Day of Chaos 2: a.Covid-19 thread.

[shaolin_monkey]

I think I have a picture which sums up everything you've both said, plus the attitude to COVID19, plus the attitude to environmentalism/climate science.

[Funt Solo]

Thread so long now...

[shaolin_monkey]

D'oh!

[sheridan]

This was around 2000. I'd hoped attitudes would be more like my old manager by now, but they really aren't. It's insane that the UK is still obsessed with people looking like they're working hard rather than actual productivity. This is the same bullshit that's for decades kept the entire country as one of the least productive of comparable nations and infused a lack of meritocracy. (My wife had something similar. Her desk was a mess at one job, because she had so much to deal with. Her co-worker did less work but her desk was neat, and so she was always praised as being great. No-one checked the data. It was all about appearances.)

Unfortunately my latest department manager is the same on both respects.  In the midst of the pandemic last year they were intent on getting everybody back in to the office.  Those that were forced (against their will, including at least two with long-standing medical issues) to go in to the office.  They weren't even allowed to concentrate on the two or three things that had to be done in the office, but were instead put on the same rotas as all the WFHers.  Back in the before-times they went around the office late one night and put post-it notes on desks which they felt weren't up to scratch.  To the extent that they wrote out a post-it for a stray staple.  We thought they were joking.  At first.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

Elsewhere, we have Tory county councillors fuming that people aren't walking their kids to school, and there have been suggestions to enforce parking bans on all roads nearby. During normal times, my wife would drive to the school, park in a fairly nearby street (about a five-minute walk), drop off the nipper and then continue to work. She'd pick her up on the way back. Quite efficient. The Tory plan is that one of us should walk the 1.5 miles to the school, walk home, and then do the journey again at 3pm. That's quite the assumption about people's free time.

I think the assumption is probably that it will give the women a chance to get out of their kitchens.

[Modern Panther]

Are twitter users across the UK getting targeted ads informing them that Westminster is paying for covid testing, or is this particularly nasty politicisation of the virus limited to Scotland?  Is this 2021's "eat your cereal"?

[Funt Solo]

There's a push in Washington State to get teachers vaccinated to go along with a push to move schools partially back to in-person (as long as Covid numbers remain within parameters) - and I've managed to get set up with an appointment for next Saturday.

That will be one year (almost exactly - it's five days out) from the day when we were sent home from work due to the pandemic.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Good stuff, hope all goes well.

[Tjm86]

There's a push in Washington State to get teachers vaccinated to go along with a push to move schools partially back to in-person ...

See I get the argument on one level but I have a couple of problems with the whole "we HAVE to get teachers vaccinated" debate ...

1) there are other groups that have been demonstrably shown to be much higher risk;
2) the figures for fatalities / worst case infection in teaching are incredible low;
3) ... mainly because the age profile of the profession is skewed towards the lower age range.

Don't get me wrong, there are older, at risk teachers out there but as a rule the age profile is more towards the 20's/30's age range than the 40+.  As I've repeatedly said:  if you are a male teacher in your 40's and 50's then you are more at risk from management than Covid (and the stats, such as they are, back this up!)

[IndigoPrime]

What concerns me is that "vaccinate the teachers" is seen by some as a magic bullet. But the bigger issue in schools is children being a general vector and taking COVID home after rapid spread. With 10–15% long COVID numbers, we need parents to also be vaccinated to stop spread. That won't be completed until the summer holidays. I suspect we've one more lockdown to come (or Easter will be extended by a week or more as a circuit breaker).

[TordelBack]

Current Irish plan is to skip vaccinating the 35-55 cohort (aka parents of schoolgoing children) completely, and go straight to the 18-35, on the basis that they have more social contacts, public-facing jobs and shared housing. That makes sense, but leaves school kids going home every day to a completely unvaccinated population.

And still my 78yr old diabetic cancer-patient father, who has to attend three different busy outpatient depts on alternate weeks, hasn't had even a hint of when he might be getting a vaccine.

It wouldn't fill you with optimism generally.

[milstar]

http://metro.co.uk/2021/02/25/every-single-prosecution-under-the-coronavirus-act-has-been-unlawful-14143868/amp/

Is this true?

[Funt Solo]

There's a push in Washington State to get teachers vaccinated to go along with a push to move schools partially back to in-person ...

See I get the argument on one level but I have a couple of problems with the whole "we HAVE to get teachers vaccinated" debate ...

1) there are other groups that have been demonstrably shown to be much higher risk;
2) the figures for fatalities / worst case infection in teaching are incredible low;
3) ... mainly because the age profile of the profession is skewed towards the lower age range.

I understand your concerns. First of all, I'd say there's no perfect way of dealing with the global pandemic and the current efforts to combat it through vaccination. My wife (a school employee, but not in a high risk group beyond that) got vaccinated earlier than we would have expected through happenstance, really. The local tribe (Tulalip) had spare vaccines that were going to lose their efficacy if they weren't used, so they decided to donate them to the local school district.

As regards the current move to vaccinate all the teachers in Washington State, that's coming after we've had a period of vaccinating the most vulnerable. So, medical staff, the older age groups and those with prevailing medical conditions or in vulnerable groupings (e.g. care homes) have all been offered the vaccine.

The move to get schools back up and running is not a one hundred percent return - it's a hybrid model in which any parent can opt out and still have online support at the same level we currently run. Additionally, there have been months of discussion with teaching unions in order that safety is held as a priority - so it's a planned, phased return with lots of caveats.

Lastly, the entire thing is predicated on current numbers of cases and deaths remaining within parameters that are being decided by health care professionals who are working with the state government in arriving at policy.

I'm sorry if things are shittier at your locale - the entire pandemic is something of a shit-show, and I'd gladly pass up my vaccination if I could help someone more vulnerable get their dose first.

[The Doctor Alt 8]

Well due to the dreadful situation re distribution of Covid vaccine in Belgium.... it is beginning to look like he will not be able to visit us for the second year. This is not good for various reasons.

[IndigoPrime]

I'm sorry if things are shittier at your locale

A key difference in the UK is the lack of choice. You are legally obliged to send children to school. Even if one of your kids is isolating, the other has to go to school, unless someone in the family is confirmed positive, at which point family isolation kicks in. All of which is neatly incoherent and anti-safety, but there you go.