Test is negative. Apparently I've managed to catch something else, which is good news on the whole.
OTOH, that swab up the nose is horrible. I'm joining the "worse than a cervical smear" camp. I say that as a woman who loathes and fears gynaecologists with all her heart.
I'm currently very relieved that my current box of lateral flow tests doesn't require the throat swab. And today's test is negative.
The tube last night was interesting, a very vocal group of women not wearing masks and insisting that they didn't have to until it becomes mandatory on Tuesday - except it is already mandatory to wear masks on the tube.
I'm currently very relieved that my current box of lateral flow tests doesn't require the throat swab. And today's test is negative.
The tube last night was interesting, a very vocal group of women not wearing masks and insisting that they didn't have to until it becomes mandatory on Tuesday - except it is already mandatory to wear masks on the tube.
Such fu**wittery is probably not uncommon, alas, and will become even more common from tomorrow.
I have a rather jaded view of how England is *coping* with Ye Plague...
We've now worked out our Christmas plans, and though that will involve travel to England it's only by a few miles so hopefully the Scottish good common sense extends a bit beyond the border.
I'm currently very relieved that my current box of lateral flow tests doesn't require the throat swab. And today's test is negative.
The tube last night was interesting, a very vocal group of women not wearing masks and insisting that they didn't have to until it becomes mandatory on Tuesday - except it is already mandatory to wear masks on the tube.
We've had similar fuckwittery with tourists on the ferry claiming they don't have to wear a mask because they're from England.
Coming from Plague Land is all the more reason to wear a mask...
Just back from the Co-Op (traffic towards Tess Coe was horrendous, so I gave up the idea), where all customers and staff were masked, except for one young lady customer who was wearing a Nekkid Face. She was also wearing a sheepish look, as all and sundry glared at her with hard glares...
They can't use that feeble apology for an excuse from today, even though England is still full of bare-faced Covidiots.
Unlike yesterday, the Co-Op this morning (a different and smaller store) was crowded with them...
No news as yet as to how the C of E is going to tackle the latest developments, but I can foresee mask-wearing and social distancing in church being advised again.
Given that we're also being advised to avoid unnecessary socialising this Puddingmas Christmas, I'm wondering if Our Place may have to think about cancelling the planned Christmas Market (supposed to take place immediately after the 3pm Carol Service on 19th December), and maybe foregoing the recently-reintroduced coffee time after Sunday Mass.
The Christmas Market is not a huge money spinner (far too late in the year for that), but it is a pleasant social occasion, with local people who don't often attend church coming through our doors, and enjoying *seasonal (hic) refreshments (hic)*. And mince PIES, of course.
Triple-jabbed AND flu jabbed now, and wondering whether it is entirely wise to continue to plan Carol Services and such forms of jollity, or whether we shall all be Socially Distanced again by then.
Triple-jabbed AND flu jabbed now, and wondering whether it is entirely wise to continue to plan Carol Services and such forms of jollity, or whether we shall all be Socially Distanced again by then.
Yes, I wonder what FatherInCharge will make of the C of E's new advice and guidance, given that the onus is on him to make any decisions regarding mask-wearing, social distancing, etc.
He has been very careful and circumspect throughout the pandemic so far, though (since July) there has been little mask-wearing, but much singing, in church. No physical exchange of The Peace, and communion in one kind only, are still the usual practice, so I guess that will continue to be the case, with masks and social distancing strongly recommended - albeit, of course, unenforceable.
I expect he will have something to say on the matter this weekend.
You could tell them not to come in, yes, though you’d want to ask if they have a medical exemption first - and perhaps offer them a clear visor to wear instead. (Also offer them to join the service via zoom.)
That's what we do. We have a supply of disposable masks in case anyone comes without. It doesn't really matter whether the government hasn't mandated mask-wearing in church. Churches, shops, private houses, or anywhere else are free to have more restrictive entry requirements than the government mandate, as long as they're not discriminatory.
If someone came and told us that they had a genuine medical exemption from wearing a mask, we'd let them in, and sit them in a corner some distance away from anyone else, and if we could arrange the ventilation so that they were downwind of other people, so much the better.
But people who are genuinely unable to wear a mask for an hour for a church service are rare.
I'm sorry, but I still don't see how mask-wearing can be enforced in a church setting, where it is not mandatory to wear a mask.
It’s out of consideration and duty of care to other congregants.
How do you enforce wearing clothes, not not yelling swear words during the Eucharist etc ?
Well, I know why masks should be worn, and consideration and duty of care are indeed some of the reasons. Unfortunately, not everyone (including Christians) considers or cares for others. Wearing of clothes, and not yelling swear words during the Eucharist, are social mores, but the wearing of masks isn't - yet.
