Northern Ireland, is there an announcement tomorrow?

[blueboxgoat]

I was expecting more restrictions last week but it looks like there's no money to fund a lockdown so until Boris outlines his plans we are in limbo?
Do you find out anything tomorrow?
What do you think will happen for our wee country. The rumours of beds filling up etc in hospitals are worrying.

Oh @DeliciouslyFemale is that SERC? I'm in the same boat.

I was in Ikea through the week and it was a dream. Really well organised and every staff and customer in masks, but I guess the wheels come of when it gets really busy.

I went to Sainsbury's last night and there was a lot of teenagers hanging about outside, no masks, hanging off each other. Then some inside with masks pulled up, screeching up and down the aisles, tons of them in a big group. If security can't even ask a bunch of pissed up teens to wise up what hope have we got?

That sounds awful Wilson ❤️

I've only been to IKEA once this year and it was in the morning during the week and it was really quiet.

Sometimes you just want to do normal things again at the weekend though.

The worst experience I had was actually in Victoria part, we were walking around the middle island and it was awful. Nobody waiting to let you past, people stopping on bridges to look about them so you had to wait ages or squeeze past them, large groups standing either side of the path and shouting to each other as you walked through the middle of them, loads of people not following the one way system. Was so stressful.

It does appear there will be an announcement today...

@DeliciouslyFemale that’s awful for your and your daughter. I’ve started going shopping either first thing in the morning or late evening to avoid people in supermarkets.

@blueboxgoat funnily enough we went for a walk in Victoria Park after the Ikea experience just to get some fresh air and a different walk, as fed up of trekking round our usual haunts. It was thankfully very quiet and we hardly saw anyone at all - seems that they were all in Ikea!

Wonder what today will bring. They’re going to have to be seen to be taking some action, cases are 1000 a day now. I am dreading it though, I’m not sure how long I can carry on like this and retain my sanity!

Compliance doesn’t seem great in my part of NI. I had to go to Connswater shopping centre and it was like hades arsehole, hardly any mask wearers, ditherers and family days out, buggies et al. I felt like a dick for wearing a mask and trying to distance. The Range was unbelievable. I had to walk through it to get out, rammed full of people and narrow cluttered aisles.
Belfast city, again non mask wearers everywhere and whilst I know some people are exempt it seems disproportionate. It’s disheartening and frustrating.

The mask wearing is awful here too, there’s a real feeling of “you can’t tell me what to do..” Ikea sounds dreadful, knowing that you can’t get out easily would just make it all the more terrifying. Funny, I was just thinking the other day that we haven’t had the school fees letter either (not a private school, voluntary fees), not sure if it’s a coincidence...1000 cases a day is a bit crazy and something really has to give but I honestly believe the problem is at least partly in schools and not so much a socially distanced Starbucks.

I too believe schools are the issue and believe me, I want my kids there as much as anyone!
Ds says there’s next to no distancing and his school only stopped whole year assemblies after the schools first cases were confirmed.
Also I thought in higher years the whole year would isolate but it’s actually only been those identified as close contacts.
I don’t have much faith in them getting that right.

Nicky that seems to be the policy now, only the people seated near the positive case are sent home, which doesn’t take into account break, lunch etc or general moving around. The schools are doing exactly as they are told, by Stormont, but I don’t honestly believe that they should be open with so little social distancing. We were told that the schools would open with a 50/50 system, so smaller class sizes and one group home each alternate week. Then of course that all changed at the end of August and cases are now rocketing....

At least we'll be spared Michelle having to repeat everything Arlene has said if they do a press conference today (I think she'll still be isolating)
I was actually impressed with Michelle and how well the two seemed to be working together until the funeral incident.
I thought if something good could come out of all this is would be both sides appearing to come together and work well through the crisis.

Bluebox, my thoughts completely.

Cherryblossomandcornflakes We were all set for the 50/50 plan too with a week in and a week out. Would at least have reduced the number of kids in the corridors. I do think 1300 plus kids in the school is crazy.
Never mind Dd who travels into Queens three days each week for classes that could easily be online with the rest of her classes.
We have extremely vulnerable grandparents who we try to distance from but I have to see them each day as they couldn’t manage without my help. I’m terrified of taking it to them.

Nicky yep, I've just seen that Peter Weir has just said that hes not closing schools because there is no evidence of transmission within schools....oh dear ...I think that as someone said on another thread, regardless of whether the virus is transmitted in schools or not, people will have the attitude of "well they are in school all day, they may as well socialise outside ".

Having watched Arlene Foster’s Facebook videos, I think she is very much for giving us a chance to put things right before having to go further with the restrictions. To be fair, she does seem concerned about the balance between lockdown and welfare

I think a "circuit breaker" would only be effective if they use the time to get prepared for the months ahead.

If more hospital space is needed, that should be figured out. There needs to be a more convincing plan for schools than "we don't think they're really a problem". We need to start hearing what the expectations are for the winter - are we basically keeping it suppressed until spring in the hopes that the hospitals etc can manage better then? Or until there's a vaccine? They need to look at ways to enforce distancing and mask-wearing.

Thankfully testing seems to be working reasonably efficiently now - I was able to book one this morning for 1pm today, and I'm told the results should be back by 6am tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.

Belfastsmile- I was tested at 4pm at the odyssey a few days ago and had the result by 8am the next day.

I’d rather they’d just do something now than drag it out. It’s only going to get worse.

And I wish Peter Weir would stop pretending that schools are open as normal. I’m in the second least worst area in NI and loads of schools are affected. Most of them haven’t been in the news. One has 5 cases in a year group so has now sent them all home, this is a year working towards GCSEs.

Can’t see there can be many schools open normally in Derry and Strabane with their numbers. I’d take mine out of school if we had anything Like that.

So stop pretending that if they keep the schools open that they’re all getting their education as usual. Complete farce.

@blueboxgoat

Belfastsmile- I was tested at 4pm at the odyssey a few days ago and had the result by 8am the next day.

That's good to know. I'm going to the Odyssey too. Do they administer the test there, or do you do it yourself?

I too am from NI and am around day 8 of Covid. I wish the idiots could experience this, I am in agony. I am under 40, slim with no diabetes etc. Low risk but God I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

Hope you feel better soon, Sore.

So sorry Sore...please feel better soon.
Seems that theres a call for a 6 week lockdown, including schools, from Michael McBride. But who knows what will happen.

Belfastsmile- I just had to do it myself. My husband also had one done before going in for day surgery but that was at Boucher and they did it for him (was so much worse than mine seemingly 🙄 they used a stick the size of a javelin and pushed it into his brain seemingly)

My feeling is that as they will do some sort of 'circuit breaker' before Christmas.

They have delayed the AQE/GL till January and they want all kids to stay in schools, so I bet Weir and thousands of parents (me included!!) are bricking it about rates being high and kids needing to isolate in January.

Would love to know what the contingency plan is for the AQE/GL, but no mention of such a thing.

@blueboxgoat

Belfastsmile- I just had to do it myself. My husband also had one done before going in for day surgery but that was at Boucher and they did it for him (was so much worse than mine seemingly 🙄 they used a stick the size of a javelin and pushed it into his brain seemingly)

I'm just back, yeah it was self-service! Not the most pleasant thing I've done, but it was fine. I do think someone else doing it on you is probably a bit worse, but I'm not sure they'd get away with using a javelin...