How are you all dealing with coronavirus and the restrictions many of us have to live

Discombobulated - I was reading it was known in the UK that the new strain has been around since September. It seems like the rest of the world is only finding out now. Chile banned flights to and from the UK.

I'm glad your mom will be able to get vaccinated. I am wondering about my parents in the US. They are in their 70s and my mom survived cancer surgery a few years ago, so it sounds like they will be pretty high on the list.

We are waiting on pins and needles to see if our region (or parts of it) gets sent back to full quarantine or not.

The good news is the vaccine is supposed to work against this mutated UK strain as well, and the rest of Europe can now start vaccinating. It'll be a while for most of us though, my city is getting way less doses than expected.

At least this is SOMETHING the government reacted to quickly by closing borders for travelers from the UK. I feel for all the people who were in the UK for good reasons, like truck drivers that are now stuck there. But tourists - no sympathy at all. They shouldn't even have been traveling.

Edit: Hmm, and now I just read it'll take 4-5 weeks to confirm the vaccine also works against the mutated strain :/

I hear you on the tourists, BreakForTheLight. I am sure we are going to see the sob stories about tourists being stranded here due to the UK flight bans on TV here soon. I feel like they should not have come here for leisure travel right now in the first place. It's just selfish. I love to travel and had wanted to take a big trip next month for my birthday. I even have the money sitting in the bank. But, I know that now is not the time. I can be a mature adult and wait.

Someone else on a forum for expats living here basically said, if you can't handle the possibility of being stranded here in Chile for a while, don't come!

In the end we are staying in phase 2. rather than going back to quarantine. It will be reviewed on January 4th.

I had three scared of the coronavirus. All because of my nieces hanging out with coworkers who knew they were sick.and still came in and hanging out with friend who should be staying away or because someone who knew they had someone in their family tested positive yet still sent their kid to school exposing my nephew to the virus. I been trying to keep a positive attitude about this whole pandemic.

My step-dad's boss sent him an oximeter while he's sick with Covid. His oxygen the other day was 92 so my mom called the paramedics to come out. They told him that the hospitals are overwhelmed with Covid patients at the moment and they're only taking people with an oxygen level of 90 or below. They suggested he try Mucinex. So far he is hanging in there. It's worrisome to hear that the hospital is overwhelmed at the moment. When I went there a few weeks ago, things were relatively quiet.

Hope your stepdad will be okay! Good thing he at least has the oximeter to keep an eye in things.

They just mentioned on the news all planable care in hospitals has been cancelled because they are overwhelmed with covid patients. And still there are people who believe it's all being blown out of proportion

I started reading comments on news articles again out of boredom, didn't even really realise I was doing it but it's sad how ignorant people are. So determined to stop this again.

I was kind of hoping for a Christmas miracle but now the advise here is to not celebrate with anyone outside of your household. It's allowed but advised against. I mean, not that I had anyone to spent it with but... yeah I'm not even sure myself what I was thinking

Yea, I won't be spending Christmas with anyone. It's too risky. But it's Okay. I have plans for a nice meal and to play games. I'll text my family. So that will be nice. I feel bad for my mom. She won't have the grandkids over. She can't. Not now that her husband is sick. But she really enjoys sharing Christmas with the kids. I feel bad for everyone that has to be alone on Christmas day.

Here, Christmas will be just me and my husband. The big dinner here is tonight and he bought some lamb to grill. Tomorrow I will have a zoom call with family.

The same here. Alone with my partner and my doggies. I’m enjoying having time without rushing here and there.
We have already prepared with time a Venezuelan Christmas dinner, so from now on, only enjoying. :-)

Happy Christmas for everyone who celebrate it, for those who don’t, spend a nice night.

A walk in the snow this afternoon, then followed by hot chocolate at home and some fruitcake.

Enjoy your break from work those of you who can, and those of you who have to work because of essential jobs thank you!

Those of you who are alone or unhappy please use these forums to reach out to others. There are always people here for you.

Day one and I'm already breaking down.

I wanted to still make it nice even though I'm by myself. Went to the supermarket after work this morning and half the things I wanted, they didn't have, so I'm already low on comfort food. I just looked at the cake mix I got and realized I should have done that in the store to see what else to add. Now I don't have any butter or eggs so no cake baking. That's when I burst into tears. Over a freaking cake. Or rather no freaking cake.

I've just really had it with things going wrong and constantly trying to keep up my spirits but then SOMETHING always comes and messes it up. Or my stupidity messes it up.

Now I just feel really stupid sitting here in my decorated living room by myself.

