Here come those tiers again.

[Cismyfatarse]

New Fred.

As much as I would like for community transmission to drop, it is right the vulnerable get vaccinated first - so that's end of May?

And then supermarket floor staff, police etc etc should be prioritized within the general population. Sadly that's months away.

Well yes, as I said earlier, we are using community transmission as a measure but aren't vaccinating the age groups that are responsible for the spread so its not surprising really that vaccination isn't having much affect overall on those figures.

The vaccination should be having an effect on deaths but not necessarily hospital and icu as the majority of the elderly would have a DNR in place. As we get further down the age groups then hospitalisation and icu should drop but I don't see the "case" numbers dropping significantly more until we start with the working age population.

My younger dd staunchly ignoring any attempts to engage with work. Here's hoping this is the last week of home schooling p1s

It's so weird, we got to almost zero last summer but that just doesn't seem possible/likely now.

I guess that the more transmissible strain?

Have you had half term yet @anon444877? Ours is this week so only two days of school. Then just raging boredom on the other three days I guess...

Sometimes I think schoolwork is good just for the structure.

That's exactly why I favour moving to hospitalation numbers not positive cases being the driver for restrictions and the lifting thereof once more groups are vaccinated.
At some point community transmission won't be much of a problem.

Icanboogie a friend suggested at the very start of the vaccine program that they should start with workers who can't work from home. Which does make sense.

But I now feel that the focus should be on the hotspots, ie Glasgow and the West Central belt. Get the numbers down there.

Its inhumane to keep Glasgow locked up for much longer. 5 near 6 months since people have legally seen friends in doors.

We're back from half term - my dd's calmer with schoolwork structure but the endless daily fights over work are so tiring. Fingers crossed for the end being in sight.

[quote jabbathebutt]@ssd I have difficulties wear a mask and an open window would trigger one of my (many) disabilities/health conditions.

Your post upsets e as it perfectly illustrates what the reactions, attitudes and ignorance that will likely encounter if/when I return to an office with these rules still in place.

Do not make assumptions. It is not your place to say anything or be the covid secure police. I'm pretty sure most managers would have discussed it already with the individual but for confidentiality reasons they won't tell you if there's a medical reason.[/quote]
Yes, I'd have thought that if the employer is content for the training to proceed with measures in place to ensure that everyone attending can undertake it safely, they will have fulfilled their requirements. If it wasn't seen to be "safe" (either in covid terms or for any individual who needed certain adjustments to be in place to be able to do it) it couldn't go ahead as proposed. Either there would have to be arrangements for individuals to undertake the training separately, or in a different way, or the whole setup would need to be reviewed. I understand that there may be some reluctance, as employees have the right to think that every possible mitigation for them must be in place to be as "covid safe" as possible. But obviously, in some cases that may not be possible. It doesn't make it "unsafe" or unacceptable though. In this case, I'd have thought that the fact there are only a small number of people in the room would limit any risk, and if the window can't be open, maybe the door could be to increase airflow.

My kids struggled a lot in the first lockdown and are much better this time, saying they prefer homeschool!

My son's tics have gone in this lockdown so I suspect school is a big driver of his anxiety. Makes me feel shit about sending them back but that's life isn't it 🤷🏻‍♀️

My cousin in USA has advised that they have changed direction for vaccinations. Once they have done the over 65s they are then prioritising people who have to work outside of home e.g. bus drivers, teachers etc. Then the rest of the general population will be lumped together.

It's a bit of a shame for my cousin and her DH as they are over 60 but under 65 and both have health conditions that make them vulnerable. However they live in a retirement village where the majority of other residents are older so have had the vaccine and have little reason - other than being desperate to see their DGS in a different state - to leave their home that much.

Not sure if it's country wide or just at state level, but thought it was an interesting change of direction for vaccination priorities.

@ssd

Morning. I think they are talking about moving onto the next phase with the vaccinations, but I'm not sure where we are in Scotland, England seems so much further ahead, I'm not sure if we are moving up to the next level yet.

To be fair, my parents BFF who's in her mid 60s has an appointment to be jabbed this week in East Lothian.

Morning all,
I’m so nervous for the news on schools this week! Feels like such a pivotal time...

