Coronavirus.

[Lucy]

I would say that's the most up to date, in which case I'll be coming with a pitchfork too

 

[Lucy]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-52106843

 

[Carole]

It’s so conflicting though @Lucy and @The Hawk

Because one report says only 6 and the other says a party at home for 30.

So which is it?

 

[The Hawk]

It's 6, with an increase to 30 for certain exceptons.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/meeting-people-from-outside-your-household-from-4-july

You can also meet in larger groups for weddings (from 1 August this will include sit-down wedding receptions), funerals, religious ceremonies and services, community activities and support groups - which should be limited to no more than 30 people and subject to COVID-19 secure guidelines.

It does seem to open up a loophole if you want to hold a gathering for 30 people, as long as you state it is for one of these reasons. On no account should you make the mistake of telling the neighbours it's a birthday party.

 

[Lucy]

Yep, they've told you now, they can't take it back. Plus are they only going to have 30?

 

[Tilly]

Some people are confused

They appear to have caused the confusion in the first place

But they aren't the types of people who admit they were wrong. It's a kind of a badge they wear

In fact , they may not even have the mental capacity to acknowledge it was they who inflicted us with the confusion

People are, and remain, confusion

Four more years of confusion

Anything is to blame

But not the confusion

Not to worry eh

It's only death after all

And permanent disability

And poverty

Well. My neighbour is a confusion, and he's something big in Confusion in the city . And his lawn is immaculate . Always says hello.

Dead now of course

 

[littleme]

Can any of you clarify the current regulations about socialising please?

A family, relatively new to our village, has sent out a village e mail to everyone on the list, apologising in advance for the possible noise this Saturday night due to an event they are holding.
An outdoor music festival in their garden, heightened noise levels due to the amount of friends and family attending.
It’s a party to celebrate the husbands 50th birthday party.

The majority of us in this village have stopped our usual social get togethers, one couple might meet up with another couple but certainly no parties or large gatherings.


Because as far as I’m aware it’s still only 6 people but if it’s more than that then they have to be from two families.
Or did the rules change when I wasn’t looking?

There’s a few in the village getting their pitchforks ready.

There's an easy answer, and I apologise if not everyone likes it.... Don't go, don't get involved, keep yourself & yours safe, it's all you can do.

 

[Lucy]

That's my mantra at the moment too @littleme. I'm not going to a meal on Saturday evening because I don't trust some of the others there, and I shouldn't have to keep telling people to back off. I am being careful and that means not putting myself in situations with people I know aren't careful.

 

[Carole]

There's an easy answer, Don't go, don't get involved, keep yourself & yours safe, it's all you can do.

That's my mantra at the moment too.

Yes it would seem to be the obvious answer unless you’ve lived in a tiny village .
A person can get involved whether they want to or not, that’s just how it works.

Under usual circumstances nobody bats an eyelid at someone having a party or making a noise.
If it’s a one off, go for it, live and let live.

However, in a village where we’ve gone into overdrive to look after the vulnerable, people have done shopping for those shielding, so many people “stayed at home”, we didn’t see family for months.

Even now, we are still obeying the rules, still looking out for each other.
Not one person I know in this village has had a party, or a social occasion of more than 6.

But yes we won’t of course say anything, wouldn’t dream of it.

@littleme I was initially only asking the question out of curiosity because if the rules have changed then it’s nice to know that we can start socialising again (social distancing of course).

 

[proactive]

Best thing would be to get out of the house and do something to take your mind off it. I hear there's a nice little pub in Stone with an outside area that's quite popular...

 

[The Hawk]

A family, relatively new to our village

On a different note, I presume you are working to the standard village definition of new being anyone that has arrived in the last 25 years and relatively new is anyone who cannot trace their ancestry in the village back at least 17 generations.

 

[Carole]

On a different note, I presume you are working to the standard village definition of new being anyone that has arrived in the last 25 years and relatively new is anyone who cannot trace their ancestry in the village back at least 17 generations.

Sort of but not quite.

We are “quite new”, we’ve only been here 20 years and got accepted into the fold 10 years ago, once they realised that I was a good organiser and could help with the village fete.

 

[Lucy]

Yes it would seem to be the obvious answer unless you’ve lived in a tiny village .
A person can get involved whether they want to or not, that’s just how it works.

Under usual circumstances nobody bats an eyelid at someone having a party or making a noise.
If it’s a one off, go for it, live and let live.

However, in a village where we’ve gone into overdrive to look after the vulnerable, people have done shopping for those shielding, so many people “stayed at home”, we didn’t see family for months.

Even now, we are still obeying the rules, still looking out for each other.
Not one person I know in this village has had a party, or a social occasion of more than 6.

But yes we won’t of course say anything, wouldn’t dream of it.

