Here in Slovenia we had 0 new confirmed infections yesterday, for the first time in two months!

 

Schools and kindergartens are partially opening on May 18th. They closed on March 16th, so they will be partially re-opening after more than 2 months of distance learning.

 

Kindergartens are reopening but all children might not be allowed back because of social distancing rules. So they will have to set up some guidelines.

 

Primary schools are reopening for grades 1, 2 and 3. First graders are 6 or 7 years old.

 

Primary school seniors (9th grade) might go back on May 25th. The Ministry for Education wants them to finish their primary education in a somewhat normal way. School year normally ends on June 24th, but 9th graders finish a week or two earlier.

 

High school seniors go back on May 18th since they will be taking their final exams in June. Their school year ends on May 22nd.

 

Primary school children with learning difficulties also go back on May 18th.

 

Everyone else will likely end the school year at home. Some parents are mad because they want everyone to go back without any social distancing. We really have low numbers of daily infections in recent weeks, but we are lucky and countries around us have similar plans for re-opening of schools.

 

The Ministry is already warning that online education might continue in the fall.

I'm not sure what to expect for when schools go back for my place of work as we're an FE college and beginning of June wouldn't really make much sense given a lot of FE courses finish around that time so I'm expecting to not go back until September (and even then, I'm sure it'll be significantly different). Remote working has been working out surprisingly well so far for me though considering it was completely alien to us a few years back!

As a slight aside its always confused me that schools in the UK go back for another month after the kids have done their exams, and start on the work for the next year (?) before taking 3 months off.

 

Surely the kids will forget everything by the time September rolls around?

As a slight aside its always confused me that schools in the UK go back for another month after the kids have done their exams, and start on the work for the next year (?) before taking 3 months off.

 

Surely the kids will forget everything by the time September rolls around?

That only applies to A Levels and GCSEs. When I was at school, we attended for a few days after GCSEs (or O Levels as they were then) to sort out our A Level options. Apart from that, it was a long break. Hood news for me as it was the long hot summer of 1976.

As a slight aside its always confused me that schools in the UK go back for another month after the kids have done their exams, and start on the work for the next year (?) before taking 3 months off.

 

Surely the kids will forget everything by the time September rolls around?

 

Only Year 12 start work for next year after exams. And we don’t get 3 months off in the Summer, we get 6 weeks.

6 weeks?? Tbh I don't remember exactly how long mine was as a kid but it felt longer!

 

In any case, news this morning that at the start of this week (7th) that Boris won't actually be making an announcement about what next steps will be until Sunday, literally the last possible point for it to be still the same week.

 

Thoughts? Personally - I get the logic, but in terms of honesty with the public it feels like taking the piss to say "we'll lockdown for three weeks, then review", and actually to not review until the end of a fourth week on top. I feel that the uncertainty & inability to trust the government to keep a promise is incredibly unhelpful right now, even if their strategy is sensible in and of itself.

One piece of potentially good news. Scientists believe they can explain why some people who have apparently recovered subsequently test positive again. If they are right, that makes it a good deal more likely that people who have had it are indeed immune - at least for some time anyway.

 

Yes, newsnight carried that one - basically the lungs remain poorly for a time and dead infected material gets coughed out over a period of time as the lungs heal, giving the false positive. Very good news if confirmed.

 

In other news from experts, one of my friends has written an article available here:

 

https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-c...ese-laboratory/

 

which also has links to the world of actual experts in pandemics. I couldnt possibly repeat what they wanted to say (4 short words) about Trump, but y'know, evidence and all that is a better response...

6 weeks?? Tbh I don't remember exactly how long mine was as a kid but it felt longer!

 

In any case, news this morning that at the start of this week (7th) that Boris won't actually be making an announcement about what next steps will be until Sunday, literally the last possible point for it to be still the same week.

