I've just woke up and read we may be heading for a National lockdown

[hollywoodhills]

I think I must have been living under a rock the last few days as this is the first I've heard of it.

I've tried not to read the news too much as it just worries me.

I'm really in a panic now. How will we all get through a winter lockdown? The summer one was bad enough but at least we had the sun and bright days.

I was so happy to have my job back, my company will not survive another full lockdown.

If the school close I feel that will be disastrous. My dc have loved being back and have literally skipped into school every day since September. I really hope the schools will stay open.

How the hell can I organize Christmas like this!

I can feel myself getting really stressed out and worried about everything.

I can't believe I couldn't see this coming sooner!

We locked down again in Ireland a week ago (schools did not close though). Cases are falling. Fingers crossed.

@FreshfieldsGal

Bang on! I would add it should be taken with a fat source for better absorbtion.
We use the better you spray. Holland and barretts sell it.

Rda levels are pish. They were brought in during the war due to rationing . It was to prevent a deficiency however its nowhere near enough to be optimal for us.

Vit c and zinc should also be in there too. Higher dose vit c at the onset of cold/flu works well to clear it.

Also another suggestion would be to make bone broth to take daily too. Can be consumed as is or used as a stock for soup.

And i dont understand why the vulnerable ones arent offered hcq once a month as prophylactic.

Im seriously hoping big arlene and miss piggy dont follow doris into a full national lockdown here. We are already 2 weeks into a circuit breaker. Fuck. That. Shit.

National better not include Scotland. We've all gone through lockdowns that were not implemented in England. So BoJo should have no say over us.

True enough but Nicola Sturgeon will never risk losing the competition of ensuring the Scottish infection rates are slightly lower than England’s. I’ll be delighted for you if that doesn’t happen, but a pink fluffy pig just flew past my window.

I drop my dc off at their secondary school each day, the kids are basically rubbing shoulders in huge crowds

When they're in classrooms they're shoulder to shoulder with classmates anyway. If the situation is as bad as we're being told then schools and colleges have to go to online learning too. We know, after all, that schools and colleges are currently the main source of transmission. I say this with dread as a teacher and a parent, particularly because my own DDs mental health was clearly suffering during the last lockdown. However, like others, we'll get through it one way or another. Better that than the alternative.
We are in a situation where there is no ideal here. It's a best-worst case.

@Teateaandmoretea

There is an argument for stronger measures in Glasgow and Lanarkshire (although she as reluctant to put Lanarkshire in tier 4 last week due to the effect on the economy).

But cases are much lower than England across the rest of the country. She was talking last week about hopefully being able to relax restrictions in Edinburgh soon.

I hope she doesn’t ditch the regional approach before it has even begun.

@ecosse your argument is rational and sensible, that doesn’t mean much in this ‘new normal’ unfortunately.

I hope that is what happens

It's a load of shite.

So we do a lockdown and the numbers go down...then what? The virus doesn't disappear. Then do have yet another lockdown? By then we'll all be dead from suicide or starvation anyway.

I'd literally just got my business going again, full diary until December which most likely I'll now have to cancel, DH was due to start a new job on 16th after being unemployed since Jan, how will we manage?

The government can't keep bailing everyone out there is not an unlimited supply of money.

Cancer, heart disease, dementia, flu - all much bigger killers. Very low risk for the young and healthy.

Have a listen to the Mike Yeadon interview with James Delingpole on You Tube - the science simply does not justify a lockdown. It is driven purely by fear.

@tinkywinkyshandbag You say it for me.

I don’t like this saying and hate having to use it but it’s the only way to describe another lockdown. We are cutting our noses off to spite our face. There I’ve said it, the cost to our emotional and mental health is underestimated I think.

@onedayinthefuture

One thing is for sure, masks are making fuck all difference.

Not at all. If people were wearing them absolutely everywhere they were inside with people outside their household, maybe. But people are doing their best to get around the rules in places where they are mandated. I doubt there are many people wearing them in places where they aren’t required to especially their own homes if they had visitors round.

I think it’s shown that the idea of covid secure is rubbish and that a Swedish model probably wouldn’t work in the U.K.

@midgebabe

Indeed what will happen when it's lifted?

