First ministers briefing

[Trichford]

Is there one on today? If so what time will it be? Thanks

my reading of routemap is that the restriction on driving is related to time outdoors/leisure activities. so no driving 40 miles to the "nice" garden centre if there are 10 others near you, no driving to loch lomond for a walk on the shore and no driving to a park miles away to meet up with your pals and their kids.

there's no such restriction mentioned in relation to seeing family in another household, and my mum (who's terminal) was actually phoned by her GP yesterday to say she should ignore the see-nobody message, and shift to (in effect) today's announcement right away - i.e. folk can come and sit in the garden. she had friends down from 20 miles away this afternoon!

i'll be phoning my sister in law tonight to see when she's wanting to meet up because she's on her own and clearly starting to struggle with not seeing us at all.

First of all the woman is blind, deaf and dumb if she thinks 70% of Scotland isn’t already driving where they like to do what they like. The road out side my house is a main route round Glasgow and I can see that it’s as busy as it generally is during the day.

I have friends going to each other’s houses, hairdressers and nail techs doing homers, a woman getting curtains made and wallpaper put up so various people in her house, a friend’s DH been in London doing business back and forth, another friend has had nanny and cleaner in the whole time... Scotland is doing what it likes, she doesn’t have the control she thinks she has.

Secondly the reason she’s not given clear indications on areas like nursery is that she’s waiting for England’s strategy on this so that she can basically print it out on Scottish headed paper and pass it off as her own work...

@thedevilinablackdress yes I read that chart but it says physical distancing is required at Phases 1-3 so realistically that’s not possible for a 2 year old.

She is on right now saying you can go further for example to see your elderly mother. It's to stop people flocking to beauty spots.

however if your sister is 3 hours away it will be hard to visit parents without using bathrooms

Yep, not sure how that would work. I'm shielding so I dont factor into this.

As per usual, wishy-washy, lots of shifting responsibility onto schools/councils so that the scottish government can shift the blame when attainment crashes next year, bleating on about "blended learning" without defining what that means, lots of "if" and "may" and "when possible" disclaimers.

Load of shit and bollocks and by the time my kids get back to their "blended learning" they will have been out of school for almost 21 WEEKS.

And this "blended learning" shite is open ended. Fucks sake.

Secondly the reason she’s not given clear indications on areas like nursery is that she’s waiting for England’s strategy on this so that she can basically print it out on Scottish headed paper and pass it off as her own work

Totally. And spend £££££ of our money doing it.

If I were one of the parents with an August holiday booked I would still go. Will be interesting what happens to teachers in that boat though, perfectly reasonable to have expected U.K. travel in August.

twitter.com/bbcscotlandnews/status/1263536058932879360?s=21

This has some info about travelling to see relatives. The issue is more about the fact that you can't use the loo or go in their house than the travelling. Not sure what to do, really, as I don't want to go another couple of months without seeing my parents and we've all been SI since this began, no going to shops or anything like that, so it's nigh on impossible any of us have the virus. But we would have to go inside or possibly stay overnight and that's apparently a massive no-no. Blah.

Honestly if I was in the position of having my parents far enough away that I'd need to use the loo if I went to visit, I'd go, stay in that garden but take a mask, gloves, bleach and a cloth. Use the loo, lid down before flushing, clean it thoroughly, bag up my cloths etc and tell them to not use it straight after, allow 30 mins or so for the air to settle.

They've got a huge garden and field so I did suggest I could pee in a bush

They also have a toilet that's not used often and accessible through a different door to the outside than the main door, so I don't think there would be much of a risk in nipping in that way to use it. They could easily just not use that toilet and entranceway for days or even weeks after (I doubt they've used it themselves the entire lockdown anyway).

It's just difficult as we have done everything to the letter of the law so far but it feels so low risk for us to see each other as none of us have even been to a shop in eight weeks, let alone anywhere else. But I don't want to be 'one of those' people

I'm now trying to work out where folk stand with non resident girl/boyfriends. DS been with his since last Sept, they met at uni and been together up until 23rd March when they both went home. They've spent hours every night face messaging each other. Both been great and not moaned or cheated. It doesn't look like there is any chance of even a kiss on a hand for months.

