Covid.....

Facebook memories has reminded me it's 2 years since the Pandemic began to impact our life here at Tup-towers:

2m3mp0m M8aurch o32m02e0  · 

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So, Chris has just received The Text from NHS England.

He's officially an extremely vulnerable person.

He should not leave the house & garden for 12 weeks, and shield himself from us inside the house (no shared bathroom, meals etc...)

We've decided to completely isolate as a whole family instead, none of us leaving the house.

Any deliveries have to be left on the bench in the courtyard where we wipe them down with antibac - or leave them there for 3 days so any virus can die off.

Neighbours are rallying round offering help so we'll figure out how that works...

We've registered with the Council to request help...

We're ok

(maybe a bit wobbly)

 

We shielded - but for waaaay longer than 12 weeks...

Over the last 2 years we have Shielded (where there was Government legislation and support) and self-isolated (when Gov support ended...) as a family.  And when Mr T (who we were trying to protect) had to return to the onsite classroom to teach, and Wee Tup had to return to onsite school, we kept every other part of our lives isolated where possible.  

Family visits were outside only.  Friend contact was minimal. Zoom was a lifesaver (socially and work wise).  The world was both huge (social media connections) and tiny (physically, only our house - which is quite small).

We lost my father-in-law to Covid (in Feb 2021) in circumstances not of his making, as he had been super-cautious since the beginning. Other people's carelessness have a lot to answer for...

Mr T and I are both fully vaccinated (him 3 with a booster on the way, me 2 plus booster)

Wee Tup is eligible for 'under 11 and living with a CEV parent' vaccine, but it's not being rolled out in our area yet... and no-one knows when it will...

The Government says it's done with enforcing mitigations - everyone knows how to be careful now, so we can each do the right thing

Schools stopped requiring masks in the classroom.  

Mr T caught Covid at a training event (only him wearing a mask in a room full of people).  

Wee Tup caught Covid in his classroom (only him wearing a mask in many rooms full of people). 

I caught Covid off Wee Tup as I was looking after him at home.

2 years of being careful, and it still caught up with us... because the 'herd immunity' mentality is no longer "in it together, we'll care for others not just ourselves" but now "I'll probably be ok, you'll probably be ok, and if you're not then just stay indoors... let us get on with our lives"