We've always been doing it solely within our household anyway, so no changes there for us, given that our family is spread out over the country. It's actually rare for us to celebrate it elsewhere.
My part of the UK is being targeted with another lockdown and I'm furious because it is more of an ideological attack from the right than anything else. I don't know how I will survive another few months in lockdown and not being able to go the gym.
Well here in Glasgow we were already in a local lockdown with restrictions for the past 2 weeks, but it looks like we might be headed into that second bigger lockdown here unless things dramatically improve, but let us not kid ourselves, 5 weeks ago the beaches, pubs, club and everywhere had people not giving a toss about this, and now here we are once again with increasing deaths and infection rates........the stupidiy of some people through this has been mindnumbing beyound belief.....i can't imagine what it must be like to be the loved ones of the many doctors, nurses or careworkers who lost their lives due to catching this while trying to save and help people, as well as everyone else who worked during the first outbreak to keep people feed and warm, only to see the multitude of braindead people who just don't care as long as it's not them or their's that's impacted by this.
This has always been one of the few times in the year we've all gotten together. Unlike a number of people I know, we will be observing the restrictions. (Although, admittedly, certain members of the family are not happy about it.) I do seriously hope, however, that our government leaders observe the rules themselves, not like what we saw with Easter and Mother's Day. I am willing to sacrifice these things for the greater good, but I fully expect them to do the same. This concept that they are somehow exempt from their own guidelines really annoys me. TBH, I'm not sure that we're going to be in any better of a situation at Christmas. That one will be a lot more painful to give up if we have to.
I just stole that vid to share. Keep your chin up, and wishing you and all a very Merry upcoming X-Mas, but please do not start decorating YET!!! [/QUOTE]
Understandably, although in this situation, we all must make sacrifices. I do agree that Christmas will be hard. I think it will be the hardest test of all. Sometimes it feels like we're not even making any progress, when with all this effort, there are always efforts undoing all that hard work that affect things on a grander scale, ie the rallies and general lack of precaution.
So Dr. Tam said today that there was "no need" to cancel Halloween as long as everyone sticks to the safety guidelines (CBC). It'd still be nice to hear some official word from the province or the city as to whether trick-or-treating is going to be allowed or not. I have no idea at this point whether I should be buying candy or not.
Buy candy that you like, then leave your porch lights off and blinds closed to make it look like no one is home. Enjoy all that candy yourself!
If only it were that easy! I generally try to avoid bringing candy into the house at all, since it seems that I can gain weight just by being in its general vicinity....
No gym for us since around April. I'm doing ok but just really watching my eating and getting out as much as I can for exercise. Went for a late night walk tonight to try on these new boots I purchased early this year. It was nice to dress up, even though I didn't entirely go out the way I normally would. Every little bit helps you cope.
So a fourth region (York Region) has been rolled back to the "Phase 2 light" or "modified Phase 2" or whatever they're calling it today. And the government has said there are three other areas (Halton, Hamilton, and Eastern Ontario (Cornwall area)) that are on a short-list that is being watched closely for possible rollback as well. The premier has now recommended that trick-or-treating be cancelled in all four of the "hot spots", based on advice from Ontario's chief medical officer. My understanding is that this is just a guideline, but is not legally enforceable. Ultimately, it will be up to the individual parents to decide. Some other health units outside the the hot spots are also recommending trick-or-treating be cancelled. I haven't heard anything along these lines for my own city, yet; presumably because we haven't been hit as hard as some of the other areas.
Thankfully, I'm not in a hotspot and we're only seeing increases about once every two weeks. Even so, our area will still be following the phase 2 regulations. Our area is not recommending trick-or-treating to be cancelled.
Germany's beginning to get the second wave, and my own state of Baden-Wuerttemberg has some increased restrictions of only up to ten people allowed for private meetings (although more are allowed if they all are from only two households), and masks being mandatory not just in public buildings, but also in pedestrian areas outside. Also I just read an article from the German science magazine Spektrum, hypothesising that the second wave comes not only on the heels of cold weather driving people inside, but also because the relieving numbers of the summer gave a false sense of normalcy and people forgot that it's not just about masks, that the more people you are in contact with, the higher the risk of infection. An indication for this being correct is the German federal ministry of health recently tweeting about changed numbers in contact tracing, that they only had 5 or 6 contacts to trace per infected person, but now it's 80-90 contacts.
Being cautious is simply good practice. I keep hearing people balk at precautionary measures, saying that they don't want their lives to be controlled by fear of a virus, or some such rhetoric. This reminds me of an ancient Klingon tale: "Long ago, a storm was heading toward the city of Quin'lat. The people sought protection within the walls. All except one man who remained outside. I went to him and asked what he was doing. 'I am not afraid,' he said. 'I will not hide my face behind stone and mortar. I will stand before the wind and make it respect me.' I honored his choice and went inside. The next day, the storm came and the man was killed. The wind does not respect a fool." Kor
I was raised to wash my hands, cover my cough, and stay home when I am sick. It aren't that hard. ETA: Also, recently read an article from the Journal Of Medical Virology (it was a light reading day) that use of mouth wash can support reducing transmission. Everyone, practice good hygiene. It goes a long way!