I frankly personally don't think they should return until September now. Sats and exams are all cancelled this year so may as well wait now. Then again, will it be any safer in Sept.? We may be in a second or even third wave by then!

 

The thing is, even if schools were re-opened on 1st June, I suspect a lot of parents would not allow their children back. I'd be interested if kids are actually meant to be learning (for the older years in primary school at least). If they're not actually doing proper lessons in the schools then I'm leaning more towards park and hold for a few more weeks at least..

 

Bigger problem right now is you have people who just want lockdown completely forgotten about whilst you have others who are too afriad to return to normal life. How do you manage a population split like this? Not easy.

Schools: testing. Get the testing done. How about testing? That might work, testing. We as a nation are we testing? Cos I don;t think we are testing. You can only get tested if you have symptoms. I mean, PLEASE. Horse and stable door....

 

In terms of parents having to work and look after schoolkids, it's not that hard compared to working and caring for someone with advanced dementia who can do absolutely nothing at all for themselves, not a thing (hi, here I am) and having to do everything on their own, pretty much. Kids can look after themselves, except the very young, and there is usually two parents to share the load on a rota. I'm not saying it's EASY, but it's no different from an extended summer holiday where they arent bundled off to childminders or grandparents. And a lot are getting state support to not work. That's the REAL reason for wanting kids back at school. Financial reasons.

 

In terms of lost education, apart from the very rich they will all be in the same boat so they will all be catching up together, which is a damn sight easier than, say, Forces kids like myself who changed schools every year or two and had to catch up on completely different syllabuses with no extra schooling, no assistance, and missing out on stuff that crops up in exam papers. I always coped, my brother less so.

 

In terms of exams, there's no reason they shouldnt make allowances for losing part of the syllabus and only mark those covered, the proportion of annual exam results can stay the same. So employers ask you which bits of the syllabus you did? No they don't. They just want a guide to your abilities so it won't affect anything much except further education where you might need to do a bit over the summer to catch up, and quite frankly in further education you better get used to researching on your own before you get there! Internet, cough, we didn't have info at our fingertips, we had to buy books.

 

Frankly I'd rather any of the above, as a kid, than risk killing off my own parents/grandparents which is far more traumatic than getting an exam question badly answered and missing school for a period (I once went from May through to December with no school, and it did affect my results - probably - because everyone else had covered stuff I hadn't) so I'm not trying to say it's desirable (it isn't) but it's not traumatic especially if everyone is in the same boat.

It looks like the point of the lockdown is to reassure people that okay we did it we are okay now, not really to contain the virus, and then go back to herd immunity as planned.

Before last weekend's announcement, the rumour had been that Year 6 (last year of primary school) would be the first to return. As I said at the time, that makes sense. These are children who had a very a sudden end to their primary school education and face major upheaval in September with a new school. That upheaval is likely to be even greater than usual this year, so getting them back before the end of term (even if only for a few weeks) has to be achieved if at all possible.

 

For as long as only one year group is back, some of the practical difficulties can be resolved. For a start, there will be classrooms available to split classes into two or three. Staffing is an issue (particularly if other teachers at the school are still involved in teaching their normal class online) but there are potential solutions. For example, I'm sure at least some support staff could manage a small class, particularly if they are able to use the main teacher's lesson plan.

This is what Berlin has done. Last year of primary school and then the exam sitting years of high school have been allowed back in. Not 100% sure what is happening Germany wide as education is firmly under state control, but I’d be surprised if there were too many other year groups back in yet.

 

 

The reason we’re back in session is because we’re like the graph on the left. Infection firmly under control and heavily monitored. No heard immunity strategy here because our leader isn’t a power hungry sociopath

This is what Berlin has done. Last year of primary school and then the exam sitting years of high school have been allowed back in. Not 100% sure what is happening Germany wide as education is firmly under state control, but I’d be surprised if there were too many other year groups back in yet.

