"when my daughters care home were told they had to take covid positive patients from hospitals . Her manager was in tears."Very glad it went well for you. I was reading an article on the Guardian online about how peoples employment has been affected. Focused on a cafe, television and a gift shop. The cafe and gift shop really struggling as no hardly any footfall. Cafe said had done take away service but not the same. Gift shop had done some orders but not enough. It is heartbreaking but I can imagine why people are reluctant. There are viewpoints that the government scared people so much that they are reluctant to go anywhere. I think it's more mistrust in the government whose messages are usually so mixed and non sensual people dont trust them. As ever people vary massively. There are always those who want or need to believe everything is back to normal and even if it isnt act as though it is. For me a socially distanced dining experience or holiday doesnt appeal. For the first time I'm quite envious of those with caravans or motor homes which seem to be an ideal solution. As is camping,although after a few disasters never again. I think a lot of people are reevaluating how they live and what they buy and how. Many will have no choice and I wonder if service industries be the industries of the 1980s . No one knows really how this pandemic will go. For years we have been told jobs will disappear due to technology. We are still facing climate change etc. My gut feeling is we will limp on for a while with government continuing to follow their misguided instructions. It will be interesting to see what happens with sports events. I personally would have thought a live football match with spectators would be insane. It does however generate income,from transport, food etc. It would be a typical Boris feel good statement. I remember at the beginning of all this when people questioned the advisability of a race meeting a local saying how it meant millions in local income would be lost if it didnt go ahead.
We need to focus on health not income. Safe education and a competent welfare state . Prepare the NHS and Social Care. There is of course the issue of how you fund this especially as are starting with a system that's already struggling massively.
Max68 like you at times I have wondered why they dont just protect the vulnerable and maybe those less at risk can open up the economy.etc. I have a sneaky suspicion that this virus may be risky to all but in different ways. Through all their nonsense the basics of using/ sharing transport seems to be dont do it. Even in his recent hurrah let's get back to work and on the buses/trains speech he almost muttered but walk/cycle if you can. As for the vulnerable. Yes people were shielded but they were mainly shielded to stop them filling the NHS, now that's ok they can take their chances with everyone else. This government has shown a callousness to the old,disabled and sick that is breathtaking and hasn't changed. For me the most awful times were in the early days of pandemic when my daughters care home were told they had to take covid positive patients from hospitals . Her manager was in tears. I was worried for my daughters health and the other residents. Fortunately they had the space and knowledge to isolate and treat and it didnt spread. The policy in my mind was little short of murder.At that time people were more focused on NHS. Im not one to massively defend private sector,its variable. Theres a lot of people saying the home owners make a fortune and should provide own PPE. Many had no problem with that,but it simply wasnt there. What meagre supplies there were were directed at NHS. Still a protective blanket was thrown round them (which they probably had to turn into aprons) and that nice Matt said they could have a badge!
Tannith, I do need to clarify one point. My care home denied they had a person who was a member of staff in the building who was believed to have Covid (later confirmed). That said considering the potential risk a deep clean was only being done 3 days after event and there was no cleaning of high impact areas such as door handles etc. That may have been how it got got into the building. It certainly took hold and as I say approximately a third of residents died. I know the floor I worked on( where infected staff member was) 6 residents died. Something went very wrong in that building,from the care homes perspective I dont know whether it was ignorance at the time or bad luck or both. Initially the government were saying it was a flu like virus whereas now we know better. What concerns me most is their lack of transparency initially stemming from denying playing down fact a staff member infected. Staff have left replaced with newer ones. The manager was sacked. Due to lockdown relatives who visited daily are not there and so not questioning where residents are."when my daughters care home were told they had to take covid positive patients from hospitals . Her manager was in tears."