Still, I take the point that, in case of need, a person should be excluded from the church pro bono publico (for the public good). I hope it never becomes necessary at Our Place, though.
Interestingly I received an e-mail from London Transport this week, as the mandatory mask wearing came in, basically saying that with the Government not having mandatory mask wearing on public transport they have not been able to enforce (and fine those not doing so) mask wearing, but now they can.
Interestingly I received an e-mail from London Transport this week, as the mandatory mask wearing came in, basically saying that with the Government not having mandatory mask wearing on public transport they have not been able to enforce (and fine those not doing so) mask wearing, but now they can.
Presumably it's the British Transport Police who are responsible for enforcement?
The exact phrasing from the Transport for London email was:
The Government has confirmed that face coverings will become compulsory again on public transport and in shops across the country in order to help prevent the spread of the new COVID-19 Omicron variant in the UK. Since the Government removed the national requirement to wear a face covering on public transport, face coverings have remained mandatory on TfL services under TfL’s condition of carriage but enforcement powers under these conditions were highly limited.
(This is just one paragraph of a longer e-mail, so should be fine for copyright purposes.)
Tomorrow NZ transitions to what the government is calling a traffic light system. I managed to get myself thoroughly confused about that it means except that for some things like eating out, haircuts and gyms a vaccine passport is needed. I don't yet have mine, which is being posted on account of me being a technopeasant with a not very bright phone and no printer. .
I have however discovered that until the passport turns up in my letterbox (supposedly in a week's time) I will not be able to browse* in the library If they had railings I would chain myself to them. Instead I will binge on ebook stories or visit a bookshop if I get desperate. The small voluntary library where I'm working tomorrow is also open to all as long as people are suitably masked.
* I think unvaccinated people can make special arrangements with contactless pick up, but for me libraries are about browsing.
Having had my whinge I realise how privileged I am, to have such a brilliant library in my city and to live in a country where the the government have both the will and (so far) the ability to take measure to protect people. They aren't perfect, mistakes have been made, but they are trying and consulting with experts.
@Huia, we had this in our small-town library and since I couldn't go in, I rang the librarian and suggested a list of their books I could reread. It isn't browsing but we don't have a bookshop here and my Internet connect is erratic. Like you, I'm an enthusiast about small voluntary libraries because they are among the very few public spaces where people can hang out without being pressured to buy anything or leave as soon as possible.
A news report this morning quoted a large number for other people who have also not yet received their vaccine passports. Apparently they will be emailed letters giving them coverage. (tough luck if you don't have the technology to either print it or transfer it to a portable device.)
Of more worry is a much larger group who have not even applied for a vaccine passport. Age Concern has suggested that many of these may be older people who don't know how to and don't have anyone who could help them. There will be other people too who don't have the technology or the knowledge. In other times they could be referred to the library for tech help but ... it's a circular thing. Isolated rural inhabitants and people living in poverty are also likely to be over represented in this group as well as are Maori.
This has been badly handled by a government that refers to "the team of 5 million" with monotonous regularity. To be fair, I don't think the other lot could have done better as they have been busy with internal squabbles.
One wonders why those without the technology to receive or print out emails can't simply be sent a letter (on paper) in the post?
Maybe that's just too simple a solution in this digital age!
As for those identified by Age Concern, that must be a huge worry indeed. Is this an area where local churches could help, perhaps by offering technological expertise and equipment?
BF - Pharmacies that gave the jab are linked into the technology so can now print out passes, but need extra staff to do so. People living in remote areas such a the East coast of the North Island where vaccine take up is lower and poverty is also a factor may get paper copies posted to them. The local Iwi (tribe) may also step in and organise something they have done with the vaccines themselves fundraising for an SUV with a vaccinating team to visit the area (a Jabbawaka - jabber for the vaccine and waka meaning vehicle -originally canoe) .
The large number of people that haven't even requested a copy leaves me wondering if they realised how much not having a passport would limit their choices this summer. ( I didn't realise the library would be affected for example and I had been following the COVID news fairly closely) . Some Iwi on the East Coast and in the far North have asked that outsiders stay away over the Christmas/New Year period due to the lack of ICU and High Dependency beds if there is an outbreak (there are only 6 on the Coast). One has even requested their whanau (family) who don't live locally to stay away. This is a huge sacrifice for them as Kapa Haka (cultural groups) and sports events all happen then.
People on the East Coast also remember whanau who died of the Spanish flu in 1918 because a troop ship heading for Australia stopped off in the area resulting in the deaths of local people.
