Study in the time of COVID-19 (2019/20 intake): online learning, the rule of six and who knows what's next? Anything could happen!

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Following on from the previous thread as our young adults start their second year at universities up and down the land (and some overseas too!).

Thanks @Benjispruce2 - I dreamt DS came home with Covid and we were all trying to socially distance from him.

Interesting point Benji. DS stayed at college until the 21st March and had a bad cough in his final week. He self isolated in his college room. So his test may well come back negative today?

@Jano69 hope your DS is okay. DN now reporting slight sore throat (with positive test result) but nothing more.

I still reckon my two had it at Christmas but for all we know, they could be positive again but we just don't know it.

I wonder how many positives are being recorded in the randomised sampling research studies that are going on in the general population.

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 Hope your DN stays well, she's at UEA too isn't she? It felt like Covid was only in the press at one time but here it is in our families.....

DS’s symptoms have been very up and down. First week mild cough and temp with fatigue as main symptom. This week he’s been fine some days with temp spikes on others and lost his sense of smell temporarily. Went to bed early last night as feeling ‘covidy’ in his words. Too tired to spend his student food voucher which if turns out has to be spent in 24 hours after you receive it! Asked me to chuck some stuff in the online basket for him last night and he’ll look at it today. Cannot stress how unusual this is for him as he loves food, is a great cook and very independent with shopping. Can’t help but worry a bit.

@Horsemad, nice to see you on here too We both have Masters “Freshers”

Hi @Jano69 yes she is. You are right - during the first lockdown for many of us it was something happening to other people but yes, now it's very much amongst us. .

@Benjispruce2, that’s exactly my analysis - the ones that were still out partying just before lockdown mostly seem to be negative now

@LaBelleSauvage123 sounds as if your DS is displaying the more typical symptoms which people were reporting before and during the first lockdown. Really hope he is feeling better today - has he got a good bunch of mates to look out for him?

@Jano69 and @NewModelArmyMayhem18, we are in the middle of London and DH and I are both teachers, so we were in the thick of it at the start. Pretty sure we all had it then though ofc no tests available back in March.

@LaBelleSauvage123 Your poor DS, we all want our dc to be positive and asymptomatic. Sounds like he's being sensible and listening to his body by taking early nights and asking for your support with food shops.

@bigTillyMint We are in London too. Full of admiration for you teachers...

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 and @Jano69 thank you for your good wishes for DS. He has been so lucky with his flatmates - they bonded very quickly and have been supporting each other ( all displaying symptoms and one positive test).

I hope he feels better soon @LaBelleSauvage123

Your DS does sound a bit poorly @LaBelleSauvage123 - hopefully he’s nearly through it. What a shame about the voucher - not really fair if they are ill and not up to spending it immediately.

Yes I’m not sure of the theory behind it!

Reported. 🙄

@Benjispruce2

Oh I really should proof read. Basically, those that remain negative now, are the students that stayed until the end in March. They all had something in the last week/when they got home. In one house there is one boy positive and the others are negative. The positive boy left a week earlier than the others in March.

That is really interesting. DD left as soon as they announced they were going online. (I got a call saying she was coming home!) She's negative (random antibody test). They're hoping to avoid it in their household, but if the worst comes to the worst, one of them has relatively local parents so may be able to drop survival packs off!

Hope all those with positive tests are doing well, and the rest stay well too!

Stupid iphone. Don't know if its the recent software update but I put a photo widget on my home screen and it started showing me little videos which it puts together from photos I've taken. this week it had one of DS who is at Bath Uni, and it plays out all these wonderful photos taken since he was little with nice gentle music over it. And being iphone some of those photos have the little moving bits in them.

Was only a minute long but was in tears by the end :)

Sounds lovely @MrKlaw. How is your DS getting on with all those steep Bath roads to climb?

@NewModelArmyMayhem18 oh god his house is on such a steep hill. Driving him there gave me flashbacks to our trips to Cornwall when I was little, and my dad driving would get all us kids in the back to help ‘push’ the car up the hill from inside :)

Nearly killed me when we had to walk into town to get a duvet set and then back up the hill - he was going 100mph like it was nothing!

Beautiful view from the house over Bath though. He hasn’t been onto campus until this week and its currently only once a week for a 4-hr face to face tutorial so I’m sure he’ll be fine. Seems way too much time to reasonably concentrate though - but others in his house are on maths courses so I hope they can work together too.

view from his bedroom - not too shabby

That’s lovely!

@bigTillyMint 😁 @ Masters Freshers!!

DS is slowly driving me mad; he's only been here a week but his room is already a tip; he is just SO untidy.

I got in yesterday afternoon and he was in bed - I thought he was ill!

I'm obviously out of touch with the student lifestyle! 😆

Fingers crossed all 'covidy' students start to feel better soon. 🤞