Wildest memories from the COVID-19 pandemic period?

[delta79]

During second lockdown i was transfered back to the main campus of work.
Shortly after. The testing station at school and colleges was started.

I was teams called to ask as i am a member of a large first aid organisation do i know" how to clean like nurses. "

I should of said no, and not mention i was a qualified covid vactonator.
I ended up doing the online testing courses. Working out the layout of the testing area, put it together and train testers. Then be on call to answer question and look at 'borderline' tests.

Just as testing started i was told i was going to be a fogger ( aerosols antibacterial) operator as well.

Every time i would appear somewhere staff and/or students would look worried as i was the bloke that dealt with covid.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

In hindsight, I do wonder; was all that anxiety really worth it?

Hindsight is 20:20.

When faced with an unknown threat, it is always more sensible to be over cautious than under prepared and ill equipped.

Although your father felt as though "the media" was whipping everything into an unnecessary frenzy and people were taking it far too trivially, it's important to remember that we were dealing with something novel and something new. We knew absolutely nothing about it, and the bits we were learning each day still weren't enough to build a decent picture. Your father had a gut instinct, a feeling, but had no empirical evidence or experience to draw from.

I wish that more of my friends, who came of age in the 80s and the 90s, were more cautious. I regret that they didn't listen to advice, that they weren't clever or prepared. They listened to their guts and now many of them are no longer with us.

Only those who survive a pandemic get the privilege to double question their actions and wonder if they should have taken more risks.

 

[rob666]

An elderly lady in local posh sheltered accommodation decided the rules weren't for her, and continued going about her daily social routine of cards/bowls club member meet ups, behind closed doors.
"Stupid rules, they make life not worth living."

Poor Marjorie, there is no fool like an old fool.
Dead of Covid just before the first round of vaccinations.

 

[Leigh]

Crap for the keyworkers and the dick waving contest it created.

Biggest load of tosh ever. The only thing anyone in the NHS EVER wanted was for people to just follow the rules.

 

[owenstreet7]

Another one is the press and BBC pushing schools to reopen instead of continuing online learning.

I thought online learning worked well if they were doing live sessions but not having live sessions may have been what may have raised the concerns.

I somewhat believe that there is a lot of resistance to change the schooling system from the traditional system that is in place since the industrial revolution which was designed to produce obedient workers rather than creative minds or those who are our future leaders.

I think this debate may go off topic if I go into the school system too much

 

[Jonathan]

Crap for the keyworkers and the dick waving contest it created.

Biggest load of tosh ever. The only thing anyone in the NHS EVER wanted was for people to just follow the rules.

The only thing I wanted while working in retail was for people to follow the rules and to not hoard stuff. Did they listen to that? Did they fuck.

 

[pluk]

If any of you fancy any entertainment, here’s TST’s 2-year, 435-page thread in Corner Coffee regarding the whole saga: https://towersstreet.com/talk/threads/coronavirus.5379/

It’s really interesting to see what was being said at the time and how people’s predictions played out. I

In hindsight, I do wonder; was all that anxiety really worth it? Should I really have been so anxious to so much as spend time with family, or go out and live my everyday life? I’m not so sure.

First few pages are an interesting read! Still, I stand by what I said at the time...

Why worry about something you have no meaningful control over? You might get it, you might not. You might already have it, you might not. If you do get it you might be ok, you might not. Life's a lottery, chill out an enjoy it.

 

[woahwill_]

Dalgona coffee being on trend...

 

[rob666]

Oh, and speaking of hoarders...
Our freezer broke, just as covid was popping its head up after Christmas...
No freezer for a year!

 

[Itgoeshowhigh]

The virus itself was crazy how random it was.
Couple of examples:
102 yr old tested positive. Slight headache.
Obese, wheelchair bound, asthmatic, insulin dependant diabetic. Bit of a cough.
My mate, young, fit healthy, in her twenties. Ended up hospitalised!

Weird virus.

 

[Burbs]

Going to Walibi Holland in 2020 during the few weeks of summer we were allowed to travel, and @AstroDan and I having to sit on the floor in the restaurant by Speed of Sound because of a lack of tables thanks to social distancing.



Photo credit to @Dan who managed to get a table.

 

[Benzin]

Oh, and speaking of hoarders...
Our freezer broke, just as covid was popping its head up after Christmas...
No freezer for a year!

Our fuse box started packing in around the end of June that year. Fortunately just as there was starting to a bit of leniency on lockdown so we were able to go out for the day whilst the Sparkies rewired the entire house.

Then work said I had to go back before we'd had chance to replaster.

 

[Matt N]

Having just had another look through this thread and seen a few posts I missed, I’ve thought of another odd memory I had from the pandemic that might be a bit more unique to me… the odd mismatch between England and the other devolved nations in terms of restrictions.

Now, I know that the high level restrictions were very similar during the locked down periods; stay at home where possible. However, the small print very much differed between the two. For example, when England had “the rule of six”, Wales had “the rule of six excluding children” and Scotland had “the rule of eight”. Or when England had the tier system, Wales had a completely different “alert level system”. Or when England was saying you could buy a certain item in the supermarket, Wales was cordoning those aisles off. Or when England was saying you were allowed to drive further for exercise, Wales and Scotland said that you couldn’t. Or when England was telling us to “stay alert”, Wales and Scotland continued to say “stay at home”.

I probably have slightly more personal experience of this than some on here. I live in England, but only around 6 miles east of the Welsh border. During the height of the pandemic, I attended sixth form at a secondary school less than 1 mile from the border; it was jurisdictionally in England, but had a Welsh postcode and was for all intents and purposes in the urban sprawl of a Welsh border town. At times, keeping track of which restrictions were English and which restrictions were Welsh was confusing; for instance, we in England would hear Boris’ briefings on TV, but then we’d receive a stern bilingual letter through the post or targeted ad on YouTube from the Welsh Government spelling out completely different guidance. Or I’d have chats to people in sixth form that would reference the guidance in England, only to discover that they were under completely different guidance in Wales, and we’d all be a bit confused.

I do wonder in hindsight whether the devolved nations should have had as much power as they did during COVID or whether rule creation should have been centralised in Westminster for the entire country. I’m sure Wales and Scotland felt like they had their reasons for imposing the restrictions they did, but at times, it did feel as though they were just being different because they could. Why, for instance, did Scotland need to adopt the rule of eight instead of the rule of six, or why did Wales need to exclude children from their rule of six? Or why did Wales need to adopt a completely different “alert level system” as opposed to the English tier system? I do wonder if the difference between the devolved nations caused unnecessary confusion, in hindsight, and I wonder if some centralised decision making in Westminster may have been better.

 

[Rowe]

Let's see... I was in an Animal Crossing: New Horizons stupor then a Simpsons binge-watch stupor, bought a case of Da Luca Prosecco just because I could, spent my shifts either packing council food boxes or making silly work videos and one long not silly work video and co-ran the TS Quiz Nights. And that's a quarter of what my memory is willing to remember right now.