Will they have sorted out testing and tracing?
No it’s a costly disaster in all ways. Give the money to local teams instead
Will they be supporting people who need to self isolate?
No 1)they are not looking after shielding people 2)They need to test people and get them out of self isolation/quarantine quicker
Will they have worked out what restrictions are most critical to keep in place ?
It would help if they were honest about schools! Using the data from June when hardly any year groups were in and the bubbles were kept separate is a world away from the normality of school life from Sept. I’ve always thought a rota for secondaries with some home learning would be preferable to closing schools entirely. It would be useful to see test and trace data on origins of cases/ which sectors have been worse conduits so we could keep other services open e.g leisure centres/beauticians/libraries/hospitality
Will they keep importing new cases?
Frustratingly yes. We have yet to see if half term breaks will bring back more cases but given what occurred following skiing in Feb and summer holidays it’s more likely than not
Will they repeatedly go for long drawn out subsequent lockdowns too late rather than act hard and quickly ?
Yes in England they will dither and only follow after other countries have taken action. The politicians do not actually listen to when the scientists and medics say to take action

How much Vitamin D should we be taking?

And in what form?

We are all recommended to take it from September to April in any event. There's so little sun and even in summer we are all (understandably) too frightened of melanoma so the sunscreen message has well and truly got through.

I have no option but to take supplements year-round. Since giving birth 6 years ago I've struggled with a debilitating deficiency that causes joint pain the like of which you wouldn't believe. At one stage (during breastfeeding, which I thought might be contributing) I was barely mobile and seriously thought I was arthritic. It's unbelievable the effect that low levels of that particular vitamin can do to your body.

In spring I stopped taking it and within three months was back to the same state. Started again with the supplements and gradually I was fine. Whatever the levels in over-the-counter D3 it's effective, and I can exercise rigorously without feeling like I've been stretched on the rack afterwards. Beforehand even low-impact activities like riding and swimming left me in agony.

Doctors don't even test for low vitamin D anymore, as it's such a common issue in Britain. But its effects can be nasty, and it never occurred to me that the cause could be so simple as a mere vitamin deficiency.

In Ireland are in lockdown. Sounds the same as the uk, we ignored the scientists then the government panicked and went full lockdown. Schools are remaining open which I did want but after 7 cases in my son's school where they literally just took out anyone sitting right next to the positive student and then told us there were cases but because children wore masks they weren't close contacts I'm wishing they'd at least extended midterm. By the way one good thing is that elderly people can use their discretion and so aren't as isolated

MarieIVanArkleStinks
If you don't get tested for deficiency can people gauge roughly how much th eff y need? Was in the pharmacy the other day and saw 2 concentrations and the lady hurried me on so I left them. Could I take too much vitamin d and go wrong?

2 options there @stayathomer. You can get a test done privately (about £30) and see where you are. From that you decide how much to take.
BUT doing that on your own can be tricky. Not the test but the interpretation of it and deciding how much you need.

Or you do what @MarieIVanArkleStinks and a lot of other people do, take a dose not too low or not too high and guess it will be ok. Something around 100~2000iu. Not 10.000IU which is really too high. And not 400iu (Which I think is the daily amount needed) because you are likely to be too low, esp in winter.

First option is best but you will need to see a nutritionist to get the interpretation done.

A Quiet Place

Oops sorry wrong thread!

Meuniere
Thanks for the help!!

back in march due to my husbands ongoing health problems we were shielding, i think this time round, although I`m not sure , that we are allowed out, with restrictions, whatever they may be, can anyone explain please

I think the key to Christmas this year is to keep it simple. Don't have 'normal Christmas' expectations but rather think of it as 'Christmas in a Crisis'. Simple food, simple presents and be thankful to be alive.

@Japa

and be thankful to be alive.

Nothing like some hyperbole on a Monday morning. It’s not Ebola that’s circulating in the U.K. ffs.

[quote Ecosse]@Japa

and be thankful to be alive.

Nothing like some hyperbole on a Monday morning. It’s not Ebola that’s circulating in the U.K. ffs.[/quote]
Was that really necessary?

Ecosse - you are fortunate if your family hasn't had a bereavement from Covid-19.

When they announce the death figures on the news each day, those are real people who have died with families who are grieving.

@Japa

I think the key to Christmas this year is to keep it simple. Don't have 'normal Christmas' expectations but rather think of it as 'Christmas in a Crisis'. Simple food, simple presents and be thankful to be alive.

What sorts of simple food and presents?