely mitigated by you being their mum and the family that they live in. You can't really go wrong, I don't think. If/when your numbers go down, do you have the option to change your mind if you felt that way inclined? Nearly all the families in our school who chose to stay at home at first (when our school opened) had all sent theirs in by the end, I think once they saw from others than it was becoming safe enough to take the risk.

Kids are home-schooled all of the time without them having serious long term damage. It's hard for parents who have to work and educate their children, but it's also hard for the parents whose children are having long term physical and cognitive issues from this virus, or those who are actually losing parents and grandparents due to this virus.

This is more of a IWLTS than anything because I can't say this here in the US. I'd have to deal with ignorant Trumpers who just want a break from their kids and are willing to risk the lives of others for that treat. And are willing to storm the capital with guns to make a point. It's just not an acceptable risk in the US to send our children into buildings that do not have systems that bring in fresh air. Our numbers are growing every day and anticipated to be at least 200K deaths by October 1st.

We had a spike in cases yesterday - 98, with most of them in three counties and linked to meat processing plants. So now there is a local lockdown for those areas for two weeks and people are SPITTING.

Patience is starting to wear thin and people just won’t stick to the restrictions.

80 cases reported in our city state yesterday, half of which are connected to an outbreak at one of the companies that work on the docks.

Starry wrote: ↑Sat Aug 08, 2020 8:51 am Patience is starting to wear thin and people just won’t stick to the restrictions.

I do think second time round will be more difficult. The fear isn't quite the same.

I agree, Heebs.

FiveO'Clock wrote: ↑Sat Aug 08, 2020 4:30 am Kids are home-schooled all of the time without them having serious long term damage.

While I agree with your overall point, this is a false equivalence as most people don't just keep their children indoors when they home-school them, they'll be members of groups and co-ops to address the social side of things. The home-schooled children I know spend loads of time with other children. I also believe Olive's boys will be ok, but don't think we should dismiss concerns outright.

I'm really hoping they get cases under control in Aberdeen, I'm back to panicking about schools going back next week, with no social distancing in place.