And meanwhile in the UK, they are apparently considering a 5 day Christmas free for all followed by a month long lockdown! Words fail me.
Funny, it happened in October and I heard a national report on it this morning on the radio.
Our district is getting the rapid test today/tomorrow for students and faculty in an effort to test 400 by Tuesday. Theyāre hoping to get enough negative tests to affect the %positive rate so we go off the governors radar. Weāre precariously close to be deemed a micro cluster.
1 Like
Buses are the issue for us as well. With the number that have chosen fully remote, our schools have said they could get all the students that want to be in-person in the classrooms with 6ft distancing, but they canāt get them there. I, too, would happily drive my child (older one drives himself) if it would allow them to go every day.
1 Like
My sister was telling me the prep going on at the hospital in central MO that she works at. Sounds about the same. Staff and facilities being reassigned.
Sorry to hear about your Northland trip tho it makes sense all things considered. Itād be cool to go in the summer, tho usually no snow activities. 
We have another karate tournament this weekend. This time in the Florida panhandle. Missouriās numbers are on the rise, still. 
Weāre the sort to be at home - other than karate - so weāre hoping weāre not bringing anything with us.
Parenthetically, zebra mussels are a real problem in lakes here. Too small often to be seen while theyāre hitchhiking on boats. I havenāt heard that we can carry covid on our stuff - cars, clothing - but Iām envisioning a cloud of virus following our vehicle as we go down the road.
eta: sorry about the Peregrine. 
books . . .
1 Like
sigh
Maybe itās the carrot and the stick? Canāt keep folks from celebrating anyway. A lockdown after might slow down spread.
3 Likes
I was surprised at the large amount of parents driving the kids this year. I decided that if there was one place the kids were most likely to take off masks and forgo the rules it would be the bus so I would drive him (easier for me since Iām working from home for the foreseeable future). So far, that decision has paid off as the bus driver for his route came down with COVID and the first 5 row of students needed to quarantine.
Did you watch Gov. Walzās press conference? I always enjoy listening to him (and watching the ALS interpreter. Sheās great!), even if the news is so sad. Heās a former teacher and football coach, and it really shows. He has such a great way of showing empathy while still encouraging everyone to do the difficult things as a team.
In somewhat related news, Mayo Clinic (in the Midwest region) has 900 staff positive for Covid in the last two weeks.
Probably a good idea to skip MN this Christmas. Our youth hockey was paused a week ago, but that was due to our city, which is more cautious than the surrounding rural areas.
1 Like
Except that people will say if it was safe at Christmas, why isnāt it safe now? But at this point a lot of people arenāt following the rules anyway. Pubs, restaurants, non essential shops are closed but they are getting together at home.
Over the last 6 months Iām definitely in stores way less than I was. Love store pickup. And then I drive past bars with packed parking lots. eta: people apparently are going to get together - home or bar.
I donāt know about the UK; here, our hospital capacity has been going down yearly, both beds and personnel. On the one hand, yes letās help out healthcare by trying to curb the spread. Iām all for that. Iām not happy about being made to feel guilty because resources are stretched thin when rich insurance companies have helped cause this situation. Post covid, Iād love for those companies to have less of a stranglehold on healthcare.
Rant over. 
2 Likes
Ugh! This makes zero sense from a public health point of view. Apparently, we have a hard time adjusting to things and we are tired! So sorry to hear.
1 Like
I totally agree with people not following the rules. We had mask rules pretty early on here and when I went out in public I was completely impressed with how many were masked up and wearing properly. DS and I went to a local outdoor outlet mall yesterday (trying for a less busy weekday to avoid the crowds!) and I was shocked at how many were wearing masks under their chin (forget even the nose thing!). I remarked to DS that I felt safer at Disney!
2 Likes
1 Like
I can kind of get it. I am not saying itās a great idea, but people are so tired of isolating and missing the things most meaningful in their lives. Weāre all kind of desperate for social connection, joy, and normalcy.
Kind of like if youāre dying of thirst on a lifeboat in the ocean. You know itād be a bad idea to drink the salt water, but at a certain point it probably starts looking appealing despite the consequences.
1 Like
I think when Baker said you had to wear them outside, people stopped.
Sure seems that way. It was so disappointing. Iām glad I picked a relatively quiet day there because we were able to give then wide berth, but we had to do it a LOT.
1 Like
Thatās interesting. I havenāt noticed a change in mask compliance rates since the new requirements came into place. Most of the places Iāve gone (grocery, dr, playground, school) have had and continue to have pretty decent compliance. Some young kids at the playground who look over 3 are unmasked and occasionally an adult; other than that, the people around me are all wearing them.
I donāt think many school districts in MA are going to change to fully in person if theyāre not already there. I watched a bit of my districtās school committee meeting last night, and it wasnāt even discussed. (Weāre hybrid.)
1 Like
Most people here use the NHS rather than private hospitals so we donāt have the same problems you do, but the NHS is certainly underfunded and understaffed.
1 Like
Yes I get that. But people have to take some responsibility - if they want this, they need to lockdown afterwards. And they canāt be trusted. It also looks bad to do it for Christmas when areas with high numbers of ethnic minority residents were locked down the night before Eid, wrecking their plans, and even stricter restrictions have remained in place for Diwali.
2 Likes
Iām starting to just plain get mad at people in a way I didnāt earlier in the pandemic. So many facebook friends (mostly people I havenāt seen in person since high school who live in the deep south) are posting pics where itās obvious they arenāt wearing masks around people who arenāt in their bubble. I stewed about a pic of a teen boy getting a haircut with the boy and stylist both unmasked until I remembered that the boyās whole family already had covid. But, nobody knows if you can get it twice with enough certainty to know the stylist was ok being that near him. Yesterday I went to pick up take out and I went inside the restaurant. A man wearing a mask came in to be seated and the moment he sat down he took off the mask and sat there playing with his phone unmasked. (Editāapparently I was wrong about this, I didnāt know that what he was doing was probably legal.) Then a family of 4 walked out, all not wearing masks. I just donāt see how people donāt get that the mask is supposed to be on unless youāre actually eating the food. This was in my county where they just increased the mask law to include being masked outside at all timesāwhich we hate and is causing us to stay inside more than I had intended. Yet when we took a walk the other day the one person we saw wasnāt wearing a mask. Until now everyone I saw here was obeying the law but I think people truly do have pandemic fatigue. I do too but I watch the #s and decided against many things I was planning to do, like send my DD8 back to her ballet class. Iāve been told if she doesnāt start by January she canāt be in the big spring production. But I donāt have any hope of my kids going to school anything but remote this entire school year, and I certainly donāt think it will be safe to go back to ballet in January.
4 Likes