What can we expect from tomorrow's announcement?

I had my temperature taken at an event last week. The woman doing it looked at the thermometer bleakly on the first go then tried again. After several tries she said "There's something wrong." The machine was saying "Lo", it needed new batteries. But I said "Oh I must be dead" Eventually we explained it to her and she went off to get new ones, meantime I just walked in.

Mine tends to be low but the receptionist looked quite startled at 34C.
It wasn't a true reading.

My temperature has always been on the low side. It is genetic, my aunt and daughter also had/have a low temperature.

I had to have my temperature taken during a visit to the local Minor Injuries Clinic in May and the nurse thought the thermometer was faulty until I told her otherwise. I am not sure why it causes so much to do. In farenheit terms, where I think the norm is 98.4 my temperature is usually 97, lower by less than 10%.

When I went for my flu jab my temperature was apparently 34C. I was just going to fetch my hat, gloves and muffler when the receptionist decided the battery needed changing.

I understood that temperature taking was not effective as a means of gauging whether anyone had COVID or not and that is why it is not widely used.

In fact the government made a press release on 3rd July to this effect. I quote from the release

Many thermal cameras and temperature screening products were originally designed for non-medical purposes, such as for building or site security. Businesses and organisations need to know that using these products

These products should only be used in line with the manufacturer’s original intended use, and not to screen people for COVID-19 symptoms. They do not perform to the level required to accurately support a medical diagnosis.
www.gov.uk/government/news/dont-rely-on-temperature-screening-products-for-detection-of-coronavirus-covid-19-says-mhra

I actually think the government are doing a pretty good job in unchartered waters. They will never be able to change some human behaviour and have to put restrictions in accordingly. It is down to every individual person to do the right thing to stop the spread of the virus. The actions of some small minded people are ruining it for the majority. If anyone has better ideas to control this virus let them sit in Birtis's seat, not one I would want!

its very difficult, there are different opinions on solutions, Boris bashing is the norm , i actually feel sorry for the government , they cant do right for doing wrong, , who knows the best way to go , we are all groping in the dark really, who knows what the answer is

Chewbacca I had a dental appointment two weeks ago and they took all the same precautions as yours did.Very reassuring.
Not so reassuring at clinics and hospitals by the sound of it though.

Iam64 I think the worrying thing here is that they didn't go into hospital as COVID patients.

I am assured by my lovely GP that all should be fine and they will take my temperature at the clinic.
That's all very well, but should I take theirs?

Following on from my post 're my visit to my local hospital yesterday, I went to the dentist this afternoon (I'm having a lovely week not). On entering the dental surgery my temperature was taken and I was asked a lot of questions as to whether I'd had a cough etc. I was also asked to sanitise my hands, deposit my coat and bag in a plastic tub (which would be replaced for the next patient) and only then go into the dental surgery. I told the dentist how impressed I was at the precautions he'd put in place and that they were vastly superior to what I'd experienced at the hospital yesterday. By sheer coincidence, he had attended the same hospital yesterday too and he said that he had also been astounded at how little they had in the way of sanitisation, temperature checks and that the nurse who had called him into the department had her face mask on looped on one ear. I'm beginning to think that we have no chance of containing COVID if even health care professionals aren't taking it seriously.

Callistemon, I've just been referred to our local hospital. We have many covid patients. The age group is 40 65, so younger than during the high rates of admission in March. I read that Manchester hospitals have a number of young people, students some of whom are very ill.

It's all very worrying. I am awaiting a hospital appointment but our nearest large hospital has just announced that it has several patients with COVID on the wards.

I did think of contacting Pals in the first instance and asking if they could explain why they weren't doing checks Iam64. Our MP is pretty useless.

Oh Dear Chewbacca. Is it worth writing to your MP and to the Hospital manager?

I had a hospital appointment today at a NW England NHS hospital. It was the only public place that I've been to recently where they didn't take your temperature as you entered the building. My dentist does. A local furniture shop does. My GP surgery does. But not the hospital. And the woman on the reception desk walked in and out of the reception area several times with her face mask under her nose.

