When will this shit end?

[MrZigster]

On a more serious note, it looks like my local Morrisons has stopped providing hand sanitiser on entry.

After returning my trolley I went to use one of the spray bottles they use for trolley/basket handles instead, only to be told, "That's not for your hands sir".

Asked if they had any hand stuff. "No".

Me (incredulously): "But you're a supermarket"?

Cue security guard coming over and giving me a lecture about how it's "not up to them to pay for masks and hand gel for people when they are cheaply available anywhere...".

Me : "OK. OK,  I've just been used to having it provided for the last few months, that's all, please don't take me the wrong way..."

SG: "I'm not taking you the wrong way sir, but..."

I walked away at that point. I got his point, plus they've probably had their fill of no mask idiots recently, but he didn't have to be such a dick about it.

I'd used the handle stuff on entry. Guess no one was looking. And if it was for the handles then why did they watch me replace my trolley without wiping it?

I'm irrationally cross about this.

 

 

 

[Andre91]

1 hour ago, steviewevie said:

what are your thoughts on exams for next year? Just seems like could be very unfair again...some schools do 2 years on GCSEs, some do 3...some kids are able to work better from home, some aren't...some schools are better equipped for the social distancing thing than others...and yet more schools likely to have to close if outbreaks at schools.

I genuinely have no idea. I think a shift to less exams and more coursework might work out better next year for some subjects but I can’t foresee that coming into being. They’ll probably decide in May what’s going to happen and spring it on everybody  

On a more positive note, our A-Level Literature students all got the grades that were submitted, no downgrades  there is only 4 of them, mind, but it’s still fantastic for them and their teacher. 

Edited August 13, 2020 by Andre91

[DeanoL]

1 hour ago, Andre91 said:

Speaking from an English standpoint, in my school, yes. However, revision is so, so key. My school does after school sessions, Easter school, Saturday school and has a collapsed time table in the run up to the exams. Independent revision at home is not as effective as being in a classroom with a subject expert there to address any misconceptions and reinforce strong knowledge on the subjects studied. 

But everyone would be in the same boat. In a way it's more fair as clearly the current system vastly favours your kids who get these additional revision sessions.

I do think it would have been possible for most subjects to do "here are 10 questions, do 5 of them".

Next year will be even worse with local lockdowns increasing inequality. But short of something truly radical, like deciding now to shut all schools for a year, furlough all teachers, and create a bunch of e-learning that everyone has equal access to, it's going to be messy.

[steviewevie]

 

[Crazyfool01]

5 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

But everyone would be in the same boat. In a way it's more fair as clearly the current system vastly favours your kids who get these additional revision sessions.

I do think it would have been possible for most subjects to do "here are 10 questions, do 5 of them".

Next year will be even worse with local lockdowns increasing inequality. But short of something truly radical, like deciding now to shut all schools for a year, furlough all teachers, and create a bunch of e-learning that everyone has equal access to, it's going to be messy.

or hope for minimal disruption prior to Christmas and hope they get something close to the norm after with a potential vaccine .... although im still not sure how long the might take to roll out 

[efcfanwirral]

7 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

or hope for minimal disruption prior to Christmas and hope they get something close to the norm after with a potential vaccine .... although im still not sure how long the might take to roll out

If there is minimal disruption prior to Christmas considering it crosses over with traditional flu season it'll be interesting whether the landscape changes in general, as that'd mean the move indoors hasn't had such a bad effect. Hoping for that as the solution, that it does do a SARS or MERS and we don't need the vaccine wars (figurative). 

[Crazyfool01]

1 minute ago, efcfanwirral said:

If there is minimal disruption prior to Christmas considering it crosses over with traditional flu season it'll be interesting whether the landscape changes in general, as that'd mean the move indoors hasn't had such a bad effect. Hoping for that as the solution, that it does do a SARS or MERS and we don't need the vaccine wars (figurative). 

