All these "bubbles"

[lovelylittlepanda]

So, childcare bubble, support bubble, separate Christmas bubble, changing your bubble, travelling to see your "bubbled" household etc.

All allowed. All have highly technical fine print probably read by very few.

Impact on Covid rates.

Discuss.

Disclaimer: we are in one. Wouldn't want to terminate it obvs.

@DenisetheMenace

Interesting. Our (very nice) widowed neighbour is “bubbling” with all 3 children and their families. Suspect that a lot of people don’t understand.

It’s situations like this that need tightening up on, not removing support bubbles. I’m not sure how people don’t get by now that you can only have one support bubble. This needs sorting as it’s not going to be good for anyone if they’re taken away because people are ‘missunderstanding’

People seem to have support bubbles when they or the ' bubble' do not live alone or fit the criteria in regard to being a lone parent. Abusing the system for their own situation.

@RuthTopp not all bubbles are for single people or lone parents

@RuthTopp

People seem to have support bubbles when they or the ' bubble' do not live alone or fit the criteria in regard to being a lone parent. Abusing the system for their own situation.

I’m not a lone parent and I don’t live alone but qualify for a support bubble

I have friends with teen children at college who are in support bubbles with other single parents with teen children - and both adults working. I do think it’s daft. It’s basically just normal mixing.

Single, non-working parents of primary age etc makes sense. Working parents with older teens does not.

@Covidasaurus I think that's it. People I know are just using the word bubble to describe any social mixing. If they are related, it's a support bubble, if it's friends with kids, a childcare bubble to describe playdates etc

My mil ' support bubbles' are the lady she picks up to go shopping with and then goes into the house for a coffee. A woman she goes to her house to get her hair cut Her adult granddaughter , her friends she visits some evenings. If posters are suggesting these are all ok, then you are as crazy as she is.

@RuthTopp

My mil ' support bubbles' are the lady she picks up to go shopping with and then goes into the house for a coffee. A woman she goes to her house to get her hair cut Her adult granddaughter , her friends she visits some evenings. If posters are suggesting these are all ok, then you are as crazy as she is.

No that’s not ok and is against the rules, you can only be in one support bubble. When people stick to the actual rules then they are fine and shouldn’t be removed.

I agree that bubbles for support when used properly are essential, but they are also risky if one half of the bubble involves a family with school, nursery or college aged children. It would be better where possible to bubble with lower risk people in my opinion.

I also agree that many people are abusing bubbles and mixing far too much. How do you stop this without stopping bubbles altogether? I’ve no idea.

But multigenerational mixing is risky and the cause of many hospital admissions. Also teenage or young people mixing with friends and boyfriends etc and still going back to their parents houses if they don’t live there- which is happening frequently to many I know. Many of their parents are then providing care and support to vulnerable relatives as well!!

@Mousehole10

Yes that's my point. So many people are bending rules to suit themselves. Hence why numbers are growing. She lives in an tier 4 area that all schools are closed due to high numbers. Throughout all of this she will phone up and tell you all about people flouting the rules but sees no harm in what she does because ' she would go mad stuck indoor ' also inspire of being told she should shield due to COPD. Frankly , I'm surprised she hasn't yet caught it and died.

Agree with you @Happychristmashohoho

Many teens up to 19 years old are already mixing across two households because of separated parents. Then those parents have their own (relationship) “support bubbles” with other families with teens... then they also visit their single parents etc...

The idea of the poster above that bubbles should provide support where otherwise professional support should be needed is far more sensible.

Yes single people are likely to flout the rules surreptitiously - but better to do that discreetly with just two partners without openly mixing households of teens as well.

It is potentially problematic. A single parent of school age children can have pretty direct contact with three other households on a regular basis entirely legally.

A support bubble, plus a childcare bubble, plus the other parent's household as the children are allowed to move freely between both parents. Those households may have different bubbles too, potentially a huge problem.

On the other hand a single adult living in a houseshare or with an adult child/elderly parent can't have any bubbles at all.