Went to a school music concert last night. It was a slightly odd experience seeing rows of masked singers singing, because you lose almost all sense of facial expression or mouth movement. Listening with my eyes closed was fine. Watching with eyes open was more disconcerting than I was expecting.
In the supermarket earlier there were far more masks to be seen, including on the members of staff, although a few were under their noses. Some people not wearing masks, though, including one particular woman with the most ferocious cough, opposite us at the self-service checkouts. We weren't glaring at her honest, although I may have been wincing with my back to her as I sorted out our shopping, because I am prone to bronchitis enough to have my chest hurt in sympathy when I hear nasty coughs, but anyway she coughed in our (masked) faces as she left, which was a totally unnecessary bit of malice as we were the opposite side of the corridor of self-service checkouts from the exit.
We wandered out muttering we would not be impressed if we missed:
1) the hospital appointment my daughter has been waiting for for three years (some of that three years spent wasting time at another hospital), next week, or
2) my booster jab next week.
but anyway she coughed in our (masked) faces as she left, which was a totally unnecessary bit of malice as we were the opposite side of the corridor of self-service checkouts from the exit.
This was assault. I'm sorry you had to experience this idiot. My preference would be to see idiots like her do jail time for this.
Indeed - but the cough may see her off first (the assailant, that is).
FatherInCharge has sent out his weekend letter/email, stating that the C of E has not yet given any further guidance or advice over and above that already given by the government. He recommends that masks be worn again (most of the congregation have apparently been maskless in recent weeks), and that social distancing be observed - not too difficult in our great barn of a church!
I don't think he can do more at this stage, but I was slightly surprised to see that he is still urging people to visit a local pub (the only one in the parish) to sing carols on a certain evening nearer Christmas. The aim is to raise £££ for the local hospice, but personally I'd rather not be in a crowded and unventilated pub, given the increase in infections...however, it's not my call.
The *Christmass Fayre* is still going ahead, and I hope someone will buy FInC a Boke of How Too Speel Wurdz Proppurlee.
I saw an interesting mask being worn on Thursday when I was in town. It had a black moustache and beard printed on it and was being worn by a young woman in her late teens/early twenties. She was working in the library cafe where masks are mandatory, unless you are a customer who is eating. It's good to see people having fun with them.
Having tried a wide range of masks I mainly wear really boring white ones because they fit best, but I do have one with multiple cats printed on it that fits too.
I embroidered a cat nose and whiskers on one for my son. Wanted to do a vampire lips and fangs, but I didn't have enough time nor the right colors of thread. I do possess a gorgeous dragon mouth-and-fangs in full color, which was reproduced for sale by the artist.
As the Official Twitterer for the bookshop where I work, I do a "Mask of the Day" tweet when I see something interesting. The most recent fun one was Moominpappa, fishing.
I have a selection of masks bought in a wee shop along the street from my flat, and I try to co-ordinate them with whatever colour scheme I'm wearing. (Yesterday, in an Advent theme, I paired a purple jacket with a rather fetching purple-and-green tartan* mask).
Some of them are quite cute: I have hedgehogs, bumblebees, dragonflies and puffins on various coloured backgrounds.
* I have no idea whose tartan it is (if any), and frankly I don't care.
Son has tested negative after having one of his roommates turn up COVID positive a couple days ago. Other roommate is ducking the test AND unvaccinated--I give him 50/50 odds on infection. Son not sure what to do--university has probably not connected the dots to realize the guy HAS ducked the test. I encouraged him to mention the matter to the RA, but we'll see. At least he won't be inviting anyone else back to the room for a good long while.
Yep. My son has had COVID (last November) and is double vaxxed, with a booster as soon as he gets home for Christmas. So I'm not freaking out (plus the need to keep my husband from doing so!). But the university has their collective head where the sun don't shine on this issue, and I'm picking my battles.
Sorry your son has an idiot roommate Lamb Chopped.
A friend has just decided to get the jab ( see Praise and Thanksgiving thread) not because of my superior powers of persuasion (haha) or being convinced by science or common sense, but because he can't get served at his favourite fish and chip shop without it 🙄
I thought the vaccination would go up when people realised how restricted they would without proof of vaccination.
It’s becoming very hard to do anything in Germany without proof of vaccine - cafes, shopping, everything requires check in with the app.
A friend of mine has a friend who is anti vacc.
She said -
“I had a visit yesterday with my best buddy here, N. She has been steadfast anti-vaccine from day one, but has finally scheduled a GP appointment for next week to get her first jab. Not because she's had a change of heart, simply because Germany has made it very difficult to exist without being vaccinated...and apparently her other friends and family will not stop nagging her. She's just worn down.
