Coronavirus

[ariotofmyown]

The independent Sage group are saying that schools shouldn't open on June 1st and that reopening 2 weeks later would half the risks. Waiting until September would reduce the risks much further. They also say the tracing app needs to be in place beforehand.

I may have missed it but have the official Sage group's advice to the government been released?

We got letter from school through detailing the extraordinary lengths that the school must go too to take in more kids. I'm sure our kids would learn far more continuing with home schooling for the rest of the term, especially as the school has said it won't be teaching the curriculum either. However, they can't continue to create lessons online as they will be too busy 'teaching' their own bubble of 15 each day.

I can continue wfh anyway and my wife is not allowed to reopen her business yet. I think a partial reopening of schools for 6 weeks or so will not get the economy going and further risk another wave which will damage the economy.

Schools could extend the key worker opening to parents who need to work/can't effectively home school children.

[G STAR RAM]

2 hours ago, ariotofmyown said:

The independent Sage group are saying that schools shouldn't open on June 1st and that reopening 2 weeks later would half the risks. Waiting until September would reduce the risks much further. They also say the tracing app needs to be in place beforehand.

I may have missed it but have the official Sage group's advice to the government been released?

We got letter from school through detailing the extraordinary lengths that the school must go too to take in more kids. I'm sure our kids would learn far more continuing with home schooling for the rest of the term, especially as the school has said it won't be teaching the curriculum either. However, they can't continue to create lessons online as they will be too busy 'teaching' their own bubble of 15 each day.

I can continue wfh anyway and my wife is not allowed to reopen her business yet. I think a partial reopening of schools for 6 weeks or so will not get the economy going and further risk another wave which will damage the economy.

Schools could extend the key worker opening to parents who need to work/can't effectively home school children.

Can you send a link to where SAGE have released this advice please.

[ariotofmyown]

1 hour ago, G STAR RAM said:

Can you send a link to where SAGE have released this advice please.

Apologies if that wasn't clear, it isn't the official Sage group working for the government, it's the independent similar group who have got together.

The official one haven't released any comment as far as I know, but you would wonder how different their advice would be from the official ones.

[rammieib]

3 hours ago, ariotofmyown said:

The independent Sage group are saying that schools shouldn't open on June 1st and that reopening 2 weeks later would half the risks. Waiting until September would reduce the risks much further. They also say the tracing app needs to be in place beforehand.

I may have missed it but have the official Sage group's advice to the government been released?

We got letter from school through detailing the extraordinary lengths that the school must go too to take in more kids. I'm sure our kids would learn far more continuing with home schooling for the rest of the term, especially as the school has said it won't be teaching the curriculum either. However, they can't continue to create lessons online as they will be too busy 'teaching' their own bubble of 15 each day.

I can continue wfh anyway and my wife is not allowed to reopen her business yet. I think a partial reopening of schools for 6 weeks or so will not get the economy going and further risk another wave which will damage the economy.

Schools could extend the key worker opening to parents who need to work/can't effectively home school children.

On the Tracing App and schools - this confuses me. Primary School kids don't have phones? So what's the value of the Tracing App there or is more than it'll be compulsory for teachers to download it?

Either way - fair play you have the time to continue home schooling. We don't, and keeping my child away from other kids for 6 months (March to September) is already having a huge impact on her mental health - we're only two months in!!

[ariotofmyown]

1 minute ago, rammieib said:

On the Tracing App and schools - this confuses me. Primary School kids don't have phones? So what's the value of the Tracing App there or is more than it'll be compulsory for teachers to download it?

Either way - fair play you have the time to continue home schooling. We don't, and keeping my child away from other kids for 6 months (March to September) is already having a huge impact on her mental health - we're only two months in!!

I guess the tracing app is important as can quickly identify when someone linked to the kids has symptoms or a positive test. If you discover that someone who have been close to has symptoms/a positive test, then you don't want to be sending your kid to school of there is an increased risk of them spreading it. Countries like South Korea have been all about the tracing and testing, we should be copying what they do.

Obvious it would be beneficial if kids could go back to school asap and everyone has different challenges to deal with. We really need to prevent a second wave though as best we can, else we risk resetting back to March.

This independent group of scientists are suggesting that the risk is currently too high with schools returning on 1st June.

The potential benefits of some schooling over the next 6 weeks or so don't seem big enough to me vs the risk of mass infections again.

Letting kids see other kids confined within a small social bubble seems a safer way to minimise risk whilst helping to keep kids happier.

