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

[TordelBack]

More seriously, our govt are currently running a radio ad every 15 minutes that starts: "It's safe to return to school", before telling us to stay in our 5km and stay away from work and people. Not "we believe the benefits of in-person education outweigh the risks", which would be fair, but literal lying propaganda. No additional ventilation, no extra space or reduced class sizes,  no proper track-and-trace, no antigen tests, and still at 230+ cases/100K, 600+ daily, plus the more contagious variant.

Almost 6 months of lockdown, barring 3 weeks of a Christmas murder spree, and no positive action taken and the same exact lies.

[paddykafka]

My missus came up with a plan for us to stuff our faces until our BMIs get us moved nto a higher-risk cohort. I see no downsides.

Coming soon, the new-look Tordelback in Anger. 

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dc6L3rkXUAIMDvI.jpg

[Funt Solo]

Poor nations delighted to get leftover vaccines after promise by Boris Jo.......... aaaaah f*ck!

[Funt Solo]

In my home state: Covid-19: US high school band students rehearse in individual bubbles

[shaolin_monkey]

The differences between a political party that gives a shit about its citizens and one that doesn't is repeatedly underscored by the Welsh versus English government.

Yet again, Wales are acting based on SAGE advice, returning kids to school in a careful, phased approach, watching the rate of infection careful, while Johnson is basically just opening the floodgates in England allowing every kid to return pretty much immediately:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-56182131


Meanwhile we STILL have health professionals and epidemiologists screaming from the rooftops that no school mitigation measures have taken place (compulsory mask wearing, properly ventilated classrooms, smaller class sizes etc), so the likelihood of another wave is high as children mix and bring the virus into the wider community.

https://youtu.be/rpJnk1g-098

https://twitter.com/dgurdasani1/status/1362390053029306368?s=21

[IndigoPrime]

UK govt is again going for "it's your fault". Not mandating mask use in schools but "hoping" schools, parents and pupils will do the right thing. Last time, our headteacher was forced to write to all parents confirming masks on campus were not compulsory due to idiots complaining. So this is all going to go swimmingly.

Best-case now seems to be one more belated lockdown, probably over part of the summer holiday. Worst case doesn't bear thinking about, involving vaccines not outpacing cases (govt, note, is using *hospitalisations* as primary unlocking data, and they lag by weeks) and more variants arriving that could even make the entire vaccination rollout moot.

[Jim_Campbell]

UK govt is again going for "it's your fault". Not mandating mask use in schools but "hoping" schools, parents and pupils will do the right thing. Last time, our headteacher was forced to write to all parents confirming masks on campus were not compulsory due to idiots complaining. So this is all going to go swimmingly.

The government should have mandated indoor mask-wearing for under-18s from the outset to normalise it. If you can get the little darlings to put on shoes and a coat, you can get them to put a damn mask on.

Given that masks don't stop you catching covid, they stop you spreading it, every time you go into a supermarket and a parent has a couple of unmasked kids running up and down the aisles, it defeats the point of anyone wearing a mask inside the shop.

[Tjm86]

The thing is, schools are like any other premises.  Owners / management can set out what is worn.  Schools enforce uniform codes.  They should enforce smoking regulations (like to see the little scrotes fined when they are caught smoking on sight just like anyone else would).  They can enforce mask wearing .

Certainly there are exemptions needed, the same as in the adult population.  At the end of the day though, if parents want to kick off for no reason then they can argue their case with a judge in court when they end up being fined for attendance issues.

Ultimately the question of the individual 'human rights' not to wear a mask (and I really do need someone to explain that one to me) just because they don't want to has to be balanced against the risks posed to others by their antisocial attitudes.

[JayzusB.Christ]

UK govt is again going for "it's your fault". Not mandating mask use in schools but "hoping" schools, parents and pupils will do the right thing. Last time, our headteacher was forced to write to all parents confirming masks on campus were not compulsory due to idiots complaining. So this is all going to go swimmingly.

The government should have mandated indoor mask-wearing for under-18s from the outset to normalise it. If you can get the little darlings to put on shoes and a coat, you can get them to put a damn mask on.

Given that masks don't stop you catching covid, they stop you spreading it, every time you go into a supermarket and a parent has a couple of unmasked kids running up and down the aisles, it defeats the point of anyone wearing a mask inside the shop.

Yes, that does bother me too.  It seems that every time I go into a supermarket there's at least one kid without a mask, and their parents seeming pretty much oblivious to the whole thing.

As for the whole 'human rights' argument - people used to cite this one for motorcycle helmets. Probably still do, but thankfully not many people listen these days.

[TordelBack]

It seems that every time I go into a supermarket there's at least one kid without a mask, and their parents seeming pretty much oblivious to the whole thing.