Now...medically-speaking, I think this is for the best. However for her personally, I've got sympathy. She truly believes that the vaccine is dangerous/deadly to everyone's health because it's not been tested enough.
So...have I wished all along that she would get the vaccine? Yes. But if I put myself in her place, subjecting myself to a vaccine that I truly thought was going to eventually kill me would be horrifying. I can't help but feeling badly for her despite not agreeing with her logic (or fact sourcing) on this topic.”
Now...medically-speaking, I think this is for the best. However for her personally, I've got sympathy. She truly believes that the vaccine is dangerous/deadly to everyone's health because it's not been tested enough.
Is it fair to ask what she would consider sufficient testing?
Comments
OTOH, that swab up the nose is horrible. I'm joining the "worse than a cervical smear" camp. I say that as a woman who loathes and fears gynaecologists with all her heart.
I'm currently very relieved that my current box of lateral flow tests doesn't require the throat swab. And today's test is negative.
The tube last night was interesting, a very vocal group of women not wearing masks and insisting that they didn't have to until it becomes mandatory on Tuesday - except it is already mandatory to wear masks on the tube.
Such fu**wittery is probably not uncommon, alas, and will become even more common from tomorrow.
I have a rather jaded view of how England is *coping* with Ye Plague...
We've had similar fuckwittery with tourists on the ferry claiming they don't have to wear a mask because they're from England.
Just back from the Co-Op (traffic towards Tess Coe was horrendous, so I gave up the idea), where all customers and staff were masked, except for one young lady customer who was wearing a Nekkid Face. She was also wearing a sheepish look, as all and sundry glared at her with hard glares...
Unlike yesterday, the Co-Op this morning (a different and smaller store) was crowded with them...
No news as yet as to how the C of E is going to tackle the latest developments, but I can foresee mask-wearing and social distancing in church being advised again.
Given that we're also being advised to avoid unnecessary socialising this Puddingmas Christmas, I'm wondering if Our Place may have to think about cancelling the planned Christmas Market (supposed to take place immediately after the 3pm Carol Service on 19th December), and maybe foregoing the recently-reintroduced coffee time after Sunday Mass.
The Christmas Market is not a huge money spinner (far too late in the year for that), but it is a pleasant social occasion, with local people who don't often attend church coming through our doors, and enjoying *seasonal (hic) refreshments (hic)*. And mince PIES, of course.
Yes, I wonder what FatherInCharge will make of the C of E's new advice and guidance, given that the onus is on him to make any decisions regarding mask-wearing, social distancing, etc.
He has been very careful and circumspect throughout the pandemic so far, though (since July) there has been little mask-wearing, but much singing, in church. No physical exchange of The Peace, and communion in one kind only, are still the usual practice, so I guess that will continue to be the case, with masks and social distancing strongly recommended - albeit, of course, unenforceable.
I expect he will have something to say on the matter this weekend.
What do you do? Tell them they can't come in?
Masks are only mandatory in England in shops, and on public transport, at the moment, anyway.
Yes, people can (and should) be encouraged, and maybe visors and/or masks could be provided for their use.
Anyone who is medically exempt ought to be able to provide proof of that - I don't think that's an unreasonable requirement.
It’s out of consideration and duty of care to other congregants.
How do you enforce wearing clothes, not not yelling swear words during the Eucharist etc ?
That's what we do. We have a supply of disposable masks in case anyone comes without. It doesn't really matter whether the government hasn't mandated mask-wearing in church. Churches, shops, private houses, or anywhere else are free to have more restrictive entry requirements than the government mandate, as long as they're not discriminatory.
If someone came and told us that they had a genuine medical exemption from wearing a mask, we'd let them in, and sit them in a corner some distance away from anyone else, and if we could arrange the ventilation so that they were downwind of other people, so much the better.
But people who are genuinely unable to wear a mask for an hour for a church service are rare.
Well, I know why masks should be worn, and consideration and duty of care are indeed some of the reasons. Unfortunately, not everyone (including Christians) considers or cares for others. Wearing of clothes, and not yelling swear words during the Eucharist, are social mores, but the wearing of masks isn't - yet.
Still, I take the point that, in case of need, a person should be excluded from the church pro bono publico (for the public good). I hope it never becomes necessary at Our Place, though.
Presumably it's the British Transport Police who are responsible for enforcement?
(This is just one paragraph of a longer e-mail, so should be fine for copyright purposes.)
I have however discovered that until the passport turns up in my letterbox (supposedly in a week's time) I will not be able to browse* in the library
* I think unvaccinated people can make special arrangements with contactless pick up, but for me libraries are about browsing.