My son was shielding from the start of lockdown, due to having lung cancer, but a month into lockdown, he tested positive for covid. The only way the doctors thought he`d picked it up was on one of his hospital appointments. Thankfully, he`s now negative, but my niece, who works in a care home, has now tested positive.

Milest0ne My DS lives in York and he told me only yesterday, that while they got through wave one of COVID knowing only one person who had COVID, and he worked for the NHS, in this second wave he knows of several families in his street who have had/have the illness and they are hearing of others they know who have had the disease.

I suspect that first time round the disease occurred mainly in clusters, care homes and NHS workers we know of, but also other work and living groups, while this time round it seems to have become more pervasive in the wider community, which is what makes it so much more difficult to control. It is possible there are other factors in transmission that have yet to be identified.

Yes, there is a high incidence among university students, but they only present a small proportion of the total rise in any area, and they tend to live within their own community and mix almost entirely with other students, so they are unlikely to be the cause by the rise of cases in the wider community. the rises were, anyway, well under way weeks before the university term began.

Media pitting us against each other.
North v south, black v white, young v old. Next thing it’ll be men bringing it to their wives from the golf course or women bringing home to husbands from the book club, men v women.
We have family and friends all over the UK and can give plenty of examples of north, south, black, white, young, old, rich, poor, men, women being absolutely reckless or being very sensible.
This morning a journalist in Wales asked our health minister if they intended to do anything about the English bringing the infection across the border to the Welsh, so nations being pitted against each other too. City folk, country folk townspeople all blaming each other.
Why can’t we all stay at home wherever possible, mix with as few people as possible, wash hands, keep distance, wear a mask. If you can’t do it for you do it for your loved ones.
For the minority please stop whinging about loneliness, sad Christmas or not trick or treating, for one year, maybe two, make some sacrifices like the rest.
To quote Boris ‘Your minor cough could be someone else’s death knell’.

I’d respect the government a lot more if they showed real decisiveness and for example Made mask wearing compulsory in public end of story, starting now, not next week or whatever.
Went for a meal (up north,..) last night at a well known chain. Immaculate COVID safe had to wear mask when not at table etc etc, On leaving saw a young couple being refused entry As they had no mask. Well done !

I think the traffic light system being called ‘medium’ ‘high’ and ‘very high’ risk is psychologically very clever right now.

Not ‘low’ ‘medium’ and ‘high’.

It reminds us all as Professor Van Tam said, just how very serious this is at present.

vickymeldrew I have continued to shield since 11th March when I went into early lockdown. I have managed to get supermarket delivery slots, and have only been out a handful of times, either to give the car a run or to go to the dentist for emergency treatment.

My children and friends have visited in the garden. No one has been inside my house.

I have chosen to do this as I'm juggling a number of illnesses, not least long-term M.E. and have had to learn to live with symptoms such as coastiepostie described from having "Long Covid". I don't want to risk getting any worse than I already am.

One or two posters have mentioned they have been sheilding for nine or ten months now. I was officially shielded also, but this ended in August. (6 months/south east england)
Can you tell me if this is official policy, or is it that some folk have just chosen to remain isolated?

As a northerner. Can I put some things in perspective ?, I personally only know of 2 people who have had covid. One lives down south and brought it back from Italy in January and the other one is a friend who we only keep in touch with by phone. We have had to give up our sporting activities and have not seen friends who we play with, since March and are unlikely to be able to start again any time soon. We have only been in a supermarket twice since March relying on family for a weekly grocery order. One of the few people we see is the tester from ONS who comes to do our monthly covid test.
Our life is taking isolation to a whole new level.--=boring, Thank goodness for the telephone.

I agree that the universities have exacerbated Covid but this might be a good thing- increasing herd immunity. They will probably be fine and some may never know they’ve had it! Older people must take their own precautions- I think London and the southeast were affected badly in March/April by Covid - no tests were available and there must have been thousands like me who had it but are not part of any statistics. Therefore London is less affected second time around because of herd immunity.

Like others, I rarely listen to or watch the news now.
Nothing is new.
In Gateshead, where we live, most people are keeping to the basic precautions.
I don't know if it's any different at night though.