Parents deserve a share of blame (although there's plenty to go around). "Supervised" kids in shops aside, there are groups of 10-20 tweens and teens wandering around our estate and surrounds constantly, in and out of the shops, never a mask to be seen: where do their parents think they are? 

My missus has tried confronting them, and after the obligatory "we're all from the same household" and more novel "we've all had the vaccine", it's just the familiar torrent of abuse. I've plenty of sympathy with what kids have had to put up with (trying to imagine spending a year of my teens locked in the house with my parents, kerriste) but it can't be helping the cause of getting out of this nightmare.

But then when they are *repeatedly* told by the govt that groups of 30 in the same unventilated classroom are perfectly safe, it's easy to see why their parents don't give a shit what they do.

[IndigoPrime]

The thing is, schools are like any other premises.  Owners / management can set out what is worn.

That's only true to a certain extent. Our school's head was forced to write to all parents to 'clarify' her previous demand about parents wearing masks at drop-off and pick-up, and state that this wasn't mandatory and instead was voluntary. Enough people had complained over her head. So who is the owner/manager at that point? The LA? Once you're above the headteacher, you're well beyond anything you can seek to influence.

Because the UK government is so gutless, and because it's only made a recommendation, this means the school could 1) only make a request, and 2) state it cannot even do much about people who refuse to comply. (This is the bullshit our local gym came out with when herding parents into a tiny viewing area when our kids were at a gymnastics session, and I complained because only 30% were wearing masks.)

Perhaps things are different elsewhere, but that's the case at least in England. And at secondary schools in particular, this will be a fucking disaster. Again.

[Tjm86]

But then when they are *repeatedly* told by the govt that groups of 30 in the same unventilated classroom are perfectly safe, it's easy to see why their parents don't give a shit what they do.

... but the kids are perfectly safe.  Likely to be asymptomatic carriers, only get mild versions if they do get it all and at present apparently unlikely to get long covid.

Granted anyone that comes within 6 feet of the little sods would be safer taking a cleaning job at Sellafield but then again there isn't much difference between now and pre-Covid days really.

As for how much parents care ... just look at their precious dears 'funny' and watch the fur fly!

IP, that's a fair point actually.  Worse in England with all the Academies I would imagine.  Can't have the parents upset ...

... and yes, at secondary level it is an absolute bloody joke.  In year 10 and 11 when kids have to move to other classrooms for sets they are about as likely to social distance as a stock trader in a strip club.  Never mind trying to square the circle of needing to have properly ventilated classrooms but kids aren't allowed to wear coats even though there is an ice cube in the corner complaining of hypothermia.

[shaolin_monkey]

Claiming we don't have to wear masks or go into lockdown because it violates our freedom focuses on individual rights while ignoring our responsibilities. Being a member of a free society means respecting the right of others. Our freedom to behave however we want should be limited if that behavior endangers the health of others.

See also: helmets on motorbikes, seat belts, gun control, smoking bans.

EDIT: sorry, forgot to do the bit where you quote the origiginal poster - I was agreeing with Jazus's post above re 'freedom'.

[IndigoPrime]

at present apparently unlikely to get long covid

Unlikely but not zero. There are cases.

... and yes, at secondary level it is an absolute bloody joke.  In year 10 and 11 when kids have to move to other classrooms

When I was at secondary, class movement began in the first year (now year 7). So we would move between 6–7 rooms per day. COVID doesn't follow the infected—it sits in the air. Things then only get worse. (We had sets from year 8, not year 10.) So for a secondary school, the bubble is effectively the population of the entire school. But then even in primaries, there are risks. If that new variant gets in, it blazes through kids and families, as we saw locally in December.

As for freedoms, I see COVID sceptics now being offered jabs are going with "I was forced to take this jab against my freedoms and beliefs, but I urge you to push back against being jabbed". Because they are arseholes.

[Tjm86]

A lot of comps have restructured school days quite radically.  Kids are taught in forms rather than sets for most year groups.  The exception being exam years (year 10 / 11 ... form 4 / 5 in old money ...).

To further minimise 'risk' lessons are now nearly twice as long and cut down to three a day.  So imagine trying to teach a class of 30 or so kids maths for nearly two hours at a stretch.  You can't go within 2m of the kids to see how they are doing and provide discrete support.  You have to hold the conversation with them from the from of the class.

Then when you've finished with one group you've got to hot-foot it as fast as you can to the next class who will be unsupervised until you get there.

It's not so much during the school day when there is some vague pretence of distancing and bubbling.  Come 3 when the kids are all released in intervals they all end up as one mass a couple of yards from the school gate.

As for anti-vaxxers as arseholes .... yep!