Having had my whinge I realise how privileged I am, to have such a brilliant library in my city and to live in a country where the the government have both the will and (so far) the ability to take measure to protect people. They aren't perfect, mistakes have been made, but they are trying and consulting with experts.
Of more worry is a much larger group who have not even applied for a vaccine passport. Age Concern has suggested that many of these may be older people who don't know how to and don't have anyone who could help them. There will be other people too who don't have the technology or the knowledge. In other times they could be referred to the library for tech help but ... it's a circular thing.
This has been badly handled by a government that refers to "the team of 5 million" with monotonous regularity. To be fair, I don't think the other lot could have done better as they have been busy with internal squabbles.
Maybe that's just too simple a solution in this digital age!
As for those identified by Age Concern, that must be a huge worry indeed. Is this an area where local churches could help, perhaps by offering technological expertise and equipment?
The large number of people that haven't even requested a copy leaves me wondering if they realised how much not having a passport would limit their choices this summer. ( I didn't realise the library would be affected for example and I had been following the COVID news fairly closely) . Some Iwi on the East Coast and in the far North have asked that outsiders stay away over the Christmas/New Year period due to the lack of ICU and High Dependency beds if there is an outbreak (there are only 6 on the Coast). One has even requested their whanau (family) who don't live locally to stay away. This is a huge sacrifice for them as Kapa Haka (cultural groups) and sports events all happen then.
People on the East Coast also remember whanau who died of the Spanish flu in 1918 because a troop ship heading for Australia stopped off in the area resulting in the deaths of local people.
🙏 for all those finding life difficult at the moment, in NZ and elsewhere.
We wandered out muttering we would not be impressed if we missed:
1) the hospital appointment my daughter has been waiting for for three years (some of that three years spent wasting time at another hospital), next week, or
2) my booster jab next week.
This was assault. I'm sorry you had to experience this idiot. My preference would be to see idiots like her do jail time for this.
FatherInCharge has sent out his weekend letter/email, stating that the C of E has not yet given any further guidance or advice over and above that already given by the government. He recommends that masks be worn again (most of the congregation have apparently been maskless in recent weeks), and that social distancing be observed - not too difficult in our great barn of a church!
I don't think he can do more at this stage, but I was slightly surprised to see that he is still urging people to visit a local pub (the only one in the parish) to sing carols on a certain evening nearer Christmas. The aim is to raise £££ for the local hospice, but personally I'd rather not be in a crowded and unventilated pub, given the increase in infections...however, it's not my call.
The *Christmass Fayre* is still going ahead, and I hope someone will buy FInC a Boke of How Too Speel Wurdz Proppurlee.
Obviously, anyone who feels uneasy about the wisdom of carol-singing in a pub, or patronising a crowded Christmass Fayre, needn't attend...
Having tried a wide range of masks I mainly wear really boring white ones because they fit best, but I do have one with multiple cats printed on it that fits too.
I have a selection of masks bought in a wee shop along the street from my flat, and I try to co-ordinate them with whatever colour scheme I'm wearing. (Yesterday, in an Advent theme, I paired a purple jacket with a rather fetching purple-and-green tartan* mask).
Some of them are quite cute: I have hedgehogs, bumblebees, dragonflies and puffins on various coloured backgrounds.
* I have no idea whose tartan it is (if any), and frankly I don't care.
So he'll have to visit elsewhere to discuss the latest set essay, is that it?
A friend has just decided to get the jab ( see Praise and Thanksgiving thread) not because of my superior powers of persuasion (haha) or being convinced by science or common sense, but because he can't get served at his favourite fish and chip shop without it 🙄
I thought the vaccination would go up when people realised how restricted they would without proof of vaccination.
A friend of mine has a friend who is anti vacc.
She said -
“I had a visit yesterday with my best buddy here, N. She has been steadfast anti-vaccine from day one, but has finally scheduled a GP appointment for next week to get her first jab. Not because she's had a change of heart, simply because Germany has made it very difficult to exist without being vaccinated...and apparently her other friends and family will not stop nagging her. She's just worn down.
Now...medically-speaking, I think this is for the best. However for her personally, I've got sympathy. She truly believes that the vaccine is dangerous/deadly to everyone's health because it's not been tested enough.
So...have I wished all along that she would get the vaccine? Yes. But if I put myself in her place, subjecting myself to a vaccine that I truly thought was going to eventually kill me would be horrifying. I can't help but feeling badly for her despite not agreeing with her logic (or fact sourcing) on this topic.”
Is it fair to ask what she would consider sufficient testing?