Suddenly colour is returning to Yorkshire. Well one colour. Most definitely yellow. It is such a welcome sight after so many grey months. Takes your mind off other matters.

Need to be open and honest with son.

“Dad whats the number of people with the virus now”

“Officially its 750 but now they say up to 10000 may have it”

“OMG I thought the experts said our approach was working well. How can they have got the figure so wrong”

“It’s down to testing. For some reason we only tested those with symptoms who had visited high risk countries. They didn’t seem to test if you had been abroad. Clearly they missed a lot of proper cases.”

“That sounds so stupid.”

“Yes it’s not great is it”

“Dad why hasn’t Boris closed the schools down yet”

“Apparently it’s on the basis of expert advice.”

“Many other countries and regions have closed them down, won’t that be on expert advice as well”

“Apparently Boris and his experts think that school closures and banning public events is not based on the correct expert advice.”

“What makes our advice better then”

“Probably need to ask an expert about that. We seem to be saying that if schools are closed it’s pointless as the kids will mix in large numbers anyway. We also seem to be saying that if we stop people going to things like football and concerts then they will just go to smaller events. And they argue that smaller events are potentially worse sources of infection. Football has been stopped for a month now but that was not the government, they were happy for the matches to go ahead. It was the Football Authorities who stopped the games.”

“That sounds a bit dodgy. Surely Dad the point is to reduce the number of people you mix with. Schools, football, trains, buses and concerts are some of our biggest mixing areas.”

“I bet they will eventually have to change their minds on some of these. But it is daft.”

“I think a big part of it is that the last few governments have really cut back on the NHS and made child care more expensive. They don’t have enough doctors and nurses. If schools close then a lot of parents will not be able to go to work as they will need to look after their children. The NHS can’t cope with that now. I’ve also heard several in the government mention that shutting schools will hurt the economy.”

“So it’s about money then really”

“Probably is but they won’t say that. Easier to just tell people it’s expert advice.”

“So how are they trying to control the virus if they don’t close things down.”

“It seems to be something called the herd. The Chief Doctor talked about needing at least 60% of the population to recover from the virus for the country to start to develop immunity from further outbreaks”

“That’s the plan. Wow. So we are trying to get something like 40 to 50 million infected here. Going to be an awful lot of not very healthy or old people caught up in that. That’s not a good plan. Sounds like they have decided not to do anything. Rather have people keep making money than keep them safe.”

“Totally agree. Surely locking stuff down for a couple of weeks will help dampen the virus down. At least push it into the summer months.“

I’d rather take my chances in France or Germany. At least they are trying to still contain it.”

“Dad what’s the new rule about school and being ill. If I cough does that get me a week home isolation.”

“Basically those are the new rules“

“Well Dad. COUGH. COUGH. That should do it. Wake me about 11am on Monday.”

Well next week I will probably get the chance to check out more yellows. My zero hours contract is living up to it’s zero in the coming days. Next week I might get a couple of hours work at most. So the new sports car and beach apartment in Monte Carlo will have to wait a few more days. But it doesn’t matter in the scheme of things. It really doesn’t. More important things in life. As a much wiser blogger than me put it – it’s time to breathe….

Update

Two hours later news broke that the government has reluctantly banned large public events. Not on health grounds but to relieve pressure on emergency services. I guess the real reason was the events were getting cancelled by the organisers anyway and the government didn’t want to be seen to be dithering.

110 thoughts on “Yellow”

  6. Ben’s school closed today☹ until April 6😱🤪🤯
    I decided since he was gonna be home I should get more of the stuff he actually eats & Flying Spaghetti Monster protect me, his ‘juice’. Gotta have that Fruit Punch flavor Capri Sun or the world really ends.

    Panic has hit. What is the deal with the toilet paper??? At my local grocery store…GONE! All of it. Amazing. I laughed and took a picture. I got Ben’s stuff and came home.