I believe the flu season hasn't been as severe in (I think Australia)  because of the measures imposed for covid ( such as distancing ) so hopefully that will give the nhs a fighting chance 

[steviewevie]

 

[zahidf]

Big spike in cases in Germany to 1440. Sounds like they may have to take action

[Chapple12345]

With rising cases around Europe, what are the chances of them fully closing the borders/losing the corridors once the traditional foreign holiday period ends in September?

[JoeyT]

I wonder how this would have played out if we just stopped travel globally at the beginning of when things started turning serious.

I like the OZ / NZ approach.

 

 

[FestivalJamie]

18 minutes ago, zahidf said:

Big spike in cases in Germany to 1440. Sounds like they may have to take action

France, Switzerland, holland, Malta, Greece, croatia, iceland, austria and Denmark all have higher rates than Germany.

Germany’s 7 day average per 100,000 population is still lower than ours. There’s loads of other countries which will be added to the quarantine list before germany.

[steviewevie]

2 minutes ago, JoeyT said:

I wonder how this would have played out if we just stopped travel globally at the beginning of when things started turning serious.

I like the OZ / NZ approach.

 

 

not working out so well for Australia.

[Crazyfool01]

Just now, steviewevie said:

not working out so well for Australia.

cases are dropping now I believe ....

[JoeyT]

2 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

not working out so well for Australia.

I'd currently feel safer over there than over here so by that they win!

[stuartbert two hats]

15 hours ago, funkychick2007 said:

There are some alcohol free ones tht seem to work!!! After plenty of investigations!!! At the beginning of all this it was a nightmare I was having reactions to it beI guess used Everywhere!! Especially the supermarkets where they were wiping down everything but I seem to be a little more tolerant It now which may be the antihistamines or environments are being less vigilant!!! I would hope it’s the antihistamines! 

Alcohol free ones kill COVID? Really?

[steviewevie]

10 minutes ago, JoeyT said:

I'd currently feel safer over there than over here so by that they win!

maybe avoid Victoria though.

[FestivalJamie]

15 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

Alcohol free ones kill COVID? Really?

I thought they had to have like 60/70% ethanol to kill the virus?

[Simsy]

Unrelated to covid, but some great trolling here from the BBC.

[Fuzzy Afro]

Is the current prevalence per 100,000 higher in several European countries than the UK?

 

If I were the government I’d clamp down on inward travel bridges ASAP to avoid a late Feb/early March esque disaster. Get Malta, France, Germany and Netherlands on the quarantine list to start with.

 

Semi-related news but I had a covid scare myself on Sunday and I’m now self-isolating (purely out of an abundance of precaution, as I’ve tested negative). Had dinner at a mate’s flat on Sunday, the next day he gets a call from his brother (who he’d gone to the pub with last Wednesday) to say that the brother tested positive. Mate gets tested and finds out Tuesday morning that he’s positive despite feeling perfectly fine. 
 

I was tested yesterday and I’m negative but will self-isolate until Sunday 23 August as a pure precaution. Mate has developed symptoms today (loss of smell and taste) which suggests he probably wasn’t contagious until Tuesday or yesterday. 
 

Point of this post though is to apologise to those of you on this thread who were still taking it seriously and I disagreed with them. It’s a huge relief to be negative, but having the scare has made me understand how easy it spreads. After my isolation is over I’m going to stick to meeting people outside and social distancing properly.
 

The big thing for me is that I met up with some relatives on Sunday evening right after leaving my mate’s place and whilst not vulnerable per se, they’re in their late 50’s and both self-employed so the knock on effects of a 2 week isolation (had I tested positive) would hurt their livelihoods, plus there’s the small risk of them becoming seriously ill despite them being in good health atm.

 

TL;DR had given up on distancing but now realised how important it is following a covid scare. Apologies to @FestivalJamie, @efcfanwirral and anyone else who’s concerned is rubbished on here in the recent weeks 

[Zoo Music Girl]

21 minutes ago, Simsy said:

Unrelated to covid, but some great trolling here from the BBC.

I know, I bloody love whoever chose that picture for the story!

[funkychick2007]

49 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

Alcohol free ones kill COVID? Really?

