Worried About Coronavirus- thread 39

[CrunchyCarrot]

New thread!

Thanks for the kind words The doctor insisted on seeing me as she suspected I had a chest infection and she was right. More steroids and a course of antibiotics. Joy. My chest really aches this afternoon and my head is banging again. Roll on bedtime!

I'm getting increasingly concerned regarding the children going to school. They will be out of isolation on Monday and I want them to attend but I don't believe it's safe. It's a slow motion car crash from what I can see. I'm waiting to see what the greater Manchester review highlights. My area isn't red yet but is not far off. I feel like it's March again and they are denying the situation.

The DM says MY is considering the lockdown.
So angry though if they had masked the teachers and kids this wouldn't be needed

It's been announced that the usual New Year's Day fireworks display in London has been cancelled.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-54204929

That's a long way away for such a decision, doesn't bode well, does it.

I thought that @ crunchy, certainly does not bode well for christmas. I am trying to come to terms with not being able to be with my family at christmas, but i know is only a small thing in the scale of things, but I never really thought that would be the case.

I’ve practically written off anything big this Christmas already. It was just me, DH and DD last Christmas because she was only a few weeks old, and it was lovely. But we went to listen to carols, met our NCT group, went out for lunches and outings in the days before and after etc Doubt we’ll be doing any of that this time.
It’s ironic, because I was telling DH we should enjoy it because we won’t get a Christmas to ourselves like that again!!

Hope everyone doing ok, things seem to be escalating very quickly. France had horrible numbers yesterday just when i thought we were starting to plateau ( wishful thinking), and all i seem to hear is ambulances all day which was probably always the cases but I am on heightened alert.

Yes im hearing a lot too even though supposedly low area. But also hearing a lot of coughing.
Our numbers are obviously worse than we know as theyve restricted testing
Cant have us seeing the train coming
Also withholding info on school cases so its not on the news.
Ive seen at least 3 with over 4 cases. There are 2 at a local secondary.
Are you getting spread in schools despite the masks?

Morning all.

I have booked to come to the UK the first week of Dec and in a fit of blind fuck you Covid optimism booked Warner Bros studio and Kew at Christmas.

Hopefully we can keep this thread going now, as a haven of sanity and empathy in the middle of a sea of foulness which seems to be again taking over MN like it did back in March.

Oh lovely @ seeds, dont blame you, need something to hope for. Just spoke to my daughters and avoided the C word but will have to confront it soon, they can then make other plans. One daughter just moved to London and we were looking forward to being able to see her a bit more but not happening obviously. I suggested to dh that i would go to uk begining december, quarantine and then spend christmas with daughters, he could stay and work! Did not go done too well
Yes getting spread in schools @ keep, dont know much about the school situation but 89 schools are closed, 5000 students positive in last 7 days, many more classes closed ( not sure exactly).

Looks intentional in france too!
No masks in french primary either
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/09/16/fran-s16.html

seeds fingers crossed that you’ll get to do both.
And yes please to the empathy. The tone of some threads has got really ugly again. I glanced at a newspaper headline the other day saying COVID is even more divisive than Brexit, and I can believe it.
humphries I know what you mean abut the ambulances. I’m back to listening to them, as I did back in March.
keep someone on a different thread (you might have seen it already) was recommending Dr Zoe Hide on Twitter for news on schools and covid (generally, not just UK)

Sorry - Zoe Hyde

I think that suggests it's worse than we are being told.

I'm feeling pants today. Not literally sissy from when doing the laundry but I am zapped of energy and irritable too. PMT I suspect. 2 dds with PMT too! It's a delightful day here in the bercows household.
So my temperature is 37.7 with regular paracetamol. I normally run around 36.5 but then I am on antibiotics for a chest infection after having ds's virus. Ds continues to run at 37-37.7 and is full of sneezes but his cough is better. Ds's are now 37.7 and 37.5 but fine apart from the hormone induced crankiness and dd1s occasional probable asthma cough and breathlessness. She's just been started on new treatment. I have guidance from ds's school that doesn't give any advice if you can't get a test. Helpful. Nothing from dds' school. This is day 12/13 of self isolation for us all. I hate this. I hate being responsible for all the decisions because there's only me.

oh Berc, that sounds tough. Do you have family nearby?

I'm so upset today and need to vent. Had a very curt email from the head of my two younger DC's primary and I am trying very, very hard to not take it to heart. We have just finished our week isolation after having to test DS which came back as negative (thank God!) I informed of her of this but reiterated my concern about sending my DC's in under the current circumstances as a disabled parent now that testing has fallen apart and cases in our local area are rising rapidly.
The reply was basically "I expect them in on Monday".
I just feel so defeated by it all and really, really don't want to send them back. It doesn't feel safe. DS loves his school and his friends so can't deregister either.
Feel that sense of creeping dread that I did in the middle of March. Just had enough of it.

