What lockdown?

The type of controls recently imposed are ludicrous. They are being ignored by all basically. Folk are still going in and out of houses, see it evetyday. Why can singing not take place but trampoline parks are open as well as gyms supposedly for individual instruction. Do people in these places not breathe heavily. The exemption from face mask certificate can be printed off by anyone, an amazing how many people seem to have health problems when in shops but can run round the park with their children. Teenagers are the worst. Over 16 years, no social distancing, large groups wandering about then goib8g into stores for a bit of browsing mo hand sanitising or masks. A total lockdown is needed again and much much stiffer penalties for those who ignore the rules. You'll guess I am livid, so many peoples lives have changed or been put on hold due to the selfishness of others. It can't all be put down to poverty and bad housing.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Romola

The thing that's annoying me is the prohibition on any meetings in private gardens. What is wrong with me and my DH meeting our next-door neighbours, also a pensioner couple, in the garden? And why can't we form a bubble with them?

My understanding is that the ban on meeting in gardens is to do with consistency and fairness. Not everyone has a garden also gardens vary considerably in size so there would have to be rules about minimum size. This is simply unnecessarily complicated and open to abuse.

Bubbles are for single people only in order to alleviate loneliness, I spent weeks locked in my house alone and it was awful!

The reason you can’t form a bunch with them Romola, is because you both have more than one person in your households. A bubble can be formed with a single person who lives alone, and one other household, consequently my husband and I are are in a bubble with my elderly 93 year old mother. A bubble can also be formed with a single parent who has children, so a single parent with a child or children can form a bubble with another household, possibly her/his parents.

Childcare is allowed this time. A grandparent or other person can make a childcare bubble with a relative or friend who requires childcare. My daughter has decided not to do this, and so we will not be taking care of our three year old grandson on the one day a week that we’ve been doing, he will instead go to nursery four days a week rather than his usual three, for the duration of the lockdown.

Romola

The thing that's annoying me is the prohibition on any meetings in private gardens. What is wrong with me and my DH meeting our next-door neighbours, also a pensioner couple, in the garden? And why can't we form a bubble with them?

I think the thinking behind the private gardens is that it can slip into ‘just popping inside’ As for bubbles, they were set up to help people on their own.

The rules have not been taken on board by alot of young people. Either they don't care, they are being selfish and/or they decide to ignore the rules as they are not going to be seriously ill with the virus and they don't care about others. This second wave is being driven by the younger generation which is now filtering through to their parents and grandparents. I have witnessed huge groups of youngsters meeting up, without wearing masks, hugging each other and generally flouting all the rules and recommendations.
In addition I fear the youngsters are so used to getting their way, being spoilt or even neglected by their parents, that they don't think of the results of their actions nor do they think it is "fair" that their way of life is being spoilt by the government so they can't have fun. They clearly do not understand that the virus is the cause of this, with the government taking action as a result. The two are different, which so many people seem to fail to understand.
That doesn't mean I agree with the way the government is handling the situation, but that is another issue.
Enough said!

susieboo

Good morning everyone . I thought I would use the lockdown to do my mothers side of our family tree , most of her relatives are Irish and I noticed that some records don’t have Irish details . Has any of the dear Gransnet ladies had any positive experience with Ancestry or any other sites. Which is best ? Thankyou

If you want to make quick progress you will need to sign up to a site like Ancestry.com they do a 14day trial so spend that time and see how far you get, if you don’t like it you can cancel.
I did mine the hard way and it took several years off and on, my cousin did it using Ancestry and got reams of print outs quite quickly. If you get a line that disappears there are local history groups that will do local searches, I used one in the US one in NZ.

PS you will find it compulsive

The thing that's annoying me is the prohibition on any meetings in private gardens. What is wrong with me and my DH meeting our next-door neighbours, also a pensioner couple, in the garden? And why can't we form a bubble with them?

Like everyone else, I’m fed up with COVID and the restrictions it’s placed on our lives. What it has shown is that whatever the Gov say too many people break the rules for us to move forwards. We are very lucky in that there are two of us who get on well, most of the time!!! We have a home whicj is comfortable and a garden to spend time in. We haven’t eaten out at all in restaurants or pubs since the first lockdown and so def won’t miss it this time. We have all our shopping delivered and quarantine anything that comes into the house for several days and antibac all out shopping. I walk most days but my husband doesn’t as he has some physical issues. He has attended some hospital appointments while I waited in the car. Things won’t really change for this lock down except that now we are unable to see our grandchildren. Not sure everyone is up to ‘manning up’ and keeping themselves and others safe. That’s the problem!

I know you haven’t growstuff.