 

Thoughts? Personally - I get the logic, but in terms of honesty with the public it feels like taking the piss to say "we'll lockdown for three weeks, then review", and actually to not review until the end of a fourth week on top. I feel that the uncertainty & inability to trust the government to keep a promise is incredibly unhelpful right now, even if their strategy is sensible in and of itself.

 

I suppose it's a bit of both really. Personally I think a lot of it will be respect out of VE Day, if you make announcements on the Thursday, the news will ultimately be dominated by that, and the same if it happens on Friday. This way it also gets us over the weekend where undoubtedly more rules get "broken". Do I imagine there is also a bit of stalling as much as possible. But in reality no lockdown measures were going to be eased before 11th May anyway.

6 weeks?? Tbh I don't remember exactly how long mine was as a kid but it felt longer!

 

In any case, news this morning that at the start of this week (7th) that Boris won't actually be making an announcement about what next steps will be until Sunday, literally the last possible point for it to be still the same week.

 

Thoughts? Personally - I get the logic, but in terms of honesty with the public it feels like taking the piss to say "we'll lockdown for three weeks, then review", and actually to not review until the end of a fourth week on top. I feel that the uncertainty & inability to trust the government to keep a promise is incredibly unhelpful right now, even if their strategy is sensible in and of itself.

 

Agreed I had made this point earlier in the thread. It is complete underhandedness and straight up lies from the government by Sunday we will have been in lockdown for 7 weeks which is covered by two 3 week lockdowns. The lack of honesty and delays is despicable

Edited May 4, 20205 yr by Alex P

That only applies to A Levels and GCSEs. When I was at school, we attended for a few days after GCSEs (or O Levels as they were then) to sort out our A Level options. Apart from that, it was a long break. Hood news for me as it was the long hot summer of 1976.

 

 

Only Year 12 start work for next year after exams. And we don’t get 3 months off in the Summer, we get 6 weeks.

This is so strange to me. So strange.

 

 

So every year of high school progresses to the year above at the end of May once the Scottish Exam diet ends. So when I came back off exam leave we’d do about 4/5weeks of the next year and my next years choices. Then once we got results and came back after summer we had the ability to swap and change courses having had a taster. Idea being we knew if we hated the course or knew if we needed to make adjustments to our courses based on our results and what we want to do next.

 

My mind is blown

Agreed I had made this point earlier in the thread. It is complete underhandedness and straight up lies from the government by Sunday we will have been in lockdown for 7 weeks which is covered by two 3 week lockdowns. The lack of honesty and delays is despicable

It's all part of the overall deception practised by this shower of a government. Deception that means three weeks equals three-and-a-half weeks, a test kit in the post is the same as a test administered, 100,000 tests on one day (after fiddling the figures) but fewer than that on every day beforehand and each of the next few days is the same as 100,000 tests per day, and the Health Secretary can cheerfully state that people over 70 were not all classified as vulnerable regardless of their overall health despite a statement on the Department of Health website that says the opposite.

It's all part of the overall deception practised by this shower of a government. Deception that means three weeks equals three-and-a-half weeks, a test kit in the post is the same as a test administered, 100,000 tests on one day (after fiddling the figures) but fewer than that on every day beforehand and each of the next few days is the same as 100,000 tests per day, and the Health Secretary can cheerfully state that people over 70 were not all classified as vulnerable regardless of their overall health despite a statement on the Department of Health website that says the opposite.

 

I did read the point on the over 70’s today and couldn’t believe it. They continue to lie and lie and people think they have done a good job every action they have taken has been shocking. It does seem like the country as a whole are willing to ignore it though by standing outside clapping like cult members every Thursday.

I think they're doing it so they can cover the next May bank holiday in being in lockdown unfortunately to stop mass gatherings.

 

I think their will be restrictions but not necessarily ones people would like, probably restaurants and shops opening up for collection only and clothing shops having the same social distancing measures as supermarkets, as well as some people being able to go back to work. I would sadly be surprised if they lifted the friends and family restriction.

I think they're doing it so they can cover the next May bank holiday in being in lockdown unfortunately to stop mass gatherings.

 

I think their will be restrictions but not necessarily ones people would like, probably restaurants and shops opening up for collection only and clothing shops having the same social distancing measures as supermarkets, as well as some people being able to go back to work. I would sadly be surprised if they lifted the friends and family restriction.

 

I think people are starting to see family and friends again now regardless everyone has had enough and has stopped buying in to the hysteria and manipulation.

I think people are starting to see family and friends again now regardless everyone has had enough and has stopped buying in to the hysteria and manipulation.

It's not really hysteria and manipulation if it's proven to have prevented deaths and spreading the disease further lol.

This is like the corona equivalent of anti vaccers :drama:

I think people are starting to see family and friends again now regardless everyone has had enough and has stopped buying in to the hysteria and manipulation.

 

A few people certainly are, but not the majority. They're not going to ease this until the contact tracing mechanism is working as it allows sustained contact to be traced, it's our "get out strategy". It's the same as before, the virus is probably mild to most but for 10% of us it's horrendous and we don't simply know enough about it yet. Looks like June 1st is the big date we are working towards.

 

I think we all want things back to some form of normality as quickly as possible but the problem we have is if there is a 2nd Lockdown it's going to catastrophic to many businesses, short term pain for long term gain and all that.

Exactly that. The aim is for lockdown to be a one time thing. If you’re not sure that the R0 is under 1 and firmly under 1 for a decent period then any loosening risks the R0 rising and the country having to go back into lockdown to protect the healthcare system. Is lockdown inconvenient? Highly. Is it better than having the NHS completely collapse and unravel killing thousands from both corona and preventable non-corona deaths that happen because the healthcare system has collapsed? Hell the f*** yes.

 

As Sturgeon said today, the light is at the end of the tunnel. We all need to continue to act in a smart and socially conscientious way to allow that light to get brighter and closer instead of being extinguished entirely.

 

 

 

I know we’re all craving human contact and outside life but bitching and whining ain’t going to lower the R0 value. If it was a correlating factor the US would have an R0 of -999.999.999.999,99 and that’s just at 1600 Penn!

 

 

 

 

 

Things in Germany are loosening up nicely now. BVG restored the full timetable today, museums and the zoo can reopen and hairdressers are a go. Merkel and the heads of states meet mid week to talk about the next steps. I’m just keen for an idea of when the border will reopen. I’d love for family and friends to be able to visit in oct/nov time

Exactly that. The aim is for lockdown to be a one time thing. If you’re not sure that the R0 is under 1 and firmly under 1 for a decent period then any loosening risks the R0 rising and the country having to go back into lockdown to protect the healthcare system. Is lockdown inconvenient? Highly. Is it better than having the NHS completely collapse and unravel killing thousands from both corona and preventable non-corona deaths that happen because the healthcare system has collapsed? Hell the f*** yes.

 

As Sturgeon said today, the light is at the end of the tunnel. We all need to continue to act in a smart and socially conscientious way to allow that light to get brighter and closer instead of being extinguished entirely.

I know we’re all craving human contact and outside life but bitching and whining ain’t going to lower the R0 value. If it was a correlating factor the US would have an R0 of -999.999.999.999,99 and that’s just at 1600 Penn!

Things in Germany are loosening up nicely now. BVG restored the full timetable today, museums and the zoo can reopen and hairdressers are a go. Merkel and the heads of states meet mid week to talk about the next steps. I’m just keen for an idea of when the border will reopen. I’d love for family and friends to be able to visit in oct/nov time

 

How are Germany handling seeing friends and loved ones right now?

 

 

YouGov today:

How has the government handled coronavirus testing?

Very/fairly well - 42%

Fairly/very badly - 49%

Don’t know - 9%

 

I’m surprised even that many are disapproving with the general attitude of the country or at least what feels like it.