I'm starting to hear this a lot sadly. Same with me, both Union and GP say under their breath that you should be working from home, blah, blah, blah, but then just say they have to go by government guidelines, which of course if anyone reads the news have been flawed to say the least, and that's putting it politely!
Part of me wants to write letters to GP, Government and Union etc to be posted retrospectively saying basically "I told you so" but at then end of the day who really cares bar ourselves?! It really seems to be a case now of, (if I can ridiculously quote Spock from Star Trek to add a touch of black humour!) "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one!" Although I picture Boris as a rather unlikeable Romulan or Klingon instead of Captain Kirk rushing to the rescue!
What I find baffling is that all this could have been quite easily avoided. With many people not even wanting to be in lockdown and plenty not even believing in this virus why did the government furlough everyone they did? Surely a targeted furlough of the at most risk would have made more sense and those who wanted "everything to be normal" could have carried on if they wished to. Then the government may have got their "herd immunity" without risking the vulnerable and would have have been able to continue furlough for longer. Wouldn't have helped those of us not on furlough mind!!
They say you should learn from your mistakes but I'm not seeing anyone learning from the 1918/19 Spanish Flu. Second wave was worse than the first and Boris seems to be approaching winter in the same way that General Custer approached Little Big Horn!
Independent Sage were interesting yesterday. In a nutshell it all comes down to the difference between should and will! The government have only said employers should make workplaces covid safe. There are no legal requirements to do so or any legislation to ensure a workplace must be inspected and declared safe before opening. If it is unsafe you can contact the decimated HSE but by the time they can do anything,well..
So the government have totally left it up to employers. A month on with no solid basis other than the belief employers will do the right thing they are declaring returning to work IS safe. It's so ridiculous it's almost funny.
Yes,the risk assessment issue is scarily common despite evidence to the contrary we seem to have turned into low risk superheroes!
Of course it's only a small proportion of the workforce in a specific role. We do seem to have very little real protection,well other than just luck. Maybe you would be just as well adorning your visor with lucky rabbits feet/ four leaf clovers Max. ! I've long suspected the Unions can do very little ,there are only vague guidelines with only current H&S legislation to help them. This may change in future but that doesnt help now.
Certainly the general mood seems to be that everything is safe. Like you I live in an area which has relatively low cases,although its rising. I spoke to a friend yesterday who is vulnerable in that she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had radiotherapy at the beginning of the year. Her partner is a diabetic bus driver with a heart problem. Hes back driving buses. She helps out at a friends indoor market stall,gets there by bus,and is cleaning the toilets there. Her daughter who works in a shop lives with them. Her son lives between their house and his girlfriends. In September shes going to open her own cafe in indoor market. She never watches/ listens/ reads the news and will wear a mask when needed but other than that is remarkably relaxed. Shes still alive! Maybe it's just sheer luck,shes in her 50s but slim and active.
I dont know if anyone else saw it but there was an article in the Guardian revealing that care homes dont have to disclose to relatives their Covid history. The reason for this is so that care homes dont suffer financially and close. Its fully backed by CQC. Of course if the winter does have the predicted second wave and care homes are closing as 1)an awful lot of their residents died and 2) for some strange reason those who were thinking of using there services now think it may not be safe, where will the government discharge all those NHS bed blockers.?
I would have thought a better idea would have been transparency. Yes we did have a problem but this is how we have ensured it wont happen again. Unless of course that hasn't,or cant be shown.
I also had an email from my local council today. It stated childeren WILL return to school.
Also day centres will be reopening, with suitable risk assessments of course! I'm pleased for the service users and their carers who must have been under intolerable strain.
Day Centres are rather like schools. Viruses are rife,hundreds of potential contacts,poor ventilation, difficult to socially distance.
They are also extremely expensive to run and those expenses increase when closed.
Maybe its safer than we think. I certainly think those that feel it isnt stand as much chance as King Canute in trying to stem the overwhelming tide of those that rightly or wrongly disagree. Survival of the fittest indeed.