Yes NotSpaghetti I know that many people have followed the rules and they’ve followed the guidance too, in particular many people on Gransnet have done that. I also understand that sometimes the rules or guidance seems to not be logical. I would simply say that this is an unprecedented situation. Even the scientists don’t agree on the right way forward. The government takes advice from the scientists as the government are absolutely not experts in this, anymore than any of us are experts. I haven’t agreed with everything the government have done but that isn’t the point. The point is that we continue to do everything we can do to suppress the virus and protect ourselves. And it does irritate me to be honest, when people comment and it’s clear they either didn’t listen to the announcement, or haven’t bothered to read up on the rules, or even simply don’t understand them and make completely false assertions.

NotSpaghetti

Maddyone some of us have not broken any rules even when difficult which is why it's so frustrating when there appears to be no logic in much of it.

I haven't broken any rules either.

The rules do indeed say that builders, repair persons etc can continue to work, including inside a house if necessary. And it was announced that one person can meet one other person from a different household. They can meet outside, not in a private garden. Whole families cannot meet one person outside as one poster suggested. I assume this has been included because mental health difficulties soared under the last lockdown.
Did everyone listen to the announcement on Saturday? I did, which is how I know what was said. And I’ve read about it on the Gov. site, where it’s all there in black and white.

The money doesn't have to be paid back in the way a personal loan does.

PS. The government still didn't change the eligibility for self-employed people, about 3 million of whom haven't received a penny from the government.

Maddyone some of us have not broken any rules even when difficult which is why it's so frustrating when there appears to be no logic in much of it.

How can any sane person say that the government is putting profit before people. Whatever this government have done or have not done, they are not putting profit before people!! The furlough scheme has been extended, one poster queried this. If people had watched on Saturday they would know the furlough scheme has been extended. The government are borrowing billions more money for this new lockdown. This money has to be paid back, it doesn’t grow on trees. Our grandchildren are the ones who will be paying for this, so remember that when you complain.
We are, in the main, older people. We can protect ourselves by following the rules and by taking responsibility for our own actions. Don’t be anywhere near groups of older children as they make their way home from school. Wear a mask when appropriate. Sanitise. Keep your distance from other people.
This government have certainly not got everything right, but how easy it is to be an armchair warrior. Am I to assume from this thread that you all follow every rule, have never broken a rule, and you all know exactly how to totally defeat this virus so the country will be Covid free?
No? I thought not!

Oopsadaisy4

Our builder is here, working outside, we have a loo on hire for him in the garden and I handle his coffee cup with gloves and dunk it straight into a bowl of hot soapy water, social distancing at all times.
I guess though that the argument is about if he breaks down on the way here, as it was before, he might have to involve other services where social distancing can’t be maintained.

The rules state that people are allowed into other people's houses if they are working.

It is ridiculously flexible it seems to me.
And now children under 5 don't count.
But where is the rule of 6? Is that gone?

Bottom line is, non of us, that is the general public, are in the position of having to make these decisions. Impossible situation for any prime minister to handle! If I was PM I would be advised by, and do what, the "sage experts" are saying. Not what public want, or think, is the correct thing to do! We don't know …
I support our PM still. Only criticism I have is that he didn't close our borders immediately it was obvious we had a pandemic

susieboo

Good morning everyone . I thought I would use the lockdown to do my mothers side of our family tree , most of her relatives are Irish and I noticed that some records don’t have Irish details . Has any of the dear Gransnet ladies had any positive experience with Ancestry or any other sites. Which is best ? Thankyou

A lot of Irish records were destroyed. A fire in 1922 destroyed the Public Records office. There's a project to retrieve some of the records from other sources, which should be online in about two years.

Additionally, many Irish parish records have been lost or weren't kept properly because the British government wanted to oppress Roman Catholic records.

I have just been talking to a colleague. Neither of us really understand the latest rules, restrictions or whatever you may wish to call them. We are confused by bubbles. Her granddaughter has been in class with another child who is covid positive. She was sent home but the family have not had to isolate. I have a friend who works in domiciliary care. One of their residents is in hospital with Covid but the staff at the home were still working with tests arranged for 2 days later. They are waiting for results but still working and some residents are still going out as they do not understand. And I really do think it is children and students that are spreading the virus and those that have no regard for the welfare of other people. It is all such a mess.

B1zzle
If the government is putting profit before people why has the government shut down the 4th biggest employer in the country, the hospitality industry?
An industry that generates £73 billion with a further £87
billion indirectly.

I think our mental health is being taken into consideration here, especially with winter looming. If it lessens the risk of catching the virus then so be it. Most of us have continued to be very careful anyway so it is not going to have a huge impact on us this time.

Hotels will be closed David as we are not allowed to go on holiday in UK or abroad, no visiting 2nd homes etc. My daughter lives on a chalet site and is preparing to move out on Wednesday even though she hasn't yet had official notification that the site will close. To her it's a forgone conclusion. Plus with the bar and restaurants closed it would be no fun

As I keep saying, all the Facebook ‘experts’ are helping people to justify their rule-breaking by posting ‘evidence’ that the precautions don’t work, and ridiculing the safety measures. This makes it easy to ignore the rules, which, granted, are a wee bit confusing.