Covid-19

[sally maclennane]

I wonder if the testing criteria is different in Scotland as the NHS there is separate to NHS England?

Nope, its roughly the same I think!

Plus I doubt he was tested by the NHS!

[Marth]

Just think the money that he could have donated to the NHS to get frontline staff tested...… (We don't know that they haven't, but...…)
My mum annoyed me this morning and I had a go at her, for being one of those people who feel it's ok to pop to Sainsbury's to get "a few bits".

This whilst my workplace is asking us staff if we have access to any PPE that they can have in order to keep critical frontline care going. That just completely broke me.

[Morganna]

My mum was on the phone earlier, and disappeared 'to let next door's plasterer in because they were out at the shops'. .

I also had a go, which isn't fair of me, as my mum hasn't gone out since the lockdown), but she kept saying that they had waited ages for this man to come round to finish the work, and besides they were out, so it was ok. When I said that they shouldn't be out, and asked if they were having a mortuary built onto their house, light seemed to slowly dawn, but at first she just didn't seem to get it. It's sooo frustrating. I think she sees it as like the war, when carrying on in the face of adversity was a sign of courage.

I know it's draconian, but I think we need to have a system where people need a form to leave the house. If people like my mum's neighbours think that they might be stopped and have to account for their choices, maybe they will give them a bit of thought, instead of concentrating on 'keeping their independence'. There are schemes to get essential items for the elderly - they don't need to pop out, and they certainly don't need to have plasterers in their houses (he was expecting them to be there when he called).

[Lily]

I have got to sort a blocked drain here. The drain bloke came up to me and I stepped back and he said "Ah well we're all going to get it, it doesn't bother me." I said "It bothers ME".

[Edith Bacon]

People just don’t get it, do they?!

Do we need to show rows of dead bodies on the daily briefing or something? I cannot understand why people aren’t doing what they have been told.

[Morganna]

I cannot understand why people aren’t doing what they have been told.

I was just saying to my sister that my mum seems to have reverted to a child-like state, where she is choosing to interpret things in terms of what 'you are allowed' to do, and stretching them to suit herself. 'You are allowed' to go to the pharmacy, so it's ok to 'just' go to the one a bit further away where there are more shops, which is what her neighbours were doing, apparently. Similarly, she saw on the news that builders 'were allowed' to work, so long as they kept apart etc, and this man was on his own, so it was ok. It's like she can't conceptualise any more, and needs a list of rules to refer to.

As I say, though, she has (AFAIK) stayed indoors herself, but as she is so willing to find excuses and workarounds for her neighbours on Day 3, or whatever we're on, I am really concerned. And much as I hate to say it, as I am the closest to her, if she became unable to look after herself she would probably have to move in here, and I am not at all happy about that idea, as I think there is a good chance that she will have exposed herself to the virus long after I may have done.

[smalex]

I cannot understand why people aren’t doing what they have been told.

Because the world has changed out of all recognition in an incredibly short space of time, it's scary, it's surreal, it's ripping people away from routines, from their loved ones, from a basic sense of liberty that hasn't ever been challenged in their lives. I'm not saying it's right, and people who've managed to comply without hesitation are to be commended of course, but I do understand why people seem to be having immense amounts of trouble 'doing what they're told'.

[Rebel Pebble]

Ooh! Home testing kits on the way hopefully.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... oFBaBVzyqE

[Derek Nimmo]

About bloody time too! If only the government had stuck every available resource behind this rather than fannying about for weeks.

[Edith Bacon]

I can totally understand people being upset about this enormous disruption to their lives - I get that, I feel that and I really do understand it. But people can be upset and still do the right thing; being upset isn’t a free pass to spread death around.

[smalex]

I can totally understand people being upset about this enormous disruption to their lives - I get that, I feel that and I really do understand it. But people can be upset and still do the right thing; being upset isn’t a free pass to spread death around.

It isn't of course, but a lot of people don't process their feelings in a crisis (or ever) in a logical way. They rail, they argue, they try and twist the rules. Many of us here are even doing it in small ways. We're all struggling to catch up.
As I said, I don't think it's right, and people need to be forced by being reminded, being guilted or occasionally by police or other intervention, but I do understand why some people haven't managed to mentally catch up or deal with their feelings when things have changed so radically, so quickly. I'm not patting anyone on the back for being a twat, but I've some sympathy, I just don't think human brains (some more than others ) are built to deal with this.

[Derek Nimmo]

It's not just upset, it's counter-intuitive to human nature to separate in times of crisis.

Also, as George Carlin said, think of how stupid the average person is, and realise that half of them are much stupider than that . The messages that have come out from central government have been vague and wooly at best - it hasn't been the short, sharp and authoritative at all. Some people may be deliberately disobeying, but I suspect most are still a bit vague on the whys and wherefores.

[smalex]

Exactly. If Brexit taught us anything, it's that vast quantities of the population are unable to process information and come to a logical, beneficial, conclusion.

[Derek Nimmo]

Preach!

[Skips]

J and I have 'broken the rules' and have moved to sitting next to each other on one sofa. The rules around living with a vulnerable person are unclear. I can't stay at home for the next 12 weeks which means I am open to infection, which in turn means I could pass it to him. But it's fucking hard and it's nearly broken me already. I lay awake at night and wonder if we're doing the right thing, but we still don't share a bed and we haven't kissed or hugged or done anything other than sitting next to each other.

[Luna]

My husband is still working on a building site that refuses to close. They use a bio metric system to get in and out and someone actually came on site with the virus just to pick something up everyone went ‘whoaa’ at that point but know that if they don’t work they’ll get fuck all out of the government.

[Ella77]

I don’t want to add to your woes, Skips, but did you see that thing about viral load that I posted? If you’re both carrying it, it’s lots more risky to sit in the same room together.

[Ella77]

Here.

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[Dandelion]

Today we were all emailed to log onto a conference call to discuss the impact that Coronavirus has had on our company (a global travel agency), and the steps that they have to take to protect us all. Dooooom. :sad:

Sure enough, they need to decrease payroll to the extent of every member of staff having 8 out of the next 12 weeks unpaid. They are going to do this with a mixture of furloughing, reducing hours, enforcing unpaid leave and salary reductions.

The CEO has taken a 50% salary drop. I can’t decide if that is noble or not sufficient.

Now we have to wait to see how this affects us as individuals and what options we will have to choose from.

I can’t believe how quickly things are falling apart.

[Skips]

Sorry, I missed it.

If either one of us shows symptoms I will make sure we don't come into contact with each other at all. J would live off supernoodles if I don't cook for him, so I'll continue to make a hot main meal in the evening together but I won't make any cold food for him (such as a sandwich) as I stopped that quite early on. I'll suggest we go back to separate sofas, but it is so hard to stick to long term. I really miss physical contact, we used to hug quite a lot and that is the thing I crave the most.

ETA: Sorry Dande I missed that as it took me so long to reply. Will the government cover the salary you lose?