Heading into winTier ..... the one we hoped it would be over before...

[dancemom]

New thread Tierers ...

We have one of these CO2 monitors in our room. It's usually always green because every bloody window and door is open letting in the freezing cold air. I spend most of my day with my coat on with 3 more layers to keep warm. The kids complain about being cold and it's not pleasant

Dammit I thought I had booked my Covid booster but I see it says something about winter vaccine so probably just flu one (which I've already had, though it isn't showing up!) I thought being in my 50s meant I could book now, for next month. No idea how I'm meant to know what to do.

@Mistressiggi they seem to be calling the two together the “winter vaccines” so I think you’ll be ok!

Ooh, thank you. I'll just keep the appointment then and see what I'm offered! Calling it the "winter vaccines" does kind of suggest it's going to need to be an annual thing..

If there were 1000 British kids being admitted to covid every week in the UK, that’d be roughly what? 80 Scottish kids every week.

We’d be fucking talking about it here because we’d all know someone whose child was admitted DUE to covid.

No idea about that statistic, but I do know a child (teen) admitted to hospital with Covid breathing difficulties - she's fine now thankfully. So some of us do know children in that position! But not many in my personal experience.

very much enjoying the "#ElsieMcSelfie" hashtag on Twitter.

Our beloved First Minister cutting around COP26 without a mask, selfies with anyone who merely looked in her direction, while simultaneously creating more business uncertainty by bleating on about more restrictions and more requirement for the vaccine passport thing.

COuldn't make it up.

I am most concerned about these ongoing restrictions and my oldest son who is in first year at Uni.

The approach from different Unis and even different courses within the same Uni varies enormously. He is in first year of a biology/chemistry related degree at Strathclyde and has been offered three sessions on campus only between September and Christmas.

He is in a lab group with just 9 other people, who he has met twice so far in Uni and will meet again next week. Everything else is online. He is spending all week in his room, looking at a screen. Other people on different courses at the same Uni are in weekly, his friend who is at St Andrews is following a normal, in-person timetable.

Uni has said that they are working towards a "more normal" second semester after Christmas. But that'll soon change if Sturgeon and Swinney impose more restrictions.

His mental health is taking a bashing after spending 2 years pretty much in his room, "learning". It's a fucking scandal. And don't get me STARTED on masks in secondary classrooms, my two younger children are struggling with those too.

ONS data for the week infections is the top hospitalisations below lowest category is children. Unless suddenly we are on 50,000 hospitalisations a week (we aren't) then no where near that figure.

… and week in, week out. We would be talking here about this DaILY because we’d all know EVERY SINGLE WEEK children admitted DUE to covid.

Well said @MLMshouldbeillegal

That’s just terrible about the Uni

And the mask free selfies and gallivanting - the hypocrisy is mind boggling.

I’m grumpy af today. Better head to railing

My DS also at Strathclyde is getting 1 hour every 2 weeks which I think is maybe similar to your DS MLM?

My other son at Aberdeen has most stuff face to face.

Yes @ElephantOfRisk. He's been in for longer sessions - last one was 10-3 with an hour for lunch, so 4 hours. Averaged over a 12 week semester it's an hour a week.

Not good enough, is it?

I also have a 1st year at uni and she gets 2 labs every week in person, rest is online. They been promised more next semester.
And she was part of a large cohort who put in a complaint about lack of f2f. She was one lecture with only about 30 in it and it's still online 🤷🏼‍♀️
Saving grace for her is living in halls as she's getting the "normal" student experience with everything else except lectures! She really needed to get away from her bedroom here at home where she'd spent so much of the previous year.

I hope the Strathclyde students are complaining as that is not acceptable at this stage when there have been so few cases associated with universities this year. The vaccination rates amongst students is very high.
And they can all mix freely in pubs, restaurants etc which is obviously far more important than their education

It's definitely not good enough, DS is very socially anxious, apart from online group work things, he hasn't spoken to a soul at uni and he's in 4th year!

He needs to do a summer placement next summer before his final year and it's stressing him out. I'm trying to get him to understand that this pain now will help when he graduates and needs a job but it's hard.

Definitely not helped by spending his time in his room.

@Scottishskifun As I've just tested positive, I don't think I can become ill from covid again for 90 days. But can I catch it / pass it on do you know? I'm back in next week and there will be multiple cases in class so just looking to find out so I know whether I'll be safe around elderly family.
I'm guessing LFTs will show positive for a while even though I'm not contagious anymore.

DH is due his flu vaccine next week but has no idea if he'll be given a covid one too.

