SARS CoV-2 coronavirus / Covid-19 (No tin foil hat silliness please)

DavelinaJolie

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I work in social care, adults LD team. Our team is a kind of floating unit that focusses on low complexity work. Throughout this whole pandemic we've been in and out of groups contacting everyone on our records that is eligible under the care act to check in with them, ensure the most vulnerable are continuing to get support, that if there's a risk of carer breakdown then people get a rest. I have to say that I've been remarkably surprised by people's resilience in this. Sometimes I've been on calls for thirty minutes because people just want to chat to someone, sometimes I've had people in tears because of the stress, sometimes I've been met with a stoicism to get through it that I admire. Frankly it's all those people I think are being robbed so much when I see careless nonsense happening in public.
 

Grinner

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It's very loose here in Florence. I've seen more people doing the chinstrap mask thing than those wearing them properly. Maskless people are also a fairly common sight. Restaurants and shops are very busy and I've seen people shaking hands and hugging.The weather is lovely right now and the city is very busy. I think there is going to be a nasty shock in the coming weeks as everybody seems to have let their guard down here.

I knew it. We're going back to Orange Zone on Sunday.
 

golden_blunder

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I work in social care, adults LD team. Our team is a kind of floating unit that focusses on low complexity work. Throughout this whole pandemic we've been in and out of groups contacting everyone on our records that is eligible under the care act to check in with them, ensure the most vulnerable are continuing to get support, that if there's a risk of carer breakdown then people get a rest. I have to say that I've been remarkably surprised by people's resilience in this. Sometimes I've been on calls for thirty minutes because people just want to chat to someone, sometimes I've had people in tears because of the stress, sometimes I've been met with a stoicism to get through it that I admire. Frankly it's all those people I think are being robbed so much when I see careless nonsense happening in public.
You are absolutely correct, but unfortunately it seems that a % of people only care about themselves.
anyway keep up the good work fella
 

calodo2003

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Italy's about to start vaccinating all the key workers - everyone working in schools and unis, police, military, fire fighters, people living in communities such as nuns, prison staff and prisoners. They will get the AZ vaccine. The health and social care staff have already been vaccinated, of course.

Our region started vaccinating over-80s this week. It's a bit slow, but at least the most vulnerable oldies (the ancients and the ones in care homes) were vaccinated first. Being over 80 doesn't seem like a big deal here!
How are you dealing with being over 80? Big deal to you?

: )
 

WPMUFC

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A lesson from Western Australia

  • 1 new case in 10 months from a hotel quarantine worker that traveled basically around the central and outskirts of Perth for 1-3 days whilst infected with UK variant
  • Premier put the whole state into lockdown for 5 days, every resident that left their home had to wear a mask.
  • Within 24 hours, 18 close-contact sites were provided to every person in the state.
  • Police would hand out masks or direct people out of public spaces without masks, fines/arrest were the extreme last resort/confronted police physically. Our Police Commissioner called it "compassionate policing".
  • Could only travel between regions if you were an "essential worker"
  • Zero new cases in 5 days.
  • Following week was less restrictions, mandatory masks, limited travel between regions.
  • 14 days later - zero community infections.
Brilliant work by our leaders.
 

RedRover

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our office is the opposite. everyone is pretty much universally preferring working from home than going into the office. i think the fatigue is possibly more to do with the lockdown generally, at least our office seems to think the working from home element has been the one bonus from the whole pandemic. my office is in canary wharf though so maybe the pain of the daily commute contributes to this, not sure where your office is.

certainly we won't be going full time work from home though, with people able to go in when they want if they want. but our department is currently talking once in a fortnight as a mandatory requirement.
Yeah, I suppose it depends where you work. We're outside of a big city. People can easily drive in so commute isn't too taxing and we're not a huge office. It's a mid-sized law firm and a lot of the staff have worked together for years, with not that much turnover of staff. A lot of the staff are good friends and we have a good atmosphere in the office. I can see that in larger, more (for want of a better word) impersonal places with loads of staff it's not the same.

We're finding other issues. Training staff (Trainee Solicitors especially) is much harder when we're not in the office together to deal with quick queries or to just keep an eye on how they're getting on.

Generally, it has been an eye opener. We'll be more malleable for people home working in the future for sure. It's worked pretty well for the most part. I'll be maybe in 3 days a week once this is resolved, but as a Partner, some days I need to be in to supervise for the purposes of the insurance. Others may be in less.
 

RedRover

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Out of interest, what's the average age of people at your place? I'm of the opinion that younger and single people are having a tougher time due to the lack of space and/or social support. Also parents because of the homeschooling issue (although that's a relatively new issue by comparison).
A decent mix. Some of the people with Kids we've hardly seen recently, for obvious reasons. Some are keeping unusual hours because of childcare.

I'm married but in the house all day on my own - wife at work, child at School or at her grandparents - sometimes for 11 hours plus. I'm finding it hard just being by myself, and it's obviously potentially much worse if you live on your own.

