Highland moving tier 1 to tier 4 utter nonsense

[Coconut80]

My husband is a nurse, I have a DD in s5 a ds in 1st year at uni and a bed and breakfast. I have emailed Ian Blackford, Kate forbes and nicola sturgeon to express my displeasure and asking for the evidence to back why on earth we are going to tier 4. There are hardly any cases in Highland I live on a sparsely populated island.

NHS Highland is in no way overstretched yet we are plunged into similar conditions to central London.

How can I complain, protest about this except via ballot box. Does anyone have any links to websites, petitions or marches please thanks

I think non essential shops and gyms are allowed in English tier 4. Neither are allowed in Scotland's level 4.

No, non-essential shops and gyms are closed in English Tier 4.

The whole point as I understand is to try and stop it from coming and cases getting out of control as we aren't there yet. If the government waited, and then this happened, the would come under fire for not acting quickly enough.
Sounds tonight like they are considering bringing in further measures in England.

I really don't understand this whole 'point scoring' 'just being different to Boris' chat. Nicola Sturgeon isn't just making it up as she goes along, the government are being advised by the experts and choosing the right course of action, trying to balance the various needs of health and economy etc. I can't see them making such unpopular decisions for no good reason and I say that as someone from an area that is also being moved from Tier 1 to Tier 4.

It's a hideous, scary situation our whole family is upset and affected by it all as I'm sure lots of you are the same. I can normally pull myself out of it and form a positive plan but I just can't. I can't bear my daughter missing out in her higher year and my son stuck in his uni flat with no f2f teaching. My DH is a cpn and I am a retired cpn and we both hate this save the NHS rhetoric. It has been chronically underfunded and stripped back for decades. The mental health services at best are woefully inadequate with inpatient beds drastically cut and a 2 Yr wait for psychology pre covid.
How is everyone else feeling can you pull yourself out the depths xx

Coconut80 I am so upset by school closures. My eldest son has autism and ADHD. He is not normally violent but he was hitting, punching and kicking me frequently in the last school closures. I was black and blue but nobody would or could help and he couldn’t get into a hub. He can’t cope which means the rest of the family are pushed too crisis point.

My middle child who is neurotypical has shown signs of learned behaviour due too the lockdown. He had never shown any signs of anything other than being a gentle, kind boy but now he gets aggressive and angry much quicker. The nursery and us were changing this behaviour quickly but this will knock him back. My toddlers walking was a bit delayed but he has now caught up with being able too see other kids and have more of my time. He also now goes too a childminder which thankfully will continue. We also both had too work through all this. My mental health is generally good but deteriorated mid May.

It’s horrible and I don’t think the real long term impact is been looked at.

I’m not in Highland, but whilst I can see how frustrating it must be, I think she’s called this right. It is spreading very quickly and we need to make sure areas with low numbers of cases stay areas with low numbers. It makes sense to class the islands differently (if they don’t have a bridge) because you can control movement in and out of them much more easily - you can’t do that in the highlands. The delivery charge argument is a bit ridiculous. You can’t expect the SG to make policy on the basis of what delivery companies charge! It must be annoying, but it’s a financial decision for those companies because it takes time and fuel to get to highland addresses, and the sparce population means there’s no economies of scale. Those arguments are irrelevant to how the SG manages covid.

I also live in the highlands and work as a frontline worker in the main hospital here. I know how low our figures are for covid and im so frustrated about going into level 4 but i understand its to stop people travelling here. I am more concerned about the schools closing as we have no idea what will happen with our daughter as my husband is also a key worker but 'childcare' aside, her education has suffered so much we are having to pay for extra tutoring in the evenings. Its the children who are suffering so much with all these lockdowns

Plus I hate the ‘she’s just trying to be different to boris’ argument, ‘she always has to go one better’, etc. The management of covid in England has been a complete shambles - I should hope she does go one better. I’d like our policies to be more different than they are. The spread has been kept lower in Scotland because of the divergence from Westminster policy. I also don’t think the density of population argument can be used to explain that. Some people in Scotland are very remote - highlands, islands, borders, etc. But the vast majority of Scots live in the central belt which is very densely populated, but still doing a lot better than similar areas in England.

I think with all the students etc heading back, or already arrived, to places in the Highlands and Moray from higher areas, it might be a different case in a couple of weeks. Especially with the faster spreading strain.

Cremuel the delivery charge thing is just a joke as some companies insist the whole of the Highlands are islands even though the majority are mainland. It actually costs no more too deliver too the mainland highlands but I have been quoted £50 too send something via Royal Mail which cost the same too send anywhere in the UK. Lol the company then argued I lived on an island.