    Boris & Trump are really showing us how “great” they are🙄😂🤣😂💌

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  9. Welcome to the delay phrase, where the government does nothing to delay the spread of the virus except to tell us to stay home if we feel coronavirusy! They’re really dragging their feet. Way to make us feel like sheep to the slaughter!

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      1. Apparently the WHO (not the band sadly) have rubbished that idea as we don’t know enough about the virus to know whether herd immunity applies to it…

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      3. Sounds quite fun to be quarantined in a large cage with a big wheel, water, vegetables and bedding! Not bad as far as quarantine goes! 😀

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  11. Had almost the exact same conversation with my son last night. Comparing our government’s response and yours. Really seems to be a Brexit mentality where Boris etc do the opposite of whatever the EU does. I’m sure they’ll have to close UK schools soon so your son can have his lie-ins!

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  12. I think they’ve spoken about this lasting all summer, and their fear of compliance fatigue of the people if they start shutting things down too soon.
    The important thing is, have you got your teabags yet?!

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  14. Bright boy! Everything is closed here – even three local running trails. Church is closed, Catelyn’s church singing group – closed. It’s really crazy. They really want us to just stay in our homes. I’ll be hitting our gardens too – looking for those pretty yellows!

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  16. The Uk would wanna take things more seriously! Borris is a fruit loop! Its awful that he wont shut things down! What a mess! I cant wait until the summer months and maybe this epidemic will end!

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    1. They just seem to be so slow to react. We are expected to believe the experts they use. The same experts who said the approach they had taken was keeping infection numbers low then suddenly they talk about up to 10000 infections. They are at odds with mist European and world experts as well.

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  17. Your son is very astute. Hubby and I have already said it’s all about the money, not the people. Daft sods reckon by allowing 60% of the population to become infected will develop an immunity. Didn’t they read reports that you can get it more than once????
    We live in a holiday resort and are dreading Easter…….. either we’ll be overrun with visitors and whatever bugs they bring with them, or we’ll be a ghost town.

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  19. It would appear the UK are steadfastly ignoring the evidence mounting from other countries because of “the science”. Scary shit! I think perhaps your son could have an interesting Q&A with Boris.

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    1. How many times have we been told to follow expert advice. Only to find out that opinion is divided, the evidence not yet clear. The classic example was listening to a few experts label BSE under control and beef was still safe to eat. Even though that view was seriously doubted by other experts.

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      1. I had to stop reading about it this morning. It would appear from Korea that broad testing of people with symptoms has worked well, so why do we do the opposite? If everyone is self isolating for 7 days with no idea if they have it or not, surely we’ll have far more people off work than we should?? How can we track or measure what’s working and what isn’t? Surely as this is ‘new’ we should learn from other countries who are controlling it??
        Just my humble opinion.

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      5. I know. Tricky isn’t it?
        My best friends son has cystic fibrosis and she was so stressed about the school thing Friday night. I told her Saturday that she should do what feels right for him. I’m hoping they keep him off for his sake. I read that the suggestion is pupils can stay 1.5 metres away from each other? Do these leaders even know what a state school is like?? Do what feels right rather than what you think you ‘should’ do.

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      8. Son just said that the school has put out a few more hand gels but they don’t get the time to use them. Certainly don’t get the time to wash hands then they are cramped into class rooms with most of the kids not bothering to cover mouths when coughing.

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      9. I think if I didn’t need to get to work (or could work from home) I would live like a hermit for a while. Take the boys out of school and just go out for necessary items and walks to get fresh air. All the reading I have done just points to ‘avoid getting it if you can’ x

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  20. I have just gone through 14 days of almost self-isolation after returning from Thailand. Schools in UK should close but unlike other places in the world like Canada (who have closed their schools), I don’t think the UK has any idea how to offer lessons online so students can do schoolwork at home. Your son is brighter than the whole UK government!
    I am just waiting for our boat to finish being blacked with bitchumen paint protection, and then we are setting off for the wilderness. Will lock ourselves down for a few weeks! 😉

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    1. Where will you go? Here it’s clear they are using schools to try and infect the healthy to build up immunity. They will only close schools briefly when the hospitals become overloaded. If that’s the policy – which it clearly is, then they should be open about it and explain the reasoning.