[rammieib]

21 minutes ago, ariotofmyown said:

I guess the tracing app is important as can quickly identify when someone linked to the kids has symptoms or a positive test. If you discover that someone who have been close to has symptoms/a positive test, then you don't want to be sending your kid to school of there is an increased risk of them spreading it. Countries like South Korea have been all about the tracing and testing, we should be copying what they do.

Obvious it would be beneficial if kids could go back to school asap and everyone has different challenges to deal with. We really need to prevent a second wave though as best we can, else we risk resetting back to March.

This independent group of scientists are suggesting that the risk is currently too high with schools returning on 1st June.

The potential benefits of some schooling over the next 6 weeks or so don't seem big enough to me vs the risk of mass infections again.

Letting kids see other kids confined within a small social bubble seems a safer way to minimise risk whilst helping to keep kids happier.

Fair point about family members of the Kids. I'm not sure this App is going to be downloaded by as many people as we think - although I certainly will be doing so!!

I do feel like the evidence around the don't start it up is based around the 'We don't know' brigade whereas the evidence around the start it up is based on the 'We don't know there isn't' brigade. 

No second waves in foreign countries yet, no clear incidences of schools causing any issues. No clear evidence of community spreading in a school yet. 

I respect everyone has a different opinion - even my wife and I disagree on this one!

[Norman]

5 hours ago, ariotofmyown said:

The independent Sage group are saying that schools shouldn't open on June 1st and that reopening 2 weeks later would half the risks. Waiting until September would reduce the risks much further. They also say the tracing app needs to be in place beforehand.

I may have missed it but have the official Sage group's advice to the government been released?

We got letter from school through detailing the extraordinary lengths that the school must go too to take in more kids. I'm sure our kids would learn far more continuing with home schooling for the rest of the term, especially as the school has said it won't be teaching the curriculum either. However, they can't continue to create lessons online as they will be too busy 'teaching' their own bubble of 15 each day.

I can continue wfh anyway and my wife is not allowed to reopen her business yet. I think a partial reopening of schools for 6 weeks or so will not get the economy going and further risk another wave which will damage the economy.

Schools could extend the key worker opening to parents who need to work/can't effectively home school children.

Was it not you who calculated 1 million kids could go back to school who are at childcare age? 

Freeing up how many to go to work?

Nurseries and the such who look after those age ranges in the summer should be open, too. 

So how would that not get the economy going? 

Also, I think this all shows how poor schools/councils have been in the last 60 days. 

Why now are they making lists of what they need? Why now have they started moaning about lack of toilets and equipment. 

This should have been under consideration 10 weeks a go. We all knew life would not be the same for a the foreseeable future. Just poor planning all round. Again. 

[ariotofmyown]

20 minutes ago, Norman said:

Was it not you who calculated 1 million kids could go back to school who are at childcare age? 

Freeing up how many to go to work?

Nurseries and the such who look after those age ranges in the summer should be open, too. 

So how would that not get the economy going? 

Also, I think this all shows how poor schools/councils have been in the last 60 days. 

Why now are they making lists of what they need? Why now have they started moaning about lack of toilets and equipment. 

This should have been under consideration 10 weeks a go. We all knew life would not be the same for a the foreseeable future. Just poor planning all round. Again. 

Yeah, it clearly will help to get the economy going to some extent. For families where both parents have to return to an open place of work and they don't have other children in different school years, this will help. I would imagine this is way less than the million or so children though.

Is this benefit worth the increased risk of the virus coming back in a huge way? I don't think it is, especially after what the unofficial Sage advice is.

[Norman]

9 minutes ago, ariotofmyown said:

Yeah, it clearly will help to get the economy going to some extent. For families where both parents have to return to an open place of work and they don't have other children in different school years, this will help. I would imagine this is way less than the million or so children though.

Is this benefit worth the increased risk of the virus coming back in a huge way? I don't think it is, especially after what the unofficial Sage advice is.

So we are down to families with kids all aged under 12, who are unable to look after themselves. 

Kids aged 4, 5 and 6, with those aged 9/10 also not included. 

That would make hundreds of thousands able to go back. 

That would make a huge difference. Not only to spending in the economy, but the stability of markets, the amount claiming the furlough scheme, house prices, value of the pound, spending available for services..... You could go on. 

Our economy is about to be ruined. Cuts far deeper than ever before. Job losses on a scale not seen for a long time, wage compression, house price crash, bankruptcy, austerity leading to cuts in services, healthcare, the NHS, the public sector.... 

I can't believe people don't think it's a risk worth taking. If you're not fat diabetic and old, it really isn't coming to kill you. I read you have more chance of dieing in a car crash. If you are those things, don't send your kids to school. 

 

[B4ev6is]

18 minutes ago, Norman said:

So we are down to families with kids all aged under 12, who are unable to look after themselves. 