@cremuel

Plus I hate the ‘she’s just trying to be different to boris’ argument, ‘she always has to go one better’, etc. The management of covid in England has been a complete shambles - I should hope she does go one better. I’d like our policies to be more different than they are. The spread has been kept lower in Scotland because of the divergence from Westminster policy. I also don’t think the density of population argument can be used to explain that. Some people in Scotland are very remote - highlands, islands, borders, etc. But the vast majority of Scots live in the central belt which is very densely populated, but still doing a lot better than similar areas in England.

Well said. Another thread said she was 'willy waving ' with Boris . Sigh.

I think they anticipate a spike as there will be idiots who have completely ignored the don't travel from England to Scotland over Christmas the Marquess of Bute being a prime example!

Hopefully highlands will stay low and be back to low levels soon but Aberdeenshire was doing pretty well until about 6/7 weeks ago and now are numbers have gone mental!

@VirginHouseSeller

I'm completely with you on this. I live in the Highlands too and it's utter nonsense! I fail to see how the delivery companies can class us as "not mainland" yet according the government we are. Our case numbers have consistently been low. At the risk of sounding whiny, it really isn't fair.

When it suits. I have an AB postcode and was told that the courier couldn't deliver because they only deliver to mainland UK. I told them that the AB stood for Aberdeen and I'd never needed a ferry or plane to get there. We have very few cases in our area but still lumped together with the rest of the country. Soul destroying for those of us who have abided by her rules and done all we have been told.

It's pretty soul destroying for those of us in tier 4 areas who have done what we've been told. Living in an area with high covid numbers doesn't make you a bad person. We've been under pretty severe restrictions since early autumn despite following every single rule.

So much of it now seems to have no scientific base
Feel so sorry for people whose businesses are being fucked

@RaraRachael it was true that Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire had low numbers til about November and since then they have gone nuts!

Our town in the highlands has had very low numbers through the whole thing. We now have had cases in 2 primary schools and the high school. Almost everyone has taken their kids out of school now. Shops are dead. Lots of shaming going on on facebook ect. Think we had about 9 cases this week. They are also under reporting it seems. School posted they had 4 new cases but then the local news said 0 in our area.

Moray has gone from a max of 2-4 cases a day to mid teens each day in the last 48hrs.

@30not13 I'm in Moray too, this weeks figures are worryingly high. Up 39 cases in the last 7 days.Hope lockdown works but I suspect people meeting/coming home for christmas is going to cause a spike first.

@GymMat

Our town in the highlands has had very low numbers through the whole thing. We now have had cases in 2 primary schools and the high school. Almost everyone has taken their kids out of school now. Shops are dead. Lots of shaming going on on facebook ect. Think we had about 9 cases this week. They are also under reporting it seems. School posted they had 4 new cases but then the local news said 0 in our area.

Jeez there should never be shaming! I think people think you only catch it if you break the rules which is absolutely rubbish! You can follow every rule, wash your hands religiously and then be in a poorly ventilated place for a period of time and you are highly likely to catch it as masks only stop large droplets not fine ones poor ventilation leads to build up and masks don't stop you catching it just reduces spreading the large droplets. Supermarkets are also hot spots for it!

I wish people would understand that its a very clever virus at what it does. Yes if not following rules you are more likely to catch it but that's not the only way.

@icanboogieboogiewoogie

It's pretty soul destroying for those of us in tier 4 areas who have done what we've been told. Living in an area with high covid numbers doesn't make you a bad person. We've been under pretty severe restrictions since early autumn despite following every single rule.

Same here. I've not had anyone in my house since March! And just sad they've let the SE get out of control . At least the devolved nations are going harder regarding movement but it's maybe too late..

We are moving from level 2 to level 4 on 26th. I thought the idea of the levels was that it would be incremental. We have comparatively lower cases than many areas in Scotland.

But the vast majority of Scots live in the central belt which is very densely populated, but still doing a lot better than similar areas in England.

I believe the figure for those in Scotland who live in urban areas is actually higher than for those in England.

More than even before, I'm very glad that I've been a citizen in Scotland throughout this year,

@Chocolatedeficitdisorder

But the vast majority of Scots live in the central belt which is very densely populated, but still doing a lot better than similar areas in England.

I believe the figure for those in Scotland who live in urban areas is actually higher than for those in England.

More than even before, I'm very glad that I've been a citizen in Scotland throughout this year,

The highest figures in Scotland are miles behind those in England.

@Varjakpaw

I don’t disagree with you at all but do think the English L4 is different from the Scottish L4.

The only difference I can see is outdoor organised sport. And even that might not be different. England says under 18, Scotland allows non contact outdoor activity. I think.

Other than that it’s broadly the same.

Everything shut except essential shops, you can meet one household outdoors. Don’t go out of your area.