I do think that a move to home working, despite it's obvious positives, has some draw backs for some. Big companies will realise they can close down expensive city centre offices and not only had staff working from home, but employ staff from much cheaper parts of the country (or world - see the number of insurance call centres popping up in South Africa). Why pay £100k to someone in London with a large cost of living when you can employ someone in Manchester or Newcastle for less? The mental health aspect is also an issue for me. The idea of young people especially, working long hours in a flat with no interaction is a concern.

I guess it's something some will love and others won't. if it works well for you, fair enough. I won't be going back into the office full time.
 

Penna

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The view wasn't bad but your town is pretty dead.

Hopefully in two weeks we'll go back to yellow too.
A thousand years of history dismissed just like that .... but it's true, quiet sleepy places don't have too much trouble at the moment. We get daily updates from the Comune - at the moment we have 8 cases in the village and the surrounding frazione, four of those are one family.
 

RedRover

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This is pretty much my experience right now. My productivity and enthusiasm for working from home was great up until the Christmas break. Ever since then, I've been fighting a losing battle to keep on top of my usual priorities. I'm trying to persevere, but I really have been stuck in second gear for long periods of the week.
Yeah, me too. Hard to get started some days!
 

Garethw

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A few of the papers are running with stories about non essential shops re-opening in March and Pubs and restaurants in April in the UK. All subject to infection rates continuing to fall.
 

Wibble

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A lesson from Western Australia

  • 1 new case in 10 months from a hotel quarantine worker that traveled basically around the central and outskirts of Perth for 1-3 days whilst infected with UK variant
  • Premier put the whole state into lockdown for 5 days, every resident that left their home had to wear a mask.
  • Within 24 hours, 18 close-contact sites were provided to every person in the state.
  • Police would hand out masks or direct people out of public spaces without masks, fines/arrest were the extreme last resort/confronted police physically. Our Police Commissioner called it "compassionate policing".
  • Could only travel between regions if you were an "essential worker"
  • Zero new cases in 5 days.
  • Following week was less restrictions, mandatory masks, limited travel between regions.
  • 14 days later - zero community infections.
Brilliant work by our leaders.
Agreed. When this is over state governments will be viewed as the adults in the room.
 

Vidyoyo

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A decent mix. Some of the people with Kids we've hardly seen recently, for obvious reasons. Some are keeping unusual hours because of childcare.

I'm married but in the house all day on my own - wife at work, child at School or at her grandparents - sometimes for 11 hours plus. I'm finding it hard just being by myself, and it's obviously potentially much worse if you live on your own.

I do think that a move to home working, despite it's obvious positives, has some draw backs for some. Big companies will realise they can close down expensive city centre offices and not only had staff working from home, but employ staff from much cheaper parts of the country (or world - see the number of insurance call centres popping up in South Africa). Why pay £100k to someone in London with a large cost of living when you can employ someone in Manchester or Newcastle for less? The mental health aspect is also an issue for me. The idea of young people especially, working long hours in a flat with no interaction is a concern.

I guess it's something some will love and others won't. if it works well for you, fair enough. I won't be going back into the office full time.
Interesting to read this. I live alone (30) and don't find it too hard in the day when I'm working - I'm more thankful for having something to do.

It's mainly the evenings and weekends that feel hard. Using today as an example, I woke up aiming go to the bank which it was supposed to be my thing to do today, then I found out it's closed. It's a really minor thing but it makes it a bit harder to create work-life balance. Definitely harder to feel refreshed and maintain a positive mindset (for work and generally life).

I've got one friend in London whose office has closed and they've gone full-time remote now. I certainly think that'll happen more often as there's obvious financial benefits.

Good for those not living in London I suppose.

Either way, I'd be happy not going back to the office full-time. I moved last month to a different city slightly further away.
 

Stanley Road

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A few of the papers are running with stories about non essential shops re-opening in March and Pubs and restaurants in April in the UK. All subject to infection rates continuing to fall.
The numbers really are tumbling in the UK. What i dont get here is why, with a curfew in place, the numbers arent really coming down, in fact they've gone up the last couple of days while the % of positive tests per day is coming down slowly.
 

rcoobc

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A few of the papers are running with stories about non essential shops re-opening in March and Pubs and restaurants in April in the UK. All subject to infection rates continuing to fall.
Shops reopening before schools. Ah I understand the priority
 

rcoobc

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The numbers really are tumbling in the UK. What i dont get here is why, with a curfew in place, the numbers arent really coming down, in fact they've gone up the last couple of days while the % of positive tests per day is coming down slowly.
What numbers? Deaths? Hospitals? Cases? What country?
 

rcoobc

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NL. Deaths are around 80 per day, compared to 0 before the summer.