@littleme I was initially only asking the question out of curiosity because if the rules have changed then it’s nice to know that we can start socialising again (social distancing of course).

I think I live in an even smaller village. I've bought people's food, I've made sure others are okay. Unfortunately there are a number who have the mentality that as it's a village everything is okay. That's despite a yoga teacher who lives here having really bad post viral symptoms, about 16 weeks on

 

[tek-monkey]

My birthday is in a few weeks, much as I want to see my family we're unsure. Current plan is the Turkish restaurant, but spread across 3 different tables so we can wave at each other but not really be in contact! Would be 6 households going, one of which is currently locked down.

 

[That-Crazy-Rat-Lady]

My birthday is in a few weeks, much as I want to see my family we're unsure. Current plan is the Turkish restaurant, but spread across 3 different tables so we can wave at each other but not really be in contact! Would be 6 households going, one of which is currently locked down.

We went for a family walk the other weekend over Hopton Hill - lots of fresh air and easy to social distance!

We all took our own picnics and sat in a big distanced circle so we could all chat!

 

[Carole]

I think I live in an even smaller village. I've bought people's food, I've made sure others are okay. Unfortunately there are a number who have the mentality that as it's a village everything is okay. That's despite a yoga teacher who lives here having really bad post viral symptoms, about 16 weeks on

I think your village has about 600 people and ours has about half that, approx 300 people.

When we first moved in and we were walking through the village people would ask where we live, we told them and they would say “Oh you live in Fred’s house”.
This went on for so long that if anyone asked where we lived, rather than say the road it was easier to say “Fred’s house”

Also the village is so small that everyone practically knows everyone else, sometimes this is a good thing, if you need any help but I’ll admit it does have its downside. There is stuff going on at the moment that we’re keeping well out of for various reasons.

A ten minute walk to post a letter can take 2 hours, chatting to people in their front gardens, one does hear all sorts of things whether you want to or not. If I don’t really want to hear what’s being said I make an excuse of having to rush back for something.

Going back to the Corona virus and the party thing was mainly because I genuinely wanted to know the rules and I’m still none the wiser.

I didn’t do anything at all for my birthday last week, not even see my son who was still locked down in Leicester.
Also husband asked if we could host a BBQ for his team at work, I didn’t think we could if the rule was still only 6.

The Corona Virus is seriously getting on my nerves now, I coped well at the beginning and less so now.

That’s why I get a bee in my bonnet when I see the rule breakers because it won’t go away if people keep ignoring it, although to be fair the rules are so confusing it’s understandable that people don’t know what’s what.


If the rules have changed to 30 people then fair enough.

 

[Lucy]

Fair enough.

The way I'm looking at it is I need to keep my family safe, so whilst there are all these wishy washy rules it doesn't mean I have to go as far as they let me, I will continue to do what I think is best because it hasn't gone away at all.

 

[BobClay]

On a different note, I presume you are working to the standard village definition of new being anyone that has arrived in the last 25 years and relatively new is anyone who cannot trace their ancestry in the village back at least 17 generations.

Sounds a bit like Cornwall !! (Only '17 generations' needs to be replaced by 'to the pre-Cambrian era' )

 

[proactive]

The Corona Virus is seriously getting on my nerves now, I coped well at the beginning and less so now.

That’s why I get a bee in my bonnet when I see the rule breakers because it won’t go away if people keep ignoring it, although to be fair the rules are so confusing it’s understandable that people don’t know what’s what.

You're not alone there.

 

[The Hawk]

I've pretty much given up on following the government's advice; it is confused and weak.

Instead I continue to be guided by the science and, amongst other sources of information, I find the advice of the Independent SAGE group useful.

A couple of things that have come out of the Independent SAGE group recently:

1. The leading scientists on the group were asked about there own personal dos and don'ts. They were all pretty adamant that they would not go inside a pub or restaurant, or a plane, pretty much any public place indoors was regarded as very high risk and, therefore out of bounds. One or two though said they were happy to eat outside at a restaurant, provided proper social distancing was in place.
2. Masks: the conclusion was that masks were very effective, providing it was the right type of mask, handled and worn in the correct manner. They strongly believed the government should be both advocating the use of masks and providing the necessary guidance on the types to be used and how to use them. As far as the Independent SAGE group were concerned, homemade masks made out of t shirts were near useless, or worse.

Overall the Independent SAGE group believe that, with the right advice, proper social distancing, regular washing of hands and the proper use of masks, we could quickly drive down the virus to near zero and hold it there until an effective vaccine comes along.

Oh, and a final point regarding masks; if you are going to wear the right mask, as a way of protecting yourself, then don't forget to protect your eyes as well.

The Independent SAGE website is at: http://www.independentsage.org/

And their YouTube briefings can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqqwC56XTP8F9zeEUCOttPQ/videos