I obviously know that the world doesn't revolve round young love and provision for vulnerable and children and NHS services and work etc etc needs to be the focus but it just feels over the top for the risk. Neither family has any vulnerability and both families believe we've had it but obviously not tested and no idea if we are immune (also doesn't stop us spreading it from our hands although very small risk). What would you do? Obviously they are both adults but both doing what is expected in their household which is complying with rules.

My parents have 2 toilets so if we went to see them we would just use the one and they could not use that one for a while after. They could happily not use it for days if need be.

It's just more if we got in the car and drove half way there then got stopped by the police and turned back. I would be worried the whole time. I am such a follower of the rules normally.

@Mistressiggi I fully intend to still go if self catering accommodation has opened up by then. They’ll have missed something like 13 weeks of school - a few more days won’t hurt and we will all need a break, particularly if we are going to have to continue to work from home with them in the house to accommodate this ‘blended learning’ nonsense.

@Noworrieshere Yes that's what worries me! I would just cry We are going to see what happens on Thurs and go from there, but I'm definitely not waiting till August or later.

Now, if people all had common sense and responsibility, they could simply say that they want to limit the number and size of interactions, keep distancing measures and appropriate hygiene and avoid causing crowds by travelling long distances to popular spots.

Essentially we should be meeting people in small groups, not too frequently, outdoors, avoid crowds and keep your distance together with hand washing and masks where appropriate.

Or alternatively, don't be having parties and heading to the beach for the day and stay in your house as much as you can.

DH says he doesn't want to go on holiday in the UK as you're paying a bloody fortune for the same bloody weather and the same bloody entertainment (all his words) but looks like we aren't going abroad unless we want to risk quarantine in whatever other country we visit.

I'm desperate to see my partner - it's been months, he lives in Chester and couldn't work from home at my house because the broadband speed here is so dire.

I've booked a fibre install but god knows when that will be done.

Until then - what? I have to wait months again before I can cuddle him? Surely if he is the only person I see, and he the same, then it's safe enough?

I just can't believe we will have been apart for potentially 4-5 months!!

We'd like to be able to go and see BiL who is awaiting confirmation of a cancer diagnosis. They are about 2 hour drive away, we'd need the toilet. it's in a village with plenty of countryside so the menfolk could probably find a place for a pee, me less so but I have the bladder of an elephant so I think I could manage it if we didn't stay too long.

My summer hols are in 3 weeks time, I had hoped we'd be able to travel a bit and at least get a picnic but technically we should stay within a 5 mile radius for that.

I get you re the partner, I can't see the problem really if you are both not meeting with loads of others and you travel back and forward without going to populated places etc. It's not like you are travelling to a small community that would be over-run if one of you got ill.

I think I'll say to DS that he could have his girlfriend over for a couple of weeks sometime soon - maybe when we are on holiday (and stay relatively isolated for that time) they could go for walks where it's quiet just as we do now. Then if everyone is still healthy, they could go to hers for a couple of weeks (or have a break inbetween) and essentially set up a bubble - i dunno, just trying to think of a sensible way to allow some contact.

I think we are going to have to trust in common sense sooner or later as they can't legislate for every individual's circumstances, really. And some stuff is obviously much lower risk than others.

John Swinney has just said on TV that he's travelling from Perth to Edinburgh to see his dad so it's ok to go further than 5 miles to visit family. Roll on Thursday! I'll worry about all the other stuff once I've seen my folks.

I've had a plumber in. He didn't use the loo (I assume!) but he did touch it. Disinfected everything after, we only have one couldn't quarantine it.

Where is Swinney planning to pee then?

Maybe he's taking a bottle with him!

Where is Swinney planning to pee then?

I'd watch the M90 hard shoulder from Thursday onwards in case you spot Mr Swinney stopping for a pee.