Anyone in the North East?

[PennyDreadfuI]

Gateshead has just been added to the govt watchlist and Newcastle is on amber alert. Sunderland have had over 200 cases in the past seven days.

Are we next for a local lockdown? What do you think it will entail? Given Newcastle's reputation as a party city I'm guessing restricted hours for bars maybe - they were packed to the rafters over the August bank holiday weekend, which may account for lots of the new cases.

People saying it's due to pubs why wasn't the rise back in July when they opened.

I'm not sure why posters need to speculate about the whys of it all. There just happen to be a lot of pubs closing due to covid. Maybe it's because the weather has been a lot less settled for the last fortnight and fewer people are drinking outdoors?

Northumberland here and secondary teacher. Countless children off with symptoms today- no idea if they are being tested or not. Taught 3 students today all of whom said they had a sore throat and had coughs but didn't want to get a test because they had heard it hurt. Doubt the parents will take them to get a test. Lots of vulnerable staff members in our school.

I think it said it would be for appointments only. Drop in would be better but don’t know how they’d manage that.

@TheEC Yep, both of mine go to school in Houghton and are off already with what Im 99% certain is a normal back to school cold but Im very on edge at the moment.

Facebook groups are the devils work. If I read 'scamdemic' or 'plandemic' one more time I won't be held responsible

I really feel for those In Houghton. It must be very difficult.

Oh, that's not great mog. Hadn't thought some would avoid mentioning symptoms to avoid a test.

"Plandemic;" What is with all the deniers?! Twats.

Seems to be a correlation between Covid deniers and Brexit voters. Hmm, wonder why that could be.

Sadly a lot of the local Facebook groups are full of people talking about how “suspicious” it all is and what the governments agenda is

Funny that. They weren’t complaining when they were sat at home on 80% wages. Were they wondering what the government agenda was then? Ah no, because that suited them you see!

A whole primary school has closed in 'boro for two weeks.

Yes, the school in Hemlington? All of the cases were amongst the staff. I heard 5 had a positive result so that could have escalated quickly.

Sadly a lot of the local Facebook groups are full of people talking about how “suspicious” it all is and what the governments agenda is

The agenda is having everyone looking left whilst the government are breaking international laws on the right. Covid is a perfect distraction for the coming diaster of Brexit.

four yes that's the one. I know a lot of people with children there.

@PennyDreadfuI - Each day I compile the latest number of lab-confirmed, positive coronavirus cases across the country into a bitesize email – one for each district council in the UK – and send them out at 8am.

You are most welcome to sign up if you wish at www.covidmessenger.com

I've been watching the north east and it has been really worrying. If it helps you keep an eye on things you are most welcome to sign up for my emails for the councils you are interested in. We have found knowing what is happening in our local area invaluable (which as an ex data analyst was what compelled me to start the service!!!).

I hope are all ok and staying safe. And I hope things get better in the north east. To be honest, watching the daily data, things have been deteriorating in the majority of councils across the country. I did a post on Facebook about it this morning. It's really worrying. It's not even winter yet. I really hope the govt. gets it under control quickly.

I subscribed to the service @littleowl1 provides about 6 weeks ago. I would recommend. Gives you a heads up about your own areas. Sadly didn't think mine would be so much in the shit now so soon. But then again I'm not surprised.

We got our results back and fortunately they are negative, everyone can go back to school. That result was turned around in less than 21 hours.

That's great four. Where was the test?

There's a huge testing centre at great park in gosforth, Newcastle btw.

Middlesbrough, near the Riverside Stadium.

My son's year group is allowed to go back on Monday as they've identified those who've had direct contact with the infected kid. So glad it was sorted quickly with only one day at school lost.

My cousin is having an awful time trying to book an appointment for my nephew. There just seem to be no appointments available at all. She's tried all night.

They really need to sort out something more practical for schools if every cold that results in a cough/temperature needs a test. My daughter has been unwell since she came home from school Tuesday evening. Sat up all night refreshing the page trying to book a slot, eventually grabbed a home test kit on the Wednesday morning which didn't arrive until 6pm Thursday evening so Friday before I could even take the test and post it.

Now waiting for results and Im as confident as I possibly can be its a normal cold but if it does come back positive her bubble have been in school this entire time.

We actually track this.
So I work in Newcastle but out staff are widespread across the NE.
This dashboard specifically focusses on the NE so we've been monitoring this for the last few months.

lite.gavurin.com/Lite/Dashboard/428

Thanks stats.

I read there's going to be a few new testing sites coming.

Ds has the class cold but it's now a cough. Great.

No problem!
The data automatically updates too each week so handy to revisit and track.

Had a bit of a panic on Fri asbfreins I saw on wed got a cough. She managed to get a test a few hours after booking in Durham so not a huge trek and had results less than 24hrs later so at least that appears to be working...and she was negative.

I'm in Gateshead. 👋
I'm struggling to get a test too. I had one in June at a site just if the A1 near Gosforth /great park. But now it says no sites near-by. So wonder if this has been closed?