Solitary confinement

Just heard on the News that the Queen is self isolating in Windsor Castle! Is it just me or does anyone else find this hilarious?

Daffydilly

I work in community pharmacy, full time. I'm tired, emotional and scared.

I have an eighty year old dad, living nearby. We lost my beautiful mum in September to cancer and dementia.

I'm in continuous, daily contact with poorly people. We have been told that we should fully expect to contract or carry coronavirus.

We have my dad over for dinner or we go to him at least two or three times a week, with visits and popping in at other times.

I have siblings an hour or two away, who have barely visited dad since mum died.

I feel overwhelmed and don't know if I should stay away from dad, to protect him. My husband has said he will ship for him. The thought that I might have hugged him for the last time is making me so sad. You never know when it's the last time.

I don't expect any answers, I'm just sharing.

Stay safe, everyone. X

Our community is already coming together to help each other and I fully intend volunteering in the community shop as long as I'm well. I will take suitable precautions. Tomorrow morning I'll put flyers through the doors of our hamlet telling people that the shop will deliver and prescriptions can be collected for people if they are self isolating with the illness. Otherwise, minimal social contact it is!

Just heard that Van Morrison has cancelled his concert at the Palladium. We had already decided not to go but at least we will have something to look forward to once life gets back to normal when it’s rescheduled. C’est la vie!

I understood that social isolation was only for the infected. Older people and those with underlying conditions should aim at minimal social interaction, and the rest just limit social contacts and work from home if possible.

I intend to visit my local supermarket when it opens at 7.30 on a Monday with an itemised list and whizz round as fast as possible, wearing trousers, and clothes with long sleeves, mask and latex gloves to minimise risk. That's it. I did a big shop today so we are well stocked so for te first few weeks at least, the shopping list will be short.

As regards Iceland shopping.
I was in one of their shops this morning just after 9am, scouting for toilet rolls.
The queues were very long and lots of people had trolleys piled up with food.
I’m sure very few of them were elderly, so I don’t know where this theory comes about opening for older people for two hours in the mornings.
Needless to say, I didn’t queue up.

GabriellaG54. Excellent post. thank you.

Thank you Gabriella for the factual information. As a fit 74 year old with no underlying health problems so far (and yes I know I'm lucky, common sense prevails. I will not socialise with people who might be at risk, eat in restaurants, go to theatres etc but I will continue to walk the dog in our rural area, shop for the necessities I need and just be sensible without going too mad

Poor you anno - hope you get sorted soon.

anno my husband has a dental appt shortly. He will wait outside in the fresh air until the dentist is free and then ( via hand sanitiser) go straight to surgery bypassing waiting room.

I'm self-isolating and my lovely neighbours are adding my requirements to their delivery list. However, I've been nursing toothache since the weekend and hoping it would go away. It did seem less acute, but today I had to give in and phone the dentist. I should be OK as I just need to step out of the house into the car, drive to the dentist's and then into the waiting room. My dentist always wears a mask and gloves, even when there's no epidemic. There are few recorded cases of CV here, though goodness knows how many unrecorded.

But on the cheerful side, the government has not 'decimated the NHS.'

Yep, we've done it as from yesterday, isolation/hibernation, whatever you care to call it.
It was good to see Esther Rantzen has also done it, hopefully that will encourage other oldies to start now rather than wait for BoJo to enforce it upon us!
We live a fairly insular existence anyway so not really going to make much difference.
I just hope the TV and radio channels don't close down!!

MadeInYorkshire, that reminds me of my last trip to A & E (by ambulance, they insisted), dumped in corridor, then trolley taken away - despite my inability to stand or sit for long. I lay on the floor until my son arrived to rescue me and take me home!

So now we have the virus, things will be ten times worse. Good luck with your complaint - it's very important to do so. (Be prepared for them to just deny it, though.)

Contact your GP to see if they can reinstate nurse visits now. Don't see your grandchildren. They are very likely to have infections or the Coronavirus without any symptoms. There are various estimates of how many people have it but it must be widespread by now. The only way to avoid it is by isolating yourself - from family too!

The Italians who are housebound singing from their balconies:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q734VN0N7hw

We’re all in this together. This is not the time to start blaming anyone. We just have to get through it - we are only ‘bodily’ isolated but we still have our telephones, iPads, etc.

Wise words from Gabriella.
Sending love and Classic. So very heartbreaking isn't it in situations like yours. xxx

I was hoping that my village would pull together under co-ordination of the Parish Council, but it appears not! I have been vulnerable for many years but only once did one of the Village Worthies pop round, never to be seen again!

I am down to my last 2 loo rolls and there is nothing in the shop, but do have plenty of wipes so will do the Mediterranean thing until I can manage to get hold of any.

On 12th Feb the one thing that I have been trying to avoid now for a decade happened and I had to be admitted for emergency surgery for a strangulated hernia - so was stuck in hospital for 2 weeks, the first 10 days on 30mls of fluid an hour! I felt so dehydrated, it was awful - I keep having flashbacks to A&E where they just parked me on a trolley in a corridor, writhing in agony for hours. At one point I felt I needed to get off the trolley so that I could lean on my tummy - sides were up, plenty of people, staff, passed me but no-one helped - I crawled to the end and got my feet on the floor when the trolley went flying and rammed into the next poor bugger also stuck in the corridor - I remember nothing after that so I suspect I had to be picked up and maybe was actually given some pain relief? Dreadful, and complaint is in! But now have a wound that hasn't closed in a couple of places so HAVE to go to the surgery next week - twice, and likely for at least the next month, as District Nurses turf you off their lists as soon as they can! Want to see my GC but as my SIL works in care, not sure if that is a good idea, although the children are very young so not likely to pick anything up. The lack of testing and keeping schools open is not a good thing in my book - just a ploy to keep the Govts numbers down - it would help if we knew where the virus was, to avoid going where we may catch it in my book!

This thing about "anyone meant to have a flu jab" is confusing. In the UK everyone over 65 is recomnmended to have a free flu jab so why didn't the advice start at over-65s to minimise social contact as well as everyone else who gets a free flu jab

I have heard from friends about communities putting help in place. I am 69 next week but intend staying home. I will shop once a week at the village coop for fresh produce and wine...medicinal of course. It was extremely quiet around around 5.30 yesterday...just 3 people and two of them were staff. No empty shelves...well except for loo paper. I have that anyway. I got everything I needed. I will take a walk along the river where I am moored everyday to get exercise and fresh air. There will be dog walkers but nobody else. We must show the younger people that we do not panic. Panicking helps nobody.

For goodness sake. Do you not realise how serious this is? At the moment we are advised to stay home and isolate but not forced to. Go to Madrid, everyone is shut up, only allowed to go out to the nearest shop for food. Don't obey and you get a gun pointed at you. Do we really want to end up like that?
Lets all pull together. This is not just about you but about society as a whole. There are worse thing than being shut up for a few months. Help groups are being set up to help people at home alone, including telephone contact for those who just want to talk.
Think of others not yourself.

Thank you Gabriella

I sympathise with everyone in the same boat l am 64 have a flu jab every year due to wife being diabetic and cerebral palsy.
I have issues in understanding why in China Thailand Japan the outbreaks have tailed off apparently if that is so why aren't the scientists and epidemiologists not requesting data from these countries to factor in with our own data which Gordon Brown suggested in his article over the weekend but for the life of me I cannot understand this countries go it alone stance

Thanks GracesGran..... WHO poster , I’ve sent it to my friends and kids.