Apparently so!!! I’m not so sure when the recommendations are to use the alcohol based ones!! It’s far easier for me carry round a small container of hand soap and bottle of water!!! Washing hands is the best option!!! I only use the hand sanitisers wen I really have to which then sparks off loads of comments when I react to it!!! 

[steviewevie]

16 minutes ago, Fuzzy Afro said:

Is the current prevalence per 100,000 higher in several European countries than the UK?

 

If I were the government I’d clamp down on inward travel bridges ASAP to avoid a late Feb/early March esque disaster. Get Malta, France, Germany and Netherlands on the quarantine list to start with.

 

Semi-related news but I had a covid scare myself on Sunday and I’m now self-isolating (purely out of an abundance of precaution, as I’ve tested negative). Had dinner at a mate’s flat on Sunday, the next day he gets a call from his brother (who he’d gone to the pub with last Wednesday) to say that the brother tested positive. Mate gets tested and finds out Tuesday morning that he’s positive despite feeling perfectly fine. 
 

I was tested yesterday and I’m negative but will self-isolate until Sunday 23 August as a pure precaution. Mate has developed symptoms today (loss of smell and taste) which suggests he probably wasn’t contagious until Tuesday or yesterday. 
 

Point of this post though is to apologise to those of you on this thread who were still taking it seriously and I disagreed with them. It’s a huge relief to be negative, but having the scare has made me understand how easy it spreads. After my isolation is over I’m going to stick to meeting people outside and social distancing properly.
 

The big thing for me is that I met up with some relatives on Sunday evening right after leaving my mate’s place and whilst not vulnerable per se, they’re in their late 50’s and both self-employed so the knock on effects of a 2 week isolation (had I tested positive) would hurt their livelihoods, plus there’s the small risk of them becoming seriously ill despite them being in good health atm.

 

TL;DR had given up on distancing but now realised how important it is following a covid scare. Apologies to @FestivalJamie, @efcfanwirral and anyone else who’s concerned is rubbished on here in the recent weeks 

scary. Glad you're ok.

I think those countries you mention may well be on quarantine list soon. The govt here and abroad were under a lot of pressure from airlines and holiday industries to open up travel. Again..it's finding the correct balance. Really they need decent test/trace systems set up.

[FestivalJamie]

16 minutes ago, Fuzzy Afro said:

Is the current prevalence per 100,000 higher in several European countries than the UK?

If we look at all the countries that we have “travel bridges” with, pretty much every single european country bar Italy (there might be one or two more, but not sure- hard to keep on top of everything) has a higher covid-prevalence than us. Germany’s is currently slightly lower than ours but it is on the rise.

Theres some countries such as Norway, Slovakia, Hungary Finland etc that have much lower rates than us, but they aren’t letting uk travellers in anyway, but we are letting them in (so they would have to quarantine on return from their holidays which won’t be a popular option).

The issue becomes that if we exclude every single country with a higher rate now, we are practically shutting down the border. At the beginning of July our rates were much higher than everyone else’s, and all these countries let uk tourists in, which has probably escalated their rates. So we do need to act fast and stay vigilant, but the problem is if we block out all countries with higher rates, then it won’t go down well with the aviation industry.

France’s numbers are really escalating quite dramatically to be honest. I would be surprised if they weren’t added to the list, although apparently the government is reluctant to damage the relationship with France and upset the public even more than when we quarantined spain.

I would expect at least Malta and the netherlands on the list today/tomorrow.

[FestivalJamie]

4 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

scary. Glad you're ok.

I think those countries you mention may well be on quarantine list soon. The govt here and abroad were under a lot of pressure from airlines and holiday industries to open up travel. Again..it's finding the correct balance. Really they need decent test/trace systems set up.

Yes an option to get tested when coming back from a “high risk country” and end your 2 week quarantine early after 2 negative consecutive tests would be much better than forcing everyone into quarantine for 2 weeks, which will affect a lot of people’s jobs.

Unfortunately our country haven’t quite got to that idea yet, it’s what they are doing in germany though.