I don't know what the answer is though.

@LoudTree

I would be strongly against stopping support bubbles- I think it was inhuman to keep people effectively in solitary confinement for months with no human contact last time.

However, I would restrict it to people who live alone. It should never have been extended to single parents or families with babies.

Well, you're all heart aren't you. Personally I think it's harder for single parents, particularly of young children to cope with lockdown and the isolation.

We are in a bubble with our daughter who is a single parent to 2 primary school aged children. We are a support/childcare bubble combined. Even before cv she needed a lot of support due to leaving an abusive marriage and spending months in a refuge. I've been very law abiding through all this, but I might have to break the rules if they stopped our bubble. Thankfully I don't think they will do that.

But I do agree that there is a lot of abuse and/or misunderstanding of bubbles. Some is just people assuming that it fits with what they want and others are more deliberate. I have no idea how you educate the ignorant more than has already been done. It is a problem.

@Covidasaurus I’m a single parent of a teen. I need a bubble just as much as a lone parent primary aged . Yes it’s not as physically exhausting but the mental health impact on teens is unbelievable, especially with home schooling. I have to be strong and positive all the time and keep her up. No way would I be holding it together without a bubble for some light relief- plus she gets to be silly with her younger cousins which has a very clear benefit , so we see them weekly . If the bubble was banned, I’m afraid I’d keep on just as I am. We don’t see anyone else and her dad is not involved so it is absolutely crucial.

And I work full time and that is of no support especially as all day 5 days a week I am speaking to people affected by the pandemic . I’d be better off not working in a mental health sense and it’s certainly not a positive thing for me in that regard . My colleagues are not my friends or support .

The problem is not bubbles.

There are plenty of people breaking the rules. I live in tier 4 where schools are closed and sit working watching people go in and out of my neighbours house all day - she has a hairdressing business run out of her house and is carrying on regardless. Other neighbours have never stopped having daily visitors since this all began.

So I’m buggered if I will stop doing any of the things I am doing which are definitely not spreading the virus!!

Exactly @tootyfruitypickle , I take on all my teens emotional angst, I work in an emotionally difficult job (where the staff support has been cut off by working from home). I need someone on my side.

So I’m buggered if I will stop doing any of the things I am doing which are definitely not spreading the virus!!

But everyone thinks the things they are doing aren’t spreading the virus which is why they justify doing them - the figures say otherwise 🤔

No, going for a haircut in tier 4 in someone’s house does risk spreading the virus.

The bubble I am in makes 6 people, we don’t see anyone else. We act as one household. Some families are this size.

@tootyfruitypickle

No, going for a haircut in tier 4 in someone’s house does risk spreading the virus.

The bubble I am in makes 6 people, we don’t see anyone else. We act as one household. Some families are this size.

If it's a legally permitted bubble then you can carry on with it. What things do you mean when you say you aren't going to stop doing things which aren't spreading the virus?

We were discussing if bubbles might go and some PP were suggesting that lone parents with teenagers shouldn’t get to keep bubbles.

Enraged me somewhat but thankfully now a moot point

@tootyfruitypickle

We were discussing if bubbles might go and some PP were suggesting that lone parents with teenagers shouldn’t get to keep bubbles.

Enraged me somewhat but thankfully now a moot point

My family have claimed all along that I'm not "technically" allowed a support bubble because I have teens. Even though I am

I’m 5 1/2 months pregnant with a 10 month old. My fiancé is classified as a key worker and has to go into his office. I do 90% of the childcare as fiancé is out of the house 8 - half 6. I categorically need the support of another adult once a week. I am exhausted and lonely most of the time. I can’t go to baby groups, I can’t meet up with friends for lunch it’s getting harder and harder for me to lug my child up and down the stairs to my flat and I’ve now been informed by the government that I really shouldn’t leave my village unless necessary.

Loads of people are meeting up with many different people, and their kids, to go on walks. I can't grasp how this is allowed.