Who exactly said they "HAD" to take people with covid? I always believed the stories that people were turned out of hospitals into care homes without tests. I didn't realise that hospitals KNEW these patients actually DID have covid. I was also shocked to learn from your earlier post that your own care home deliberately concealed the fact that they had had a patient die of covid, hence putting your life and the lives of the other staff at risk. This is wickedness beyond belief. I can understand that they were frightened of losing their business but nothing excuses concealing a covid death. You have really enlightened me about what was really going on in care homes. Thank you so much for telling us the inside story, otherwise I would have believed the Govt's yarns. This also warns me not to take any notice of Govt propaganda that it is safe to emerge from shielding and for others to go back to work and even to use public transport. Those working from home and continuing to do so are doing us all a favour. They are freeing public transport so it is less crowded for those who have no choice but to use it.
We can only hope( and social distance)I agree with just about everything you say @JRT, and would add that it’s revealed the great shortcomings of being guided by ideology rather than empathy. I just hope that any preparations for a possible second wave (which I hope won’t happen) are more thorough than the crisis planning that took place (or didn’t) after Operation Cygnus.
Well that's some good news for parents and grandparents and those who work with the age group. I suppose like any research though it depends on the variables such as it that on a 1.1 basis and how do you define less risk. Maybe its natures way of protecting the very young who need physical interaction for both physical and emotional well being.https://www.livescience.com/topics/live/coronavirus-news-live-updates?utm_source=notification
"A new study out of South Korea has found that only younger kids are less likely to transmit and catch COVID-19, while kids ages 10 and older behave like adults when it comes to COVID-19 transmission, according to the study published online in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. Children under 10 years of age were much less likely, the researchers found, to transmit the disease to others."
https://www.livescience.com/topics/live/coronavirus-news-live-updates?utm_source=notification
"A new study out of South Korea has found that only younger kids are less likely to transmit and catch COVID-19, while kids ages 10 and older behave like adults when it comes to COVID-19 transmission, according to the study published online in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. Children under 10 years of age were much less likely, the researchers found, to transmit the disease to others."
I think the desire by the devolved governments to show off their power by making slight changes to the rules and timing has contributed to the confusion. Why Wales, with a population a third of that of London, has its own health policy, I have no idea.Also interesting is how the virus is more contagious/lethal in different areas of Britain for example Wales government advises you not to leave home to work at all
There seems to be some science behind my theory that height is the governing factor.
" telltale variants near genes involved in several of the brain's chemical messenger systems, including the receptor for thyrotropin-releasing hormone, which is significant because pygmies do not seem to develop thyroid problems, such as goiter, that typically occur in the iodine-deficient areas where they live. Some of the SNPs cluster in an area of chromosome 3 around genes that could be involved in height. One, called CISH, shuts down the receptor to a key growth hormone; mice that overproduce the receptor are smaller and grow more slowly than normal. Investigating this gene further, study co-author Joseph Jarvis, who is now at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research in Camden, New Jersey, found that it also confers immunity to diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis."
"The fact that pygmies seem to show genetic differences in CISH suggests that growth and immunity are physiologically linked, Tishkoff says. "Our finding raises the intriguing possibility that short stature could be the result of better disease resistance—which is likely given the many microbes that pygmies are exposed to," says Tishkoff. "Even though they do die young, pygmies might have evolved with a slight edge in the constant arms race between the human immune system and the pathogens."
She says the study doesn't refute other hypotheses; it shows that the picture is more complex. "The pygmies' size can't be explained by one or two height genes" she says. "Clearly, these groups evolved with growth, metabolism, and immunity all interconnected."
Evolutionary biologist Michael Hammer of the University of Arizona in Tucson calls the study exciting. "The numbers of individuals are too small to turn up a smoking gun, but no one else has gone into Cameroon to get samples from two neighboring groups that differ in height," he says. "The team is using a very creative approach, and they've provided an interesting candidate region of DNA to home in on.""
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2012/04/did-dodging-disease-keep-pygmies-small
Yes tongue in cheek but who know's
A few sandwich bars will lose money, and that is sad for them as it was a sudden blow, for which they were unprepared. However, as home working will now increase permanently, they will have to be realistic and swap to trades which are in demand. It is no use trying to sell people what they no longer want. The high streets too, which were already on the decline before covid, will have to adapt to selling online. It will not be a problem long term, as if pple need a new sofa or fridge they will still buy it. These things are delivered from out of town warehouses anyway. Possibly fewer takeaway outlets will be good for the nation's waistlines .
