Pandemic panic

Paddyanne if anyone comes up here to N Scotland, they’ll be greeted by the stinking colds my Dh and I have currently have!

Decisions about closing schools are made by the governors and not the staff. I have a relative who teaches in a school where TWELVE children from a single class have been off school, all at the same time, due to illness. The school has stayed open, but now some of the staff are sick.

Let’s not forget that many teachers are also parents themselves and will be just as inconvenienced as anyone else if schools shut down. Some have already been told that they will need to continue providing lessons online with paper copies for those children without access to computers, how they are to do this whilst taking care of their own children I don’t know. Lots of teachers have invested in getting pupils ready for exams and some I know are extremely anxious about how any disruption will affect their students.

I have made a post of the below I am alternative Coronavirus thread, but as there seem to be a number of virus threads I will also post my remarks here:-

It would seem that there are organisations that are not going to follow government advice in this crisis and "do their own thing"

Here in North Somerset, a neighbour of one of our daughters informed her that while dropping off her children at school this morning the parents were asked to go to the main hall of the school. There the deputy Headmistress informed all assembled of the special measures they are taking to keep the children as safe as possible throughout today. She then went on to inform the parents that they would be informed later today if the school will be open on Monday.

Many parents then stated that closing schools was not the recommendation of the government at the present time. The reply to that remark was, "we are an independent academy and therefore make our own decisions in all matters and in that decision we have to consider the safety of the children AND STAFF".

The above I find totally disgusting as the decision will affect many in preventing them from working due to the requirement of child care. No doubt those teachers and other staff will expect the supermarket's shelves to be fully stocked as they take a prolonged break. Do not these people realise that if everyone adopted the same attitude as they have taken all essential industries such as food, water, electricity etc would be shut down making life in this country impossible.

Of course, those teachers (should this school shut down) could I suppose take themselves off to manually work in one of the many large food distribution centres in the Severnside area, and in that replace those that are genuinely off sick with this virus, but somehow I feel that will not happen.

MawB I have seen the full script of that but didn't post it because I thought I would be jumped on for being derogatory about citizens of other countries!
It is very funny.

paddyanne he can't have been serious, surely? Even if not, not very funny.
Don't send them to the Welsh mountains either!

This has made me tidy up my cupboards and drawers in a hunt for soap.

1. Soap wise my daughter has giving out a small soap in a plastic bag where she can - she has a lot. I imagine quite a few who travel do so it's a "good citizen" move.

2. As for the lady declaring "it was all about natural immunity which we destroy with our soaps and sanitisers."; she is right of course that gaining immunity is the answer but we can do it "naturally" or by vaccination. What you have to weigh up is what it costs you to get the immunity. Possible death seems a high price to pay to gain it naturally.

3. A very clever and funny piece Maw B.[A feel I should keep the grin down to "upturned corners of lips" after reading it} Do you know who wrote it? I think they should be getting some credit.

4. Listening to why the Irish are doing, it seems we are all doing what we are doing and all aiming at the same thing. That is to spread the load on our various health-care systems and, certainly in our case, not to have a double spike. No health care system has the capacity to deal with the numbers needing intensive care if everyone gets this virus at the same time. So the aim of all government (except perhaps the US) is to spread the inevitable so more people can get the help. The US has no real national system so what can he do. As always Trump appeals to his core voters and doesn't think any further, sadly.

May7 if the school is in Dorset it’s against council rules to take soap into the school - even if the school supply has run out, you can only do so if you have a prescription from a doctor. Unbelievable, but true nevertheless.

Please dont follow the "advice" of the expert on BBC's newsnight who thinks all the people who are infected should be sent to the north of Scotland to keep the south "safe"

I DONT THINK SO! I know the WM clownshave no respect for us up here in what they think id the frozen north ,but keep your own sick people and we'll look after ours .Union? What union?

Oh I love that MawB definitely my sense of humour

It is getting serious though???

Yes you're absolutely right of course they shouldn't needed to have been told but I'd make sure he had some to take in as well. Is dotted Ts crossed.

School have been informed. But they shouldn't have needed to be told.

Thats awful. Can you give him some to take in ?

There was no soap in my grandsons school toilets the other day....

Yes my AC is a yr 1 teacher and has 34 infants in his class. He only has 3 sinks so he lines them all up and squirts soap on their hands . Then he has them all singing and 3 at a time go to sink to rinse off. Makes me laugh as hygiene way down on list when he was a child he always had grubby hands.

No worries, May 7, I've been supply teaching today, just checked my phone. I spent the morning teaching infants good handwashing practice at the sink, demonