Generic Virus Thread

[HanoiVillan]

Since we're talking about school closures, it would be worth noting what Arlene Foster said earlier today:

'Foster confirmed that schools in Northern Ireland would close at some point in an effort to stem the spread of the virus, but said it was a matter of timing.

“I am taking my advice from the Northern Ireland chief medical officer. He is advising schools should not close yet” but schools and parents should prepare for closure, she said. “I think they will be closed for at least 16 weeks.”'

from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/14/coronavirus-northern-ireland-schools-will-close-for-at-least-16-weeks

Obviously she's talking about Northern Ireland, but I think you would have to assume it will be similar for the rest of the UK, so kids may not go back to school until the new school year in September.

[ml1dch]

 

(posted in a melancholic irony tone, not a political posturing tone)

[chrisp65]

Friday afternoon we got sent the access codes for web based versions of classes and homeworks.

Not sure they can just close schools for A level students trying for Uni, there needs to be some semblance of a plan for exams and revision etc..

[jackbauer24]

18 minutes ago, brommy said:

I expect them to close this week too or certainly on or before the Easter school holidays - a week on Friday. As for the sport side, official UK medical advice doesn't yet exclude banning mass gatherings/sports so why would kids teams shut down before deemed necessary?

I speak as a teacher and can guarantee that no-one knows what's going on!! There is absolutely no guarantee or signs that schools will close at all, never mind within a set timeframe. Local government are refusing to advise and judgement falls to school leaders, although they are being told there is no reason to close and, further down the chain of command, teachers and TAs are being 'reminded' that they should use own judgement before self-isolating (another words, stay in work!)

However, yes, plans are being drawn up for closures and providing work for children but this is purely due to internal decision making and not external advice. There is zero external advice. As usual, schools are trying to work out what the government want us to do without them actually telling us.

I work in a Primary School. We now get the little-uns to use hand sanitiser a various intervals throughout the day and.... Well that's it. They still run up to hug you, they still want high fives, they pick their noses, cough and sneeze all over everything  and generally act like little carrier monkeys do!! Clubs are still on, mass assemblies take place regularly and everyone gathers on the playground to pick them up and drop them off. Second one person gets ill, schools are perfect to spread it to everyone.

The home school packs we'll be creating, possibly pointlessly, are largely wasted on this age group anyway but we prepare. And every teacher in the country will be doing that this week. But don't for one second think that's because there's a plan, there isn't.

 

[HanoiVillan]

1 minute ago, chrisp65 said:

Friday afternoon we got sent the access codes for web based versions of classes and homeworks.

Not sure they can just close schools for A level students trying for Uni, there needs to be some semblance of a plan for exams and revision etc..

Maybe students will sit GCSE's and A-levels in the autumn, and then begin college or university in January? It's hard to see how exams can be conducted online, and they surely won't be held in person.

[leighavfc]

2 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

Friday afternoon we got sent the access codes for web based versions of classes and homeworks.

Not sure they can just close schools for A level students trying for Uni, there needs to be some semblance of a plan for exams and revision etc..

Will be interesting to see how long they do it for for the very reasons you point out. 

[leighavfc]

6 minutes ago, jackbauer24 said:

I speak as a teacher and can guarantee that no-one knows what's going on!! There is absolutely no guarantee or signs that schools will close at all, never mind within a set timeframe. Local government are refusing to advise and judgement falls to school leaders, although they are being told there is no reason to close and, further down the chain of command, teachers and TAs are being 'reminded' that they should use own judgement before self-isolating (another words, stay in work!)

However, yes, plans are being drawn up for closures and providing work for children but this is purely due to internal decision making and not external advice. There is zero external advice. As usual, schools are trying to work out what the government want us to do without them actually telling us.

I work in a Primary School. We now get the little-uns to use hand sanitiser a various intervals throughout the day and.... Well that's it. They still run up to hug you, they still want high fives, they pick their noses, cough and sneeze all over everything  and generally act like little carrier monkeys do!! Clubs are still on, mass assemblies take place regularly and everyone gathers on the playground to pick them up and drop them off. Second one person gets ill, schools are perfect to spread it to everyone.

The home school packs we'll be creating, possibly pointlessly, are largely wasted on this age group anyway but we prepare. And every teacher in the country will be doing that this week. But don't for one second think that's because there's a plan, there isn't.

 

Great post! I was under the impression from the teachers we had spoken to that this was coming from external sources to the schools... clearly not!

We now also have parents in the whatsapp group saying they are not sending kids to school monday onwards! I'm not going to be doing that yet in all honesty. Have you heard similar things being said by parents at your school?

Edited March 15, 2020 by leighavfc

[jackbauer24]

14 minutes ago, leighavfc said:

Great post! I was under the impression from the teachers we had spoken to that this was coming from external sources to the schools... clearly not!

We now also have parents in the whatsapp group saying they are not sending kids to school monday onwards! I'm not going to be doing that yet in all honesty. Have you heard similar things being said by parents at your school?

Absolutely, and not just parents. We have staff very unhappy about still being open and a fair few are currently ill (not Covid19). Supply teachers are not turning up either.

School attendance was a record low for my school last week and I expect that will only get worse. No one is going to fine these parents at the moment either.

