Covid and Work, Covid Advice and General Chat

HSSS said:

Scotland seems a little quicker to action than England throughout the pandemic. Though I’ve now seen it being discussed in England following the publication of sage minutes yesterday that said this should happen along with longer delays to school reopening.
Yes heads have discretion but few use it and most stick to the guidance that has said in each update “advised against” or , “unnecessary” etc. It gets a little weaker each update but it’s still in there at the moment.

btw that link was from November and relates to masks in corridors not classrooms

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Yes, sorry, I realised after the event that I’d clicked on the wrong one.

Fairygodmother said:

Anyone like to start a book on Williamson’s next u-turn being to shut all schools?
And another on Boris’ next u-turn being to return to the vaccination timings set out in the approval regs?

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Just looking at the changing headlines in the Guardian is confusing me to bits.... and I'm not a teacher.
What a mess

Public petition for making schools safer https://actionnetwork.org/forms/make-schools-safe-and-protect-communities?source=direct_link&

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel on Andrew Marr on Primary schools.
Risk to children is low.
Risk to teachers is low.
Like to see the evidence to support this position.

Edited name as disrespectful to Doris's

Time and again, Doris refuses to address the actual issue of spreading the virus.

Schools and supermarkets are obviously lower risk than the sides of mountains.
Yesterday me and daughter and grandchildren were cleared off a mountain in North Wales where we were about to build a snowman and do some small kiddy sledginging but nope kicked off as were around fifty other families all hundreds of yards apart from each other.
I said look I understand if you want to kick people off who have travelled to get her=e but we live in the village .... nope locals too.
We were told we are only allowed out for shopping medical etc playing in the snow is not essential but these kids will be back at school next week. Which is safest TESCO school or an open landscape near no one? Doesn't matter it's not essential.
My daughter was livid I managed to remain cool probably because I was freezing and didn't mind having to get back in my car but talk about ridiculous.
Four police cars patrolling the area .... never seen that before.

Max68 said:

Gavin Williamson should have gone ages ago as he is a walking disaster. Most jobs he would have already been sacked because he obviously can't do the job

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Exactly

An interesting development, especially in the context of the vaccine chaos:

https://swprs.org/who-preliminary-review-confirms-ivermectin-effectiveness/

JTL said:

Schools and supermarkets are obviously lower risk than the sides of mountains.
Yesterday me and daughter and grandchildren were cleared off a mountain in North Wales where we were about to build a snowman and do some small kiddy sledginging but nope kicked off as were around fifty other families all hundreds of yards apart from each other.
I said look I understand if you want to kick people off who have travelled to get her=e but we live in the village .... nope locals too.
We were told we are only allowed out for shopping medical etc playing in the snow is not essential but these kids will be back at school next week. Which is safest TESCO school or an open landscape near no one? Doesn't matter it's not essential.
My daughter was livid I managed to remain cool probably because I was freezing and didn't mind having to get back in my car but talk about ridiculous.
Four police cars patrolling the area .... never seen that before.

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Do you all live together in the same bubble? If so, the officers were wrong. However, I can sympathize with them with all they are going through. It's hard for them to keep safe. So many chancers arriving again the rules. We can't even drive to exercise, unless we have a disability which means we need a car to get to a safe exercise place.

https://gov.wales/leaving-your-home-and-seeing-other-people-alert-level-4

It seems all of Wales is alert level 4. I will read up on the latest rules for me and my family.

JTL said:

Schools and supermarkets are obviously lower risk than the sides of mountains.
Yesterday me and daughter and grandchildren were cleared off a mountain in North Wales where we were about to build a snowman and do some small kiddy sledginging but nope kicked off as were around fifty other families all hundreds of yards apart from each other.
I said look I understand if you want to kick people off who have travelled to get her=e but we live in the village .... nope locals too.
We were told we are only allowed out for shopping medical etc playing in the snow is not essential but these kids will be back at school next week. Which is safest TESCO school or an open landscape near no one? Doesn't matter it's not essential.
My daughter was livid I managed to remain cool probably because I was freezing and didn't mind having to get back in my car but talk about ridiculous.
Four police cars patrolling the area .... never seen that before.

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Crazy! Exercise is allowed. Playing in the snow is Exercise. Our surgery used to have a video playing showing sledging as Winter exercise.

Sky News 11.53 a.m today



Birmingham City Council backs primary schools who don't want to reopen tomorrow

Sky News correspondent Paul Kelso has been to Birmingham, where he spoke to the city council leader...

In Birmingham, primary schools are due to re-open tomorrow, but the local authority says it will back head teachers if they decide to defy government instruction and remain closed on safety grounds.

Like London the city is in Tier 4, but there has been no order to close schools despite case numbers rising among school-age children.

Speaking this morning Birmingham City Council leader Ian Ward told me: "Since the end of the second lockdown, we've seen case rates rising here in Birmingham, we now have 358 cases per 100,000 of the population.

"What's now different, though, is we're seeing case rates amongst the five to 14-year-olds in the city rise as well, which is a pattern we weren't seeing back in November.

“So given where we now are, we believe the government should pause and reflect on what is going on amongst children, young people, and delay the opening of primary schools in Birmingham tomorrow.

"What we're suggesting is that primary schools carry out a risk assessment and if it's not safe to open their school, then they should not open the school and will stand behind that decision taken by head teachers.”

The council’s position puts the onus on head teachers to make complex safety assessments but it is a sign of the lack of consensus on the return to education.

The list of schools that aren’t opening is growing. Hoping it gets longer.

https://apple.news/ArBD_9L31QWKR-ug0mf_a0A

Hallelujah. No school worries for 7 weeks. Let’s hope they finally get a grip on in school safety in that time and nothing goes wrong with the vaccination process.

Unfortunately Welsh schools are only shut for two weeks.

EllieM said:

Am I right in thinking that many children will have attended school on Monday before the announcement was made? (Or was Monday a teacher only day?). It seems completely crazy and/or irresponsible to make the announcement after rather than before the first day of school. (Just imagining all those children greeting their friends after the Christmas break and enabling the virus spread....)

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Just how long does it take for decisions to be made in No 10? Did they wait until the roaring from the Unions and Twitter threatened to become a National Roar?
I hope that Monday was an Inset day for lots of schools, but a few did get children back.
A Classics Degree may not be the best qualification for action in a pandemic.