@Quartz2208 the people I’m visiting have all managed so far by shielding. For 2.5 years.
They recognise the very high risks of travel for example so they would wait a few days before meeting someone who’d had to travel on a transatlantic flight, and ask them to test, twice, and even then they’d meet outside. Most of them wouldn’t travel by air themselves now. My dad did recently get Covid, when he had to fly to Scotland for a funeral. He’s been pretty unwell since but is slowly recovering.
they drive, rather than trains and buses, they masks inside like we do, etc
The problem is we are going to roll up on their doorsteps having likely been exposed on the flight, and airport, because the hotboxing of unmasked passengers in queues and when boarding/deplaning - when the inflight HEPA isn’t on - is a huge risk. We won’t know for 3-4 days if we are positive. And if we are positive, we can’t then execute the remainder of our visiting plans, even if only mildly symptomatic. We are likely going to hire a car so we can avoid public transport and meet family outside, assuming we are well enough.
we then have to get back here, somehow, symptom free and non-infectious ready for DS to start middle school and slap bang in peak hurricane risk season.
It is really fucking stressful. If it was just a holiday I’d have cancelled. But it’s family whom we haven’t seen in U.K. since summer 2019, so here we are.
All my efforts would be likely much more successful if there was some appetite to mitigate spread by decreasing airborne viral load in the U.K. but here we are.
The thread is stressing me out more so I’m going to stop looking at MN for a bit, I had a good read around, I see how things are, my focus is better elsewhere right now, like getting hurricane prep and back to school prep done now whilst we are all healthy as opposed to trying to do it post-Covid and last minute after traveling back from the U.K.