@TheSeedsOfADream I have my mum but she's 81 and we have stayed away from her since March  apart from chats at the door from a distance when she gets her shopping.

@Beebityboo I'm seriously thinking of not sending my 3 in. Dd1 is actually asleep. I'm on my second lots of steroids and my immune system won't be too great as a result and I'm sending them back to mix with a total of about 800 people. I tried calling the council but there was no reply. I'll try again on Monday. I'd rather commit myself to home schooling to get us through to spring. I don't want to but I have to do what's best and schools need to respect we have parental responsibility and have to act in the best interests of our household. It's not like you're swanning off on a safari for months is it?'

@Bercows, it's funny you should say that as I was talking to DH earlier about how when I was at primary a lad in my class left school for three months to travel around Africa with his family, and was let back in no problem after they got back. Attendance seemed so much more relaxed back then. All I want is to get us through Winter in one piece!

The school has been quite nice and comforting until now but it definitely turned today and think they are getting a little bit sick of me. I would deregister in a heartbeat if DS wasn't happy there. He has only been there since last year so if he left he'd be on his third primary . Its my health that is at stake too, not theirs, so feel like I'm being selfish by wanting to keep them out of school.

It's just a waking nightmare. I cry every single day after the school run. Not sure how much more uncertainty and fear I can cope with tbh.

@Beebityboo
I had a meltdown the second day of dropping ds and had to fight to get him dropped at the office instead of joining the huge queue of parents fir half an hour in the two way system. I was quite glad when he said he didn't feel well! I feel selfish too but needs must.

The latest Greater Manchester figures as coronavirus infection rates soar https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/latest-greater-manchester-coronavirus-infection-18964318

Greater Manchester rates now put all the boroughs in the red zone. Rates are higher now then they were during the peak according to the above article. Unless anything is announced that will make schools safer from Monday then I think I'm home schooling.

@Beebityboo whereabouts are you located? Roughly, I mean, I'm not wanting you to put yourself

We're in the Midlands so numbers not looking too good here either, though Manchester seems to be getting hit hard . All of our local schools are having cases, literally all but ours so I'm expecting it to happen this week.
It is just so unbelievably wrong that we are in this position. I can't quite believe we still aren't being given a choice in all of this.

@Beebityboo , @Bercows, neither of you are at all selfish thinking of your health. Your kids need you - you’re thinking of them by thinking of you.
I think the way the vulnerable and ecv are just supposed to get on with it when it comes to schooling (and other things too - returning to work etc etc ) is shocking. There is a callous attitude developing among the general public about this as well- or maybe just on some Mumsnet threads. A sort of “we can’t be bothered to keep you safe anymore, just lock yourselves in at home.” Shudder.
I feel exactly as I felt in March, just hoping we can get through the next six months in one piece. And DD is not even school age yet. It’ll be a hard decision what to do about nursery in a few months, but at least there’s no pressure to attend the way there is in schools.
for all wrestling with this. It’s tough.

Thank you Earl . Currently up with my nightly panic attack trying to figure out what to do for the best. I wish it was as simple as deregistering but our situation is really complicated. I try so hard every day to keep it together and not let the DC's see how scared I am.
Wish I could just go to sleep and wake up at Easter!

So sorry beebity, hope you are getting some rest.

www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/rugby-stars-dodge-testing-chaos-thanks-to-randox-lab-that-misses-targets-for-public-5gj760gns

This article has made my blood boil this morning. Hope it is not behind a paywall, will try and copy and paste some of it.

The UK’s biggest Covid-19 testing laboratory is prioritising Premiership Rugby players and travellers to Dubai while failing to meet government targets for the public, according to company insiders.

Randox Laboratories, based in Co Antrim, Northern Ireland, won a £133m testing contract unopposed in March. It is responsible for a quarter of community tests in the UK.

However, leaked documents marked “sensitive” reveal that it regularly fails to provide test results within the official 24-hour target. On September 9, Randox completed fewer than one in 10 tests on time. It has also “voided” more tests than any laboratory — meaning the number it throws away because of errors.

Yet, according to staff, tests taken by rugby players and coaching staff are sent to Antrim via helicopter every week and are granted immediate “priority status”.

On September 2 — the same day that it voided 12,401 tests without explanation — Randox said it was “delighted” to sign a new deal to screen airline travellers to Dubai.

The company, founded by polo-playing millionaire Peter FitzGerald, 70, in a chicken shed at his parents’ house in Crumlin, Co Antrim, in 1982, employs more than 1,500 people, from its headquarters in Co Antrim to offices in India, Brazil and America among others, and has many links to the powerful and glamorous.