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      1. We will mostly hang out in countryside, away from towns.
        We are getting into that vulnerable age bracket and my lungs are damaged from pneumonia and bronchitis anyway. I am vulnerable to this thing (unfortunately).

        I actually think that the Government will change tactic as early as a week from now. Spain said all the Easter festivals would go ahead (a week ago) and now the country is in complete lock down except for travel to get groceries and work. The police were on the streets there today, telling walkers, joggers and cyclists to return to their homes. Canada is about to ban all travel to their borders and warning Canadians to return home if they are abroad.
        The government is trying to stop the media reporting (because it spreads rumours and incites panic), but the rumours don’t come from nowhere. Try to get more grocery supplies in if you can, without going mad. Not having toilet paper is not the end of the world… Goodness, I can remember strips of newspaper and the dreaded Izal stuff… I tried hard to avoid using that – ripped the skin right off your bum! 😅

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      3. I had a conversation with a friend in Spain. By tomorrow the army will be on the streets to keep people off them. We will eventually see a lock down. I have never, in my lifetime, seen events like this… Like the plot of a science fiction movie. Except there will be no thrills. This is all for real!

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      5. Boris is starting to change his tune. I think schools will be closed by end of the week. The over 70’s and people advised to have annual flue shots because of underlying disease, are now being asked to self isolate for 12 weeks. 😬 Chaos is coming.

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      6. Maybe. I bet if he does close them then he will just ask schools very politely if they wouldn’t mind closing, if it’s not too much trouble. It’s ironic the biggest party animal PM is the one who closes the parties down.

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  21. Despite being at the end of week two with no school my children refuse to sleep past 6am. I am so sick of having to feed them, supervise their homework and make sure screen time is limited. They hate me at least fifty times a day. We are out until school goes back after Spring vacation on about April 8th – lord help me if it gets extended past that! I’m sure your son will get his lies in soon. Until then, virtual trips of beautiful places and focusing on color seem like a good way to take the focus off useless politicians and apocalypse hoarders.

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  23. I know just what you mean with our schools shutting down until early April. No substitute teaching at other schools, which is a bummer paycheck wise, but I can at least scrape my online teaching salary, which is better than nothing. Maybe even some time to write so long as the kids don’t kill each other. Time to breathe, yes? We just have to keep ourselves motivated to read, explore, and create. Don’t let the clouds cover your heart. xxxxxxxx

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    1. It’s going to be very tight. But we can and will do this. I really hope you can write. I’ve started writing a book about a young wizard called Harry who goes to wizard school and needs to defeat a bald headed bad wizard. In your professional opinion – do you think it will have any mileage. Look after yourself xxxxxxxxx

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      2. Our schools are still open. They have relaxed regulations so if teachers go down with the virus then they remaining teachers or non qualified can teach huge classes. I’m struggling to get my head round if I should send him into school tomorrow. This parenting gig is beyond me somedays.

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      3. Oh man. See, how is that helpful? But then I don’t get how closing all our schools here is helpful because then parents are trying to cram their kids into child care centers…basically herding large groups of kids from one place into another. (sigh)

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      4. Son was telling me that they are cramming more kids in the small rooms to make way for exams. The school has put out a few hand gels but they don’t give the kids any time to use them or go to wash hands. Some of the kids have returned from abroad but have not been tested. It’s not good at all. One of my friends wife is a headteacher. She has serious underlying medical conditions. She is desperate for schools to close as each day she is basically risking it.

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      5. Abroad people haven’t been tested? that is INSANE!!!! Of all the people who should be tested, it’s them! And just cramming the kids together doesn’t solve anything, either. Damn, it’s like no one has sense of balance on either side of this Atlantic…

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