Well That’s Christmas Cancelled For Us

Peasblossom

Yup, spoke to my son yesterday. His wife tested positive with her go to work on Monday test. Getting a PCR today. He hasn’t had the booster yet either, though she has.

Just waiting for the other son to test positive really☹️

However, as long we can meet up after Christmas it’s fine.

And there we go.

Just took the phone call?

So Christmas has changed dramatically at our house. Yesterday SIL tested positive (DD followed this morning) so they can't come for Christmas with my precious GC one of whom was born in the second lock down. DS lives in Manchester and tested positive last night so they're out to. SIL is in her 80's and decided she feels safer in her own home, alone. Fortunately I still have 2 sons, one at home. One has spent the last week decorating the house for the GC and we are going to be rattling around in a veritable wonderland and the other son and family are (so far) still coming - they'll need to be eating a lot of turkey! I am so disappointed even though I know I'm so lucky compared to many. The safety of everyone is most important and I shall continue to be grateful for the good things but a tiny bit of me is crushed. My heart goes out to all of you having a Christmas that was meant to be better and may we all get the dream next year!




i

I agree Daisymae. If essential workers have to isolate whether they have covid or have been in contact with someone who has it the country could rapidly be in the soft stuff. Scotland and Wales have introduced measures to try to control the spread. I rather agreed with what Mark Drayford said yesterday about England’s lack of action.
Omicron may in the main cause a relatively mild illness but it’s far too early to know whether it can cause long covid.

The headlines this morning are that there's reports indicating Omicron is less severe. This is good news but why are they not also promoting the fact that with this level of infection there's still a risk if the NHS being overwhelmed? Plus just as concerning is the impact of this much illness on the infrastructure and public services as a whole. It's almost like people are chanting la, la, la.

Son and GF were supposed to be coming today from London but he tested positive on Monday. Both doubled jabbed and he had his booster a few days before. So they are holed up together in a small flat, trying their best to avoid her catching it though I feel it is inevitable. Son is not feeling too bad luckily. DH did an early two and a half hour trip up this morning to drop off presents, Christmas dinner ingredients and lots of shopping and homemade food. Alcohol too! Obviously they were not planning on being there so supplies were low and we wanted to ensure they had some Christmas cheer. Just a quick doorstop visit so no risk of transmission. Son said it really raised his spirits so well worth it.

It’s not the family Christmas we were all looking forward to but this virus is really spreading fast and we have to do our bit to protect others don’t we? In our case it’s not the end of the world but I do appreciate how difficult it is for others.

I hope everyone who can't be with their family this Christmas has at least considered installing Zoom or Facebook Portal or something similar. Even if you can't be with family it makes such a difference to be able to see them and share a joke and a laugh. I'm not techie enough to explain the ins and outs (a friend installed ours this time last year) but we wouldn't be without it now. Well worth investigating.

That should read 100,000!

10,000 cases just today - there’ll be loads more who haven’t tested.

www.itv.com/news/london/2021-12-22/covid-hospital-admissions-in-london-reach-highest-daily-total-since-february
Hospital admissions are the highest daily since February. January is going to be dire. We're a long way from done and it's not a cold.

Yes same thing here. Partner tested positive last Sunday when my family were up from west country. So we had to do p.c.r test and I had to just see them to give presents at my sons on the pavement with 2 masks on as there were our 2 grand children there. Turns out I am negative. Partner positive. Meal on Xmas eve with my daughter cancelled for 2nd year running.

I see the Queen's Christmas has been changed as well - Princess Anne's husband has tested positive.

Thank heavens for technology.

Indeed, Sparklefizz
I remember the days when a phone call overseas or ship to shore had to be booked in advance at Christmas!

All these problems we have during any winter epidemic, whether flu or anything else. As vegansrock and others say, it causes a mild illness, that lasts, maybe a week for most people.

Figures for London, where so many are unvaccinated, are already starting to stabilise.

What more can you expect when the masses of the populace are still not taking care, and, distancing themselves from other likely carriers, of the disease that most people seem to ignore, and especially the self-indulgent non-vaccinated lot.

End of gripe.

Following on from my post yesterday as 12:07:27, my AC are disappointed that I have opted to stay at home alone on Christmas Day, and have suggested that we have a "Synchronised Christmas Lunch Zoom", so that I don't feel left out but I'm still safe, which is a really great idea, and has given me such a boost.

So we will be having a Zoom with my oldest granddaughter and her husband who work in Qatar in the Middle East on Christmas Eve, and then another lunchtime Zoom on Christmas Day. I feel blessed and no longer stressed.

Thank heavens for technology.

It feel so happy with this.

TwinLolly

Dickens Make the most of the time with your son. Time is precious, and for all of us. Make special memories while you can.

Big hugs to you.

Thank you TwinLolly!

Time is precious - as you say, for all of us. And I'm not going to waste a minute of it. The dust, the housework and all the minutiae of the daily grind- it can all wait for a few days... we're just going to light the candles, sit back and enjoy the moment!

xx

The medical staff who are getting it are inoculated btw.

Urmstongran But people are getting omicron who are triple jabbed ( my 31 yr old DD for one) and are having to stay off work for a week - this is what’s causing much of the crisis - not hospital admissions,

Dickens Make the most of the time with your son. Time is precious, and for all of us. Make special memories while you can.

Big hugs to you.

And maybe not vegansrock. Being vaccinated makes a HUGE difference (which is why we’re all being encouraged to take it up) yet a THIRD of Londoners have not even had one jab yet. That was in The Times a few days ago!

Here’s another article from a different source - same story.

www.mylondon.news/news/east-london-news/london-covid-vaccine-uptake-bad-22472750

A local GP practice ( not mine fortunately) has had to close due to Omicron infection in staff. We haven’t had post for days. A and E is like a war zone, queues of people and ambulances outside just to get in the door. Have a look at London hospital data. So those saying it’s all fine - it’ll be in your area soon

It’s certainly spreading here. 3 members of our family have it ( different branches and all young). Our Christmas celebrations have shrunk rather, only one family able to come. Most of them have the delta strain though, not the new omicron. One caught it whilst in hospital which is a bit of a worry.

Our daughter was sent to hospital by the dr on Saturday evening(not Covid).When they got there the A and E department was overcrowded with no social distancing.Very few staff, no dr for at least 11 hours,triage wait was a minimum of two hours.The poor staff who were there were doing their best but were exhausted.
DD was advised to go home and call an ambulance if her condition worsened as she was at risk of Covid if she stayed.
The situation is dire.

Well if many aren’t testing be a they think it’s just a cold that reinforces how mild it is for most people. I’m full of a cold so I did a LFT last night. It was -ve.

The figures show that in the last 5 days cases are flattening which is guardedly good news. Some scientists even think we’ve reached the peak now. Fingers crossed eh?

Infection rates are relative to the numbers tested. You can test 100 people and find 1 has Covid. And then you can test 1,000 people and find that 8 have Covid.

The result is actually that less people have Covid, but it looks like a huge increase. I think we have all gone punch drunk looking at graphs and are failing to grasp basic maths.

It’s not just about hospital admissions though is it? Omicron may be mild for most but it’s spreading very fast and can affect staffing levels in hospitals and other essential services. I’m in a London borough where hospitals, fire services, transport, postal workers all hit by huge staff sickness. My DD is +ve and will have to isolate till next Tuesday now. Its worse than the figures too, since many aren’t getting tested as they think they’ve only got a cold or are scared of testing +ve and having to isolate.