The reason we’re back in session is because we’re like the graph on the left. Infection firmly under control and heavily monitored. No heard immunity strategy here because our leader isn’t a power hungry sociopath

 

How have they managed to control it effectively though testing (or how can any country) when the results of individual tests can take a few days to come back? We need more instantaneous tests to be created, I am confident this will happen soon with all the great scientists working on it :)

Edited May 17, 20205 yr by The Snake

Quarantined at home until you’ve got a negative test result...?

 

That’s like how every country is handling the situation outside of the UK, USA, Belarus and North Korea. For the whole of the outbreak so far. Unless I’m hideously mistaken

It looks like the point of the lockdown is to reassure people that okay we did it we are okay now, not really to contain the virus, and then go back to herd immunity as planned.

 

Exactly

 

While the papers do their bit & report on the rules as if they were universal while leaving out that the rich have a whole different set with much less risk involved.

Why were people protesting in London on Saturday over the lockdown??

A few more restrictions have been eased in Northern Ireland. Groups of up to 6 people can now meet up outside (although still within social distancing guidelines), places of worship can open for private prayer, and golf & tennis can resume. Drive-in cinemas are also allowed, but I'm not aware of such a thing here, so is a bit of a moot point.

A few more restrictions have been eased in Northern Ireland. Groups of up to 6 people can now meet up outside (although still within social distancing guidelines), places of worship can open for private prayer, and golf & tennis can resume. Drive-in cinemas are also allowed, but I'm not aware of such a thing here, so is a bit of a moot point.

 

Just playing Devil's advocate here but what happened to the consistent approach across the 4 Nations that was suggested on here? (don't worry I'm not aiming at you)

 

Devil's advocate aside, good news on the testing for Over 5s, but Hanock is lying out of his arse about this whole contact tracing app. However much he will deny it, it was very strongly implied and suggested it would be up and running by mid-May. Not that the recruitment would be finished by Mid-May.

Why were people protesting in London on Saturday over the lockdown??

 

I don't mind people protesting the lockdown as long as they are adhering to social distancing. While I disagree, free speech and all that. Doesn't sound like they were widely attended and they mostly fell flat on their bums. Save for a few people who defied social distancing to huddle together- absolute idiots. It's amazing how the far left and far right can come together in times like this. They really are more similar in their behaviours than they would have you believe!

I don't mind people protesting the lockdown as long as they are adhering to social distancing. While I disagree, free speech and all that. Doesn't sound like they were widely attended and they mostly fell flat on their bums. Save for a few people who defied social distancing to huddle together- absolute idiots. It's amazing how the far left and far right can come together in times like this. They really are more similar in their behaviours than they would have you believe!

After the mass protest in Brighton on Saturday (attended by a massive crowd of zero), they tried again today and attracted 30 people. Judging by the local paper's report, they were protesting about 5G and the ridiculous nonsense about it spreading the virus just as much as the lockdown rules.

Just playing Devil's advocate here but what happened to the consistent approach across the 4 Nations that was suggested on here? (don't worry I'm not aiming at you)

 

Devil's advocate aside, good news on the testing for Over 5s, but Hanock is lying out of his arse about this whole contact tracing app. However much he will deny it, it was very strongly implied and suggested it would be up and running by mid-May. Not that the recruitment would be finished by Mid-May.

 

I think the feeling in here was more that Boris was forced to change his plans because the other nations weren’t ready to ease up. As it is, North Wales is being hit hard with the virus right now just after our neighbours have started driving for their exercise.

 

Also Northern Ireland is part of a different island so it could be expected for them to be different.

 

Sturgeon has said she hopes to ease the lockdown on May 28th and it would surprised me is Drakeford says something similar in the next few days. Perhaps then the UK will all be around the same point.

Edited May 18, 20205 yr by T Boy

After the mass protest in Brighton on Saturday (attended by a massive crowd of zero), they tried again today and attracted 30 people. Judging by the local paper's report, they were protesting about 5G and the ridiculous nonsense about it spreading the virus just as much as the lockdown rules.