I understand where you are coming from.Are you in a Union? I work in care and face similar issues. They are supposed to work with you to do an individual risk assessment to reduce risk ,offer you a less risk work area role . I think if none of that possible they could furlough you. My employers so far have ignored all requests to work from home-even though there are things I could of done,no alternative role or risk assessment. Like you I'm signed off sick.I was due to go back weeks ago (hospital,frontline cleaning infection.).
I half wanted to go back for the boredom. I tried following government guidelines.(which employer seem unaware of)Work from home not possible, cant redeploy myself to another role to work from home.
Then it says i should be offered safest available on site role available. When I have suggested what I thought would be "safe"(even safe roles impossibility to totally distance from people). I was told I couldn't return until occupational health appointment.
This is now drawing near via telephone appointment and the end of my sick note (which I didnt want to put in the last time) the appointment is a few days before my return so dont know if anything will get sorted. So getting anxious again especially in the knowledge a lot of my colleagues have got antibodies eg had the virus, possibly from work.
Diabetes uk mention furlough and extending it for clinically vulnerable people yet i have never even been offered furlough.
The guidance also states "As for any workplace risk, employers must take into account specific duties to those with protected characteristics, including, for example, pregnant women who are entitled to a suspension on full pay if suitable roles cannot be found". My employer/occupation health said type 2 isn't a disability but hypertension maybe but is hard to prove you suffer from it. (I have type 2, metformin sitagliptin, and hypertension ramipril)
Also interesting is how the virus is more contagious/lethal in different areas of Britain for example Wales government advises you not to leave home to work at all
Bluetit1802 I'm glad that your daughter is safely working from home. I do feel however that this is a perfect example of how inequitable an individual's risk to the virus is. Government departments and council employees are working from home for the foreseeable future. Private sector and many frontline workers are given vague protection but on whole just expected to get on with it. Apart from risk posed by public transport employees are at mercy of employer (and colleagues) as to how safe the working environment is. If it's not Covid Safe you report to HSE( whose numbers have been decimated in past decade). Not only would you have put yourself at risk by being in the environment but what would your position be until it was investigated/made Covid Safe.?My daughter was sent home right at the beginning as she has asthma on her work medical records, even though it never bothers her and she hardly ever needs her inhalers. She was initially put on special leave with full pay. More recently she has been provided with a specially adapted laptop with inbuilt phone and her home workspace has been given the go ahead by a health and safety person. Her work was face to face, and involved tight data protection. She is now working from home on her normal hours and doing her normal job using the phone rather than face to face. This is a government department, and neither of us can see this arrangement ending any time soon. All the home workers have been given similar equipment, bought in specially. This must have cost a small fortune, and we are sure they won't want to waste their money scrapping it all. Apart from that, her office was small, and the staff desk-shared previously as most were part time in one way or another. Allowing home working has meant an end to the desk sharing, and poses less risk to those still attending the office.
As for saving money on lockdown, we are both over 70 and retired but have still saved a considerable amount of money by not having our frequent cottage holidays and breaks in the UK, and my husband not going to his local pub for his twice weekly games of darts.
Amount of money saved by working from home
Currently, around 60% of the UK’s population has left the workplace to work from home and 9 in 10 (89%) believe this is reducing their expenditure.
By not having to do things like commuting and buy lunch every day, the average employed worker is saving £44.78 every week.
https://www.finder.com/uk/working-from-home-statistics
Those who work from home, and their employers who let them continue to do so, are doing the country a huge favour. They are not spreading the virus at work. But more importantly they are freeing up seats on public transport so that it is less crowded and safer for those who need to use it because they are unable to work from home. A few sandwich bars will lose money, and that is sad for them as it was a sudden blow, for which they were unprepared. However, as home working will now increase permanently, they will have to be realistic and swap to trades which are in demand. It is no use trying to sell people what they no longer want. The high streets too, which were already on the decline before covid, will have to adapt to selling online. It will not be a problem long term, as if pple need a new sofa or fridge they will still buy it. These things are delivered from out of town warehouses anyway. Possibly fewer takeaway outlets will be good for the nation's waistlines .