University 2020 :9: And they're off, making hay while the sun shines.

[MillicentMartha]

New thread, trying to be upbeat!

Old thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3996883-University-2020-8-Use-the-CAGs-don-t-use-the-CAGs?pg=40

@ShaunaTheSheep im in notts and DD is in lancaster, so there wont be much change between the two when it comes to restrictions if they are going to use this traffic light system.

If the pubs and restuarants shut, shes planning to have a word with housemates and take the bus so they can have a stroll on morecambe beach, do the canal path in Lancaster and catch the two buses to the lakes. She also has to do labs, so shes staying (her neighbour also does labs too (different subject))

@ShaunaTheSheep they are allowed home for mental health reasons. Or emergencies. I'd make one up so they can come home. Eldest DD might leave if they shut everything. She spent her summer on Covid wards & will come home to work again if necessary.

@geogteach nice to hear a DC is out of isolation. thats great news :)

@sammyjoanne DD in Nottingham. Got bad so fast !

Hi @mumsneedwine ! Hope dd is ok!

@specialted so far ! Might come home but working on dissertation thing and had to do a presentation in Med school today. Taking one day at a time. Hope yours are doing ok.

@mumsneedwine yes all good so far thanks! Dd also doing dissertation thingy, enjoying it x

Hi Nottingham people! DS1 is a third year there and it seems we'll have to miss his 21st birthday at this rate...He's having a better time there than being at home though - I doubt he'll want to come home. DS1 is a fresher at B'ham...tested positive on Oct 1st. He and his whole flat have had covid very lightly and can come out of quarantine tomorrow. I'm relieved it seems to have been incredibly mild for them. It's possible DS1 had it in March but I suppose we may find out soon if he has to take a test in Nottingham.

DS1 also doing the dissertation thingy!

@Katisha @specialted 😂wish I actually understood what she is doing. Sounds interesting and very complicated. Sad they won't get half way ball in Feb (unless we get a miracle). Maybe 3/5 one in June.
Hoping Nottingham cases are mostly mild cases in students. And if so might go down soon as they choose to stay in. No partying from mine.

@Katisha lovely to hear from you! Hope ds at brum is ok. @mumsneedwine hadnt even thought about half way ball! Dd loving her dissertation, on coroners reports !

@Katisha in some ways that's the ideal situation for your B'ham DS. If they've all got it that hopefully means they only need to self isolate once. And good that it's mild. Is he (or you) seeing it that way?

@specialted DDs is something to do with obstetrics. Says her tutor is lovely. Shame she can't go on the wards at the moment but she's making the best of it.

Thank you yes DS 2 lost his sense of smell and felt groggy for a few days but that was it. Desperate to get outside at the weekend. I hope he wont be required to isolate any more via the app which they have had to download.

My son's flat is currently in isolation because one idiot went partying every night and caught it. He tested positive and buggered off home leaving the others to isolate. The remaining flat mates have now agreed that if one of them gets it, they're not going to have a test and they don't want to be locked down again - they'll just isolate in their room and not come out so as to protect the others. More and more students will be taking matters into their own hands when the Uni are so draconian about their rules. The only "support" they've had from the uni was a pack of bog rolls left outside their flat. It's a two way street, if Unis want to lock students down for two weeks, they have to actually provide some support for them. All the uni have done is put up a website with links for online shopping deliveries and a local laundry service (all chargeable of course!).

How will they know theyve got it?

DS doesn’t seem to have caught it from his flat mate, unless he was completely asymptomatic, which I kind of doubt as he’s overweight and allergic to exercise, so I’d have thought he’d have some symptoms. I’ve just messaged him to ask if anyone in his flat might go home after isolation.

It’s pretty bad in Manchester, cases really high and not just the students. All teaching is now online, no f2f at all. It’s not what I’d hoped. I wouldn’t blame them if they wanted to go home to study, but it would be a shame. I think DS would prefer to stay up there. If pubs and restaurants close as well...

Nottingham surprised me by shooting up the stats. Do Nottingham test their students themselves? Maybe that’s skewing things if lots of asymptomatic students are being tested?

@legallady where did your ds get tested? Dd walked 40 minutes for hers earlier and is now waiting for the result. Woukd have thought uni coukd host a centre. She is underwhelmed by the food being provided(for which we are already paying as catered) and has a surplus of apples on day 1!

DS's lectures started yesterday and he is getting used to the teaching format. He has about 20 hours of teaching a week, and will need to spend another 20 on assignments and self-directed learning.

@allmumsneedwine @Katisha hi :) I live in Nottinghamshire. DD is up in lancaster uni, but has done her work experience at Nottingham uni and its a good uni, its a pretty campus :)

@MillicentMartha And yeah i'm not surprised that Nottinghams shot up in the charts. I live in the borough of Broxtowe and its really high. The cases in my borough started off with a pub in (this was on sky news) that hosted a graduation party for 30 people and they were all mixing. Then a pub in Kimberley a couple of miles away got shut down as well or not following covid rules. And there's been cases of one pubs courtyard smoking area was packed, and another was spilling out with people on the streets.
It gets my back up when people have been blaming the students, but in our cases round out way its the pubs letting too many people in, and it people from all ages that go, not just students.

I don’t think it’s the students’ fault at all. Pack thousands of them into student accommodation and it’s bound to spread. With most of them asymptomatic they don’t even know they’ve caught it. They are safer all together than mixing with their families at home - I’m sure it’s all part of the government’s ‘strategy.’ But I wouldn’t want to be living in a student area right now.

FaceTime with DS (Durham) last night. Having a good time, socialising with his household of 14, been to the bar a couple of times, walked up the hill on site, played drinking games in their kitchen, done two loads of laundry, walked to Tesco and back with heavy shopping bags (about 3 miles), and been clay pigeon shooting with the Uni Soc. He says his college library/lounge/study areas are open but deserted, and that receiving post/parcels is easy and efficient. Despite not liking the look of the college at all, I do think he's been really lucky with his allocation.

Our friend's DD is in a huge catered hall in Nottingham and doesn't know where her household begins and ends and hasn't even met most of the kids on her corridor. She's sharing a bathroom with one other (a male) but doesn't know what he looks like either! Sounds really grim.

@user1497207191 anyone in the household who remains well at the 14 day cut-off can end their self isolation then. Only someone who develops symptoms / has a positive test has to continue to self isolate for a total of ten days from when their symptoms appeared (if they have a test and it's positive; a negative test and they would just have to continue to self isolate to the end of the original 14 days). So not a further lockdown of the whole flat on the basis of that first positive test. However, if someone tested positive after the initial period of isolation, then the process would have to start again.
www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

Interesting @MarchingFrogs . Dd has been reluctant to test and tell her household in case she extends their isolation (therefore making herself unpopular!). Will reassure her that is not the case.

@TerfTerfTerf Which college is your son? My DD is in Hild Bede and their library, et cetera is closed. Sounds like there's no reason why that should be the case. I know some Durham colleges are in lockdown due to confirm cases.