 

Always beggers belief. I often look at a few of the Far Rights prominent Twitter users and it always amuses me how they push their agenda without actually being in attendance themselves. Plus they have selective fact checking and article sharing. Seen a lot of stuff around Lennon-Yaxley's wie/girlfriend is the one trying to orchestrate the protests whilst of course taking a backhander from the prominent Far Right to push their agenda.

A few more restrictions have been eased in Northern Ireland. Groups of up to 6 people can now meet up outside (although still within social distancing guidelines), places of worship can open for private prayer, and golf & tennis can resume. Drive-in cinemas are also allowed, but I'm not aware of such a thing here, so is a bit of a moot point.

 

Even with social distancing and outside, I think groups of up to 6 people is too many I think for stage one. Not sure why NI government has decided to introduce this so soon into the 5 stage plan. You would also have to form a big circle formation to be able to talk to 6 other people using social distancing. Should be just one other person for now.

Edited May 18, 20205 yr by The Snake

Also not directly linked to the UK, but I am finding reading about this World Health Commitee really interesting.

 

The US of course has blamed the pandemic on China and the WHO, other countries are talking about giving the WHO more power and greater funding. Likewise it seems the UK is pushing the narrative that they want to know how the virus originated from an indendent enquiry, of which I am assuming, which animal led to the pandemic. More interestingly despite pressure from pretty much the entire committe, China won't commit to a full investigation until the pandemic is fully over.

Even with social distancing and outside, I think groups of up to 6 people is too many I think for stage one. Not sure why NI government has decided to introduce this so soon into the 5 stage plan. You would also have to form a big circle formation to be able to talk to 6 other people using social distancing. Should be just one other person for now.

That’s what I thought. 1 is a far more sensible number considering 6 will probably encourage more group gatherings without distancing, whereas the English approach probably results in less gatherings as people will be more conscious of being caught being with more than one person.

Edited May 18, 20205 yr by mdh

Also not directly linked to the UK, but I am finding reading about this World Health Commitee really interesting.

 

The US of course has blamed the pandemic on China and the WHO, other countries are talking about giving the WHO more power and greater funding. Likewise it seems the UK is pushing the narrative that they want to know how the virus originated from an indendent enquiry, of which I am assuming, which animal led to the pandemic. More interestingly despite pressure from pretty much the entire committe, China won't commit to a full investigation until the pandemic is fully over.

 

Aren't we nearly 100% sure its a bat, its only what animal it spread to after that that is under discussion?

 

That’s what I thought. 1 is a far more sensible number considering 6 will probably encourage more group gatherings without distancing, whereas the English approach probably results in less gatherings as people will be more conscious of being caught being with more than one person.

 

Yes, at least England and Boris got something right!

Edited May 18, 20205 yr by The Snake

Also not directly linked to the UK, but I am finding reading about this World Health Commitee really interesting.

 

The US of course has blamed the pandemic on China and the WHO, other countries are talking about giving the WHO more power and greater funding. Likewise it seems the UK is pushing the narrative that they want to know how the virus originated from an indendent enquiry, of which I am assuming, which animal led to the pandemic. More interestingly despite pressure from pretty much the entire committe, China won't commit to a full investigation until the pandemic is fully over.

 

Braindead zero-sum games from the US imo, blaming any country for the virus is pretty harmful rhetoric unless there is proof it was manufactured which as far as I'm aware is a conspiracy theory. Something I've been seeing a lot lately across social media that really worries me is the rise of anti-China views on places like reddit and Twitter, could be really dangerous in the long run to draw up so much antagonism. Both presidential candidates are trying to outdo themselves on how anti-China they are, we could be getting into some real dangerous territory if they continue.

 

Seems like China will support an investigation as long as it's led by WHO, who would appear as a neutral party. I have seen that China has some pretty large influences on WHO though, which is probably why they're okay with that idea.