The uni thing - especially the inconsistency across Scotland and even across different departments in the same uni is so frustrating... It would make at least some sense if everyone was having to follow the same restrictive set of rules, but they're obviously not, and it just seems pot luck. I agree there should be complaints from the students. But then, they shouldn't have to complain to get an education in person ffs (especially eg labs for stem subjects)! Also, I'm not sure UCU has been reading the room well on their decision to strike in December. I know it's not the academics that have been making the decisions on f2f and so on, but if one of the strike days fell on one of the 2 days a month I was getting a lab or something in person, I'd basically explode. (more likely it would affect exams at that time, than teaching, but still...)

On the admissions into hospital, travelling tabby suggests there were 31 admissions last week of under 18s with covid in Scotland not getting into the whole 'with vs because of' thing, because we have that debate EVERY WEEK and get told off . Not sure how many under 18s were admitted in total, but if more than 1% of the entire population is currently infected, and nearer 4% of that age group (as per ski's graph), you'd expect, just by chance that, say 1 in 25 admissions would be positive. Probably more than that if dealing with respiratory illness (which covid could exacerbate even if not the main cause). Of course it's a scary prospect, but everything I've heard from medics suggests that children aren't being worse affected by covid now than they ever were... It's just there's more of them in hospital because there's more covid around.

Its so disheartening reading these posts about your kids' experiences with uni. My heart goes out to you all 💞

It's mind blowing to think we're almost at the 2 year mark with this, and things still feel so bleak. Somewhat worse feeling actually, because at least we had hope last winter that vaccine was going to free us. My daughter is P7, and despite everything 'fun' at school being cancelled again this xmas, shes still her happy self. Can only thank goodness that the primary kids have been spared much of this, but I fear for her starting high school next year - I fear that we'll be no further forward, that we'll still be to'ing and fro'ing!

Well i'm preparing a uni lecturer's tax return at the moment. Salary is in excess of £Xxxxxx. ( best not disclose the details )

Let's just say, I thought there was a typo. But, no.

[quote StarryEyeSurprise]@Scottishskifun As I've just tested positive, I don't think I can become ill from covid again for 90 days. But can I catch it / pass it on do you know? I'm back in next week and there will be multiple cases in class so just looking to find out so I know whether I'll be safe around elderly family.
I'm guessing LFTs will show positive for a while even though I'm not contagious anymore.[/quote]
You should now have high immunity for minimum of 6-8 months and some studies are showing past this for some people.

It's extremely rare to catch it again within a short time period. Less than 1% re-infection rate as a whole by stats (many months/a year included) and that includes people who aren't vaccinated. It also tends to be a different strain for reinfection. It's highly likely that you were infected with delta and re-infection rates for delta are beyond very very rare. Basically nobody can say to you that it's not possible but the liklihood is extremely rare and actually with the boosted immune level it's extremely unlikely. I think they are still studying immune level response for double vax then infection. For infection then double vax the protection level from catching covid is over 95% and the majority of that 5% had a earlier strain not delta then delta again. Hope that makes sense?

You can get a cyclical action of symptoms depending for a few weeks though, so I had recurrent fevers for example wasn't a new infection and I wasn't contagious. A covid cough can also linger for a while but again not contagious.

Testing positive on a lft is dependent on the person, I did for many months some its a few weeks. But you shouldn't do any official ones for 90 days - I kept monitoring it as I kept having to talk to Dr's etc about the fevers.

Uni thing is a disgrace ,so glad mine are away from home ,so at least they are getting some of the Uni experience

Thanks @Scottishskifun so I can visit an elderly (89 year old) relative, knowing I've been in a class with positive kids (there's a huge outbreak in my school). The chances of catching it again and passing it on are very very low.

@StarryEyeSurprise

Thanks *@Scottishskifun* so I can visit an elderly (89 year old) relative, knowing I've been in a class with positive kids (there's a huge outbreak in my school). The chances of catching it again and passing it on are very very low.

Yes you are very low chances, if you were visiting them before then no reason not to. It's about assessing the risk and deciding.

There would be some extra/over above precautions I would probably take given its airborne and the school is high like making sure your work mask is handled properly after the day with regular handwashing and face washed prior to seeing them and personally I would change work clothes.
I would also monitor lft at home as this will be a good indicator for you. Make sure you take them at the same time fluctuations have been found depending on time of day post covid (this is going by travel forums).

• 3,235* new cases of COVID-19 reported
• 45,338* new tests for COVID-19 that reported results
◦ 7.5%* of these were positive
• 29 new reported death(s) of people who have tested positive
• 63 people were in intensive care yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19
• 786 people were in hospital yesterday with recently confirmed COVID-19
• 4,334,346 people have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccination, and 3,933,493 have received their second dose, and 1,307,271 have received a third dose or booster.
*Due to new data feeds being established, Public Health Scotland are now reporting data obtained from private lab testing. This includes around 700 positive cases, out of approximately 90,000 PCR tests, which have been acted upon and all appropriate public health action taken as required. Future reporting will contain this data in real-time, however cumulative figures reported today include historic data received from 22 October therefore numbers may look inflated