Positive tests no real change since the curfew, the lower figures could be weekend figures and the really low one was due to the snow storm, test centers closed.
Well they do seem to be falling based on that. But very slowly
 

Eire Red United

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A lesson from Western Australia

  • 1 new case in 10 months from a hotel quarantine worker that traveled basically around the central and outskirts of Perth for 1-3 days whilst infected with UK variant
  • Premier put the whole state into lockdown for 5 days, every resident that left their home had to wear a mask.
  • Within 24 hours, 18 close-contact sites were provided to every person in the state.
  • Police would hand out masks or direct people out of public spaces without masks, fines/arrest were the extreme last resort/confronted police physically. Our Police Commissioner called it "compassionate policing".
  • Could only travel between regions if you were an "essential worker"
  • Zero new cases in 5 days.
  • Following week was less restrictions, mandatory masks, limited travel between regions.
  • 14 days later - zero community infections.
Brilliant work by our leaders.
total overreaction holy feck
 

Vitro

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Without going into any detail- the unemployment, the mental health issues and the missed cancers all will do more harm than covid will
That's a very confident conclusion on some very complex, interconnected phenomena; have any convincing epidemiological data to support that?
 

HTG

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What the feck is going on in the UK?
 

Eire Red United

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That's a very confident conclusion on some very complex, interconnected phenomena; have any convincing epidemiological data to support that?
Common sense and personal experience.

I don’t struggle with my mental health or I’m not suicidal or anything, but feck me this lockdown has me sitting here feeling like what is the point. Genuinely nothing to look forward to, a night out, a holiday- even getting to the gym or playing sport. Get up, work, go home, sit around, go to bed, get up and repeat.

I’d hate to be in the position of someone who had poor mental health prepandemic.
 

Pogue Mahone

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Common sense and personal experience.

I don’t struggle with my mental health or I’m not suicidal or anything, but feck me this lockdown has me sitting here feeling like what is the point. Genuinely nothing to look forward to, a night out, a holiday- even getting to the gym or playing sport. Get up, work, go home, sit around, go to bed, get up and repeat.

I’d hate to be in the position of someone who had poor mental health prepandemic.
Lockdown is difficult. Nobody would disagree with that. But let’s not forget that the alternative is people left to die on the street after road accidents because there isn’t a spare ambulance, or hospitals turning away seriously ill patients because they don’t have the beds or staff to treat them.

Portugal has had to send critically ill patients to other countries because their hospitals completely ran out of capacity. And that’s with a lockdown.

Taking all of that into account, I think it’s badly missing the point to talk about a year or two missing out on our usual fun as the real issue here.
 

RedRover

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Interesting to read this. I live alone (30) and don't find it too hard in the day when I'm working - I'm more thankful for having something to do.

It's mainly the evenings and weekends that feel hard. Using today as an example, I woke up aiming go to the bank which it was supposed to be my thing to do today, then I found out it's closed. It's a really minor thing but it makes it a bit harder to create work-life balance. Definitely harder to feel refreshed and maintain a positive mindset (for work and generally life).

I've got one friend in London whose office has closed and they've gone full-time remote now. I certainly think that'll happen more often as there's obvious financial benefits.

Good for those not living in London I suppose.

Either way, I'd be happy not going back to the office full-time. I moved last month to a different city slightly further away.
For me it's about staying focused. I've found that increasingly difficult. I guess my brain thinks "you're at home". It's not all the time to be fair but there are always other things I can do at home - washing the dishes, tidying etc. On the flip side, some days I find it hard to switch off, and I'm working later and later as I don't have to leave the office and travel home.

Weekends haven't been too bad. We have a young daughter and actually, since this all began we've realised what's important. Instead of wasting days doing jobs and wandering around shops, since we now can't we're going out walking or just spending time together generally.

I think a few people with well paid jobs in big cities may get a shock. I don't know much about other sectors, but in the legal sector the difference in pay from London to the regions is amazing. A Solicitor a year or two qualified in London is earning what a senior Associate or Partner is earning in Newcastle, and that's at big firms with international clients who are doing the same job.
 

golden_blunder

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Do you guys think the big cities will see enough people moving out to cheaper cities or the countryside to see a knock on effect to rent and house prices?
 

Wibble

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Without going into any detail- the unemployment, the mental health issues and the missed cancers all will do more harm than covid will
Rubbish. I'd also suspect the dead (if they could) and their families would disagree.

The countries that took the bold steps necessary to control it didn't have to stop normal medical procedures or testing for all but a small part of the last year. Calls to mental health support lines (as an indicator) went up when full lockdowns were required but down when they weren't (the majority of people the majority of the time) and suicides are down. Excess deaths are also downturn together flu deaths as well.

Economically some have suffered of course but the economy has taken a much smaller hit than most places as well.

All the things you mentioned are not because the virus was controlled but because it wasn't controlled well enough.
 

Tibs

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Common sense and personal experience.

I don’t struggle with my mental health or I’m not suicidal or anything, but feck me this lockdown has me sitting here feeling like what is the point. Genuinely nothing to look forward to, a night out, a holiday- even getting to the gym or playing sport. Get up, work, go home, sit around, go to bed, get up and repeat.

I’d hate to be in the position of someone who had poor mental health prepandemic.
I work with a suicide prevention charity - and tbh there has not been any noticeable increase in callers...yes the calls are coming in and mentioned Covid - but its not anywhere near as extreme as is being made out. But then again, it might be that people aren't even reaching out for help.

Seperately, was on a call with a NHS MH Nurse a few weeks ago, and again, things are as steady as ever, no noticeable increase/decrease in demand for services.

Time will tell