@icanboogieboogiewoogie

Hospitals? Hopefully having folk vaccinated will help with that. There seem to be outbreaks in supermarkets, etc, fairly regularly (staff). So maybe that means that we can't in fact bring numbers down any further through lockdown alone. I know it's really not practical but you wonder of creating priority groups based on workplaces would help. So those who are working from home and will do so for the foreseeable would be moved down the list in favour of police, essential shop staff, essential tradespeople - basically those who can't avoid other people.

Yes, I think that's not a bad idea. I think the priority groups as they stand should continue, til they finish the over 50s and younger CV folk. But after that I hope they prioritise those who can't work from home rather than just focusing purely on going down the age groups. And I say that as an under 50 (though not as under as I'd like) who wfh... so I wouldn't get freedom for aaaaaages!

I'm hoping there will be high uptake of the pupil & teacher bi weekly voluntary testing, not only to lower transmission but also bring the % positivity rate down.

Which I do not get as a measure. This magic 5% being the level at which the virus is out of control. Can anyone explain? Surely it's a measure of testing?

@AudacityOfHope

Have you had half term yet *@anon444877*? Ours is this week so only two days of school. Then just raging boredom on the other three days I guess...

Sometimes I think schoolwork is good just for the structure.

Agree on structure... I've found this past week (half term) really difficult in terms of motivating DS to do anything. (weather hasn't helped to be fair). Normally he'd be at a holiday club, or we'd be doing daytrips or something, but obviously that's been off the cards, and he's really not a independent crafty/ arty kind of person so everything he's been doing (apart from screens, obviously) has to be done with me, or nagged by me to be done. And I think we have reached baking saturation point. Inset day today, so roll on tomorrow! (Never thought I'd say that re homeschooling!)

It's funny audacity, school both causes anxiety and alleviates some with routine - my younger dc did better in the first lockdown as I wasn't working and made a huge leap. Do they have sensory issues? Noise is a huge driver of anxiety, exhaustion and concentration issues in mine.

About ready to throw in the towel here, after an hour of school work related scrapping.

@NotAnActualSheep I agree my younger one loves the outdoors but after a year with a handful of options even she's getting reluctant.

Here's to a better Tuesday!

@anon444877

It's funny audacity, school both causes anxiety and alleviates some with routine - my younger dc did better in the first lockdown as I wasn't working and made a huge leap. Do they have sensory issues? Noise is a huge driver of anxiety, exhaustion and concentration issues in mine.

About ready to throw in the towel here, after an hour of school work related scrapping.

Tourrette's Anon. It was awful first lockdown, and is in a really great place just now.

audacity - OT thought my dd might have that at one point, i wonder what the difference is at home? Homeschool suits the younger one academically, it's been better in terms of achievement, they switch off in groups and with noise etc. Doesn't suit me and work though!

Sorry I see you've already said anxiety levels - not the sharpest today.

@Lockdownbear It's not just Glasgow is it, with the tougher restrictions. I'm Stirlingshire and we've not been allowed indoor visits since (I think) end of August.

waverless I wonder about the % positive too. There's an article here that is quite helpful.

But we know through ONS testing of random people (ie not just symptomatic people) that in scotland our prevalence is less than 1% overall. So ideally the nhs/ gov testing programme should be getting something like that percentage (or a little bit higher because we wouldn't necessarily test completely asymptomatic people).

But as we aren't, it suggests that the number of tests we are doing isn't enough to capture everyone (with symptoms) with the virus, meaning some people don't know they have it or aren't coming forward for testing, and we aren't getting their contacts, meaning we can't prevent them from spreading it further. Scotland does seem to be testing less per head than the rest of the UK, the last I saw.

I know some people are tested routinely through work, but not sure if those figures are included in the %positive figure. It does seem a bit counterintuitive to increase the number of people eligible for a test, just to bring the % positive down, though. But that would mean more "non-typical" cases without the 3 key symptoms were caught. Whether or not that would actually lead to a decrease in hospitalisations or deaths is uncertain, though. And it would definitely result in more people having to self isolate etc...

Scotland does seem to be testing less per head than the rest of the UK, the last I saw.
Actually, I've just checked and this isn't true any more. Sorry to talk us down...

@ssd window needs to be open regardless of how cold it is. DH does covid response he has dealt with multiple workplace outbreaks that had 2 metre distancing in place but no ventilation or natural ventilation. There is a very good reason why work places and schools should have their windows open!

If your work insists on continuing then purchase a FFP2 mask (they are about £5) and wear this throughout the training they are not comfortable and need to be tight (they are what ICU uses and what Germany insist on for public transport) that way you will be protected.