COVID19 - How it's affecting you

  Questions were asked as to shouldn't we each be shielding, due to other health issues?  Told them we got no letters, but had been anyway based on each of our health histories. They were very surprised we hadn't been told to shield, but agreed we were doing the "smart" thing. Apparently "the system" can't handle "obscure" illnesses/diseases/conditions. 

Doesn't surprise me at all, really.

People actually starved in England because they lost care and had no access to deliveries they'd relied on because of that incomplete shield list. I want both the grocery stores and the government held responsible for that. I hope the families of the individuals harmed will pursue it. (from what I've read they are and grocery stores already had to change their policies quickly as class action lawsuits were raised. Some permanently lost our business.)

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Oh no, I didn't think it was derogatory at all!

Phew! I thought maybe you were upset with something I wrote, but I wasn't sure if it was that or just the general $hittiness of the situation.

And I'm really sorry you're going through treatment at such a challenging time.

Thank you. My cancer is under control, I'm just dying a little faster than everyone else.

The shield list was absolutely incomplete and they didn't adapt it as new information on the virus came out. They're now making a two tier society and it's pretty infuriating. It feels like they want disabled and chronically ill people left in the dust, as usual for the Tories. And because so many people will only follow the government it means a lot more are likely to die or live with a lifelong illness.

I wholeheartedly agree. Personally, I never got any of the notifications telling me to shield, and I never showed up on any of the grocery store priority delivery lists. I did get a call from the council to make sure I was ok, but that was on May 24th, at which point I'd been shielding for 2 months. Luckily I'm relatively conversant with technology and my wife is totally healthy and could easily go out for groceries or medication or whatever, but I would imagine an older person with no family or support close by would've been in an extremely precarious situation.

I had no illusions about the Tories' lack of respect/concern for regular people prior to all this, but I thought they were at least competent at governing. Now I realize they can't do that, either. I have no idea why anyone would vote for them unless they owned a bank or a consulting firm.

We can't really wander far with our town (Oldham) being a hotspot for the virus. So to be on the safe side we are not even leaving the house as the area we are in have a large amount of confirmed cases. You are now left wondering whether those outside have it or not.

Tough times for everyone.

Do any of you folks in Scotland intend to download to download the new contact tracing app?  I'd really like it to be successful enough for England to roll one out also. Our local football team had their first home game last night and I would have gone except we are due to go away for a week's holiday in 2 weeks time and I was nervous that if one person tested positive within a week of the game that all 195 that attended would be asked to isolate. A phone app used by someone that had tested positive would mean that those spectators who also had the phone app would know if they had been in close contact with the infected person and therefore be sure if they should isolate or not.

https://www.gov.scot/news/protect-scotland-app-launches/

Additional protection against coronavirus.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has urged smartphone users across Scotland to download NHS Scotland’s new contact tracing app to help suppress the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Protect Scotland app is now available to download for free via Apple and Google stores.

Supported by a dedicated Protect Scotland website, the app is an extra tool complementing existing person-to-person contact tracing which remains the main component of NHS Scotland’s Test and Protect system.

Individuals privacy will be protected as the app uses Bluetooth technology to anonymously alert users if they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, and advises them to self-isolate. Users of the app who test positive will still get a call from a contact tracer to confirm their details and who they have been in close contact with.

The app does not store details on an individual or their location but uses encrypted, anonymised codes exchanged between smartphones to determine all close contacts. Close contacts are defined as people who have been within two metres of someone who has tested positive for 15 minutes.

I think we will download it. Wouldn’t hurt to.

I think we will download it. Wouldn’t hurt to.

😎. Cool

https://news.stv.tv/scotland/scotland-records-221-new-cases-of-covid-in-24-hours?top

Big surprise there. (not)    Our crew of movers - there were from six to eight guys in our flat, none of them wore masks except when they came to the front door initially. I had all the windows opened wide and was wearing a mask myself, and the daughter stayed in a room they didn't go into, but really that wasn't ideal. Before we left we noticed people were not wearing masks, or wearing them incorrectly, in public places.

If they are not very, very careful, things will go terribly wrong very quickly. It's not over.

I have downloaded the app.  Hope it's helpful and useful in the fight.

I have downloaded the app.  Hope it's helpful and useful in the fight.

Excellent. This is another tool to help reduce the spread, England and Wales roll out their apps on the 24th.

When they rolled out the app in Ireland 37% of the population downloaded it in the first week.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/10/1006174/covid-contract-tracing-app-germany-ireland-success/


1. Remember every case matters
Firstly, let’s dispel a myth. Digital contact tracing apps do not need to be adopted by the majority of the population to be effective: they can work with lower adoption rates, even if they’re not quite so effective. So we need to stop thinking it’s all or nothing.

Colm Harte is technical director of NearForm, the company that created Ireland’s app, which was downloaded by 37% of the population in its first week. He says that “if you break even a few transmission chains as a result of the app, for me that’s a success.” Preventing just one infection could potentially save a life.

2. Manage expectations
People’s hopes for contact tracing apps were extremely high early on in the pandemic. But apps were never going to end covid-19 on their own. Peter Lorenz, one of the project leads working on Germany’s Corona-Warn-App, says it’s important to put contact tracing apps in their place.

“The clear stance from the German government was that we’d use every tool available to fight this, including traditional methods like testing, distancing, masks, and manual contact tracing, but we’d combine it with technology,” he says.

Likewise, Ireland’s app fits hand-in-glove with its manual tracing program, which is equally if not more important to keeping coronavirus at bay. “If you test positive, the manual contact tracing team will ask you if you use the app, and if so, they ask if you’ll share keys so they can warn any close contacts through the app,” Harte explains.
This approach makes sense. While the manual tracing program is able to track down people who are acquainted with each other—say friends at a dinner party—the app is able to find people who are total strangers, for example people who have shared the same train carriage for an extended period of time.

Mmm, let's see what happens this week. 

Mmm, let's see what happens this week.

My husband is taking a cab to see his parents tomorrow because I can't drive that far atm, he needs to see them before the next lockdown happens since its been so long. I told him he can't take a train given the spike in cases, there's no where for him to isolate when he gets back since our house is too small. It works out for the best though, now we don't need to pack up the kitty things and bring her too, and they don't need to try as hard to be fragrance free and can eat whatever they want.

Mmm, let's see what happens this week.

Whatever happens, we're still shielding so it'll just be more of the same for us! 

My brother is supposed to be driving up to stay with me on Saturday night as he's taking part in a triathlon not far from here on Sunday... but we'll see what happens. I'm surprised they haven't cancelled the event (yet), to be honest.

I'm also supposed to be going to Somerset with my family for a week in October, which I'm not sure will be able to happen either.

We have a cottage booked in Beadnell Bay, Northumberland starting on Saturday. The latest restrictions announced today plus Northumberland’s additional restrictions do not bar us from going so come Saturday we will be going on our first holiday this year. 

We have a cottage booked in Beadnell Bay, Northumberland starting on Saturday. The latest restrictions announced today plus Northumberland’s additional restrictions do not bar us from going so come Saturday we will be going on our first holiday this year.

Sounds lovely! Enjoy!