Kids aged 4, 5 and 6, with those aged 9/10 also not included. 

That would make hundreds of thousands able to go back. 

That would make a huge difference. Not only to spending in the economy, but the stability of markets, the amount claiming the furlough scheme, house prices, value of the pound, spending available for services..... You could go on. 

Our economy is about to be ruined. Cuts far deeper than ever before. Job losses on a scale not seen for a long time, wage compression, house price crash, bankruptcy, austerity leading to cuts in services, healthcare, the NHS, the public sector.... 

I can't believe people don't think it's a risk worth taking. If you're not fat diabetic and old, it really isn't coming to kill you. I read you have more chance of dieing in a car crash. If you are those things, don't send your kids to school. 

 

Well my mum works in a school and she is not overly happy being force back and I think schools should remain shut till september and most parents are not sending kids back anyways.

[Mucker1884]

16 minutes ago, B4ev6is said:

Well my mum works in a school and she is not overly happy being force back and I think schools should remain shut till september and most parents are not sending kids back anyways.

I also suspect there are quite a few footballers who aren't overly happy about being forced back to work.  They too are probably hoping they don't have to go back to work until September.

And yet you, on the other hand, have been begging to go back to work for weeks.  Moaning that cinemas should all have remained open.

 

It just goes to show just how much this affects us all differently, and that not one solitary decision made by those in power will suit us all.  Someone somewhere will always be unhappy at each decision they make.

That's why we all need to stay strong, and learn to cope with whatever those decisions are, however they affect us!

[B4ev6is]

Not just they break up again in a few weeks anyways and parents back same situration anyways so for me very little point.

[Mucker1884]

14 minutes ago, B4ev6is said:

Not just they break up again in a few weeks anyways and parents back same situration anyways so for me very little point.

Ah!  Good point!  I'd forgotten about the big summer holidays! 
(It's been over 20 years since school holidays affected me and mine!)  ??

[G STAR RAM]

43 minutes ago, B4ev6is said:

Well my mum works in a school and she is not overly happy being force back and I think schools should remain shut till september and most parents are not sending kids back anyways.

So you think it's safe to start football up again but not send people back to school?

Not much logic behind your thinking.

[B4ev6is]

Well I just think that messing kids about and parents about just leave schools shut now.

[B4ev6is]

Plus your outside and even said safer outsude than you are inside.

[G STAR RAM]

Just now, B4ev6is said:

Plus your outside and even said safer outsude than you are inside.

That is a fair point

 

[Gaspode]

It's a shame they brought in all the laws to stop kids working - if they're less likely to catch it, we could send them all out to work over the summer and the rest of us could put our feet up.....

[ariotofmyown]

2 hours ago, Norman said:

So we are down to families with kids all aged under 12, who are unable to look after themselves. 

Kids aged 4, 5 and 6, with those aged 9/10 also not included. 

That would make hundreds of thousands able to go back. 

That would make a huge difference. Not only to spending in the economy, but the stability of markets, the amount claiming the furlough scheme, house prices, value of the pound, spending available for services..... You could go on. 

Our economy is about to be ruined. Cuts far deeper than ever before. Job losses on a scale not seen for a long time, wage compression, house price crash, bankruptcy, austerity leading to cuts in services, healthcare, the NHS, the public sector.... 

I can't believe people don't think it's a risk worth taking. If you're not fat diabetic and old, it really isn't coming to kill you. I read you have more chance of dieing in a car crash. If you are those things, don't send your kids to school. 

 

I'm not sure I agree with the hundreds of thousands of able to go back to work.

If we take a million children who are in reception, year 1 and year 6.

Then how many of them have siblings who are in different school years and need looking after. I think a very generous maximum of 500k?

Then how many of that 500k currently have both parents currently unable to return to a place of work because of childcare? 

With so many business either working at home or having to have shut down, this 500k would again reduce massively. Being very generous again, we could say that leave 250k adults available to return to work.

Many of these 250k will hopefully have been furloughed so aren't losing much money themselves. And many of the businesses they are unable to return to will be already operating to some extent, unless they are staffed mostly by parents and/or old people.

It seems unlikely that schools partially opening for up to 7 weeks is going to start some great economic recovery. It seems more likely that we increase the risk of a quick 2nd wave, which puts the reopening of the country back a few months.

 

[rammieib]

3 hours ago, B4ev6is said:

Well my mum works in a school and she is not overly happy being force back and I think schools should remain shut till september and most parents are not sending kids back anyways.

 B4 - you’ve said on here that they should allow fans into football grounds because they will turn up anyway but don’t believe schools should open in the short term?

Im confused which side of this thing you sit on?