You are not stupid. You may feel stupid but you are not at all.

You sound like a strong person who is suffering. It isn't easy to live the way you have had to live. It's hard! Please be gentle on yourself. Ride this holiday out whatever way you can. Comforts, music, TV, film, books, art, whatever transports you from this.

We're here for you!

our area is heading for stricter restrictions again dec, 28t8

the announcement was made yesterday, and honestly not so sure how I feel about it. I think I've said in another post in this thread, all these u turns and miss information.. hard to keep up with it

@BreakForTheLight, I agree with Discombobulated. I think you're doing the best you can in a difficult situation. You have so many strengths. I wish you the best.

What nice words!!!
You even recalled people who have to work tonight.
So sweet!
Thank you a lot.

Break, I would like to tell you something that may give you some kind of consolation but I only can tell you that I can imagine how you are feeling at this moment.

The cake is only an anecdote. I know it. You should have seen how I messed up with the jamón bread.

You know, the only thing it comes to my mind is that you are gonna have a difficult time but soon, there will be normal days in which you are not gonna feel this pressure.

Thank you guys. I've been distracting myself by binge watching The Wilds, which wasn't the best choice.... but I've finished the series so tomorrow I'll find something better. Although I also really don't want to watch any sappy movies where everything is perfect in the end.

Seems like a lot of my neighbours have travelled to family for Christmas after all, there's quite a few flats opposite mine where I haven't see any light on in a couple of days. And a few others who seem to be having a gathering that I really want to shout at to shut up

I know no matter how crappy I feel now, I would feel way worse if one of my parents caught covid from me. But it all seems so bleak and pointless when everyone else is just completely ignoring all the advice.

Fun fact: those flats are all bigger than the ones in my building and no one lives alone there. So it wasn't like they didn't have any company.

I hear you.

I am wondering if music might be helpful in drowning out some of the distracting noise around you? Maybe earphones? So you can focus on something that makes you feel good.

We are all here for you, on this thread. If you look on the General forum there is a Virtual Christmas party thread if you'd care to join us too.

Azul is right. This will end at some point. You won't have these pressures to deal with then.

You mentioned running I think a while back? I run too. If you look at running as a metaphor, it is always the last lap or few miles that feels hardest, whatever distance we run. I think we are beginning the last lap of this pandemic now.

Hang on in there. We are here for you!

Thank you.

I'm doing okay today. Slept in, then just lots of Netflix. It's good to have some time off work, so I'm grateful for that.

I do wish the weather was a bit better. Grey skies aren't helping my mood. But thanks to my bleeding uterus I'm stuck inside, anyway.

Today I’m down about the pandemic. The number of dead and dying is breaking my heart and the loss of normalcy and the necessary limitations are overwhelming. People here are hurting with no relief coming through at this time. I’m also anxious about catching the virus especially now that the super infectious variant has been detected in Canada having come from the UK.

I shouldn’t be down about it: I’ve handled it well for the most part and I was able to enjoy Christmas with my family. I have many blessings to be grateful for and I work to keep my spirits up yet the state of my country and the plight of my fellow man plus my anxiety is impacting me negatively.

I think it's natural to feel down. I personally felt down yesterday after enjoying Christmas. Maybe because it felt almost normal in some ways but it's not normal.

You're not alone anyway.

Was there a virtual Christmas party? What a wonderful idea!!!!
Too bad that I can’t join these kinds of events. My social anxiety is too deep, I’m afraid. I haven’t even dared to log in the chat ever. :-(

You’re right we are all with Break. I mean we are all more or less in the same boat. And sometimes circumstances don’t show us their best face, so we must support us.
Thank you for being so supportive and lovely.

It's okay to feel down about it. The whole world is in a ****** situation. Don't be too hard on yourself.

Everyone has bad days, it's completely normal. It will pass.

P.s. the UK strain hasn't been shown to be more dangerous so far so that's some good news at least

Today I went to get some groceries. I can’t understand why the access is not limited. There were so many people. Luckily, most of them kept the distance and there was even a lady who realised there was a elderly woman on a wheelchair on the line and she called the attention about this fact and we left the elderly woman to pass to the head of the line. It seemed to me such a nice act.
The man who was with the elderly woman keeps saying thank you over and over again. It seemed to me so endearing.

They made my day better today.

My step-dad is doing better finally. He was sick for about 2 weeks. He's eating again and has his strength back. My mom is doing fine. She stayed safe the whole time. I'm glad they are Okay. I don't have to be anywhere until Feb 9th. I will stay home and away from public places. This holiday surge is supposed to be really bad.