Much like the rest of the population, there is a clear split in views. Some parents demanding we close, others demanding we stay open. We can't win so the only thing to do is wait for a blanket closure. No Head will make the decision to close independently, there'd be too much resistance from all sides.

[KentVillan]

This won't cheer you up, but it is very interesting

It goes some way to explaining the debate that would have underpinned the UK government's approach. It suggests that "lockdown" might not be much more than a short-term fix, and that factoring in the economy might make sense from a clinical standpoint.

[LondonLax]

3 hours ago, KentVillan said:

This won't cheer you up, but it is very interesting

It goes some way to explaining the debate that would have underpinned the UK government's approach. It suggests that "lockdown" might not be much more than a short-term fix, and that factoring in the economy might make sense from a clinical standpoint.

This does help explain why the UK government thinks their approach will save the most people but I think there needs to be far more cooperation between nations. As it says there, it’s a global problem not a national one. 

[KHV]

I wonder if there would have been this much chaos if this had happened before the digital and social media age

Im guessing not

So far 0.002% of the global population have been confirmed as having it

Hardly shit your pants and buy everything in the supermarket time

[leighavfc]

Im not sure the change in temperature will help at all with this, look at place like Iran where temperatures are around 17 degrees currently... doesn't look like its killed anything off there as of yet. Same with Spain and France, their temperatures will be higher than ours are most times of the year.

 

[Genie]

9 minutes ago, KHV said:

I wonder if there would have been this much chaos if this had happened before the digital and social media age

Im guessing not

So far 0.002% of the global population have been confirmed as having it

Hardly shit your pants and buy everything in the supermarket time

Very true. And if you get it, vast majority of people just curl up on the sofa with some paracetamol and tv and lemsip for a few days.
I have to keep reassuring my daughter it’s not some horrific deadly plague ripping through the worlds population.

Edited March 15, 2020 by Genie

[leighavfc]

3 minutes ago, Genie said:

Very true. And if you get it, vast majority of people just curl up on the sofa with some paracetamol and tv and lemsip. 
I have to keep reassuring my daughter it’s not some horrific deadly plague ripping through the worlds population.

I agree too, although I am absolutely gripped in terms of what's going on with and what's going to happen. I would say I have become far more worried about it over the last week, but not to the extent where I think many (if any) people I know are going to die from it.

Edited March 15, 2020 by leighavfc

[KHV]

Just now, leighavfc said:

I agree too, although I am absolutely gripped in terms of what's going on with and what's going to happen. I would say I have become far more worried about it over the last week, but not to the extent where I think many people I know are going to die from it.

It’s probably because it’s rammed down your throat every minute of every day 

It’s overkill 

[leighavfc]

3 minutes ago, KHV said:

It’s probably because it’s rammed down your throat every minute of every day 

It’s overkill 

Yes and there being no football on has definitely contributed to me having more time on my hands to think about it and discuss.

At football training yesterday for the kids it was all anyone spoke about..... barring a short slagging off session of the Villa!

[LondonLax]

14 minutes ago, Genie said:

Very true. And if you get it, vast majority of people just curl up on the sofa with some paracetamol and tv and lemsip for a few days.
I have to keep reassuring my daughter it’s not some horrific deadly plague ripping through the worlds population.

It’s quite likely my parents have had it already, they had the symptoms but got through it at home. It could have just been a regular flu though. They are both risky cases, in their 60’s with some heath issues (1 with blood pressure issues and the other a breast cancer survivor). So I’m hoping that’s it all finished for them.

My grandfather is in his 90s though and is recovering from a car accident over Christmas and my wife’s grandmother is already on oxygen. If either of them get it this year they will not make it.

My biggest worry for myself is that we have a newborn and a toddler in the house and are quite isolated from support so if my wife or I are bedridden for a week it will be a real problem.

Edited March 15, 2020 by LondonLax

[KenjiOgiwara]

31 minutes ago, KHV said:

I wonder if there would have been this much chaos if this had happened before the digital and social media age

Im guessing not

So far 0.002% of the global population have been confirmed as having it

Hardly shit your pants and buy everything in the supermarket time

It's the exponential growth that's scary though. Without a lockdown you're inviting it. 

While most young people will ride it off, you can't ignore the sick or elderly, or know how it can mutate going forward. 

Just too much unknown for me to be comfortable at this point. 

This is normally a point where I invest heavily in the stock market, i.e. high volatility and fear, but I think the world economy is a lot more **** atm. than people have considered. 

 

Edited March 15, 2020 by KenjiOgiwara

[Awol]

9 minutes ago, LondonLax said:

My biggest worry for myself is that we have a newborn and a toddler in the house and are quite isolated from support so if my wife or I are bedridden for a week it will be a real problem.

This, on toast. The worry is us both getting sick simultaneously. It’s the main thing driving our uber cautious approach.

[DCJonah]

36 minutes ago, KHV said:

I wonder if there would have been this much chaos if this had happened before the digital and social media age

Im guessing not

So far 0.002% of the global population have been confirmed as having it

Hardly shit your pants and buy everything in the supermarket time

I don't see how this is social media. 

You've got world leaders giving press conferences putting counties on lock down and shutting down mass gatherings. Major sporting leagues across the world have postponed. 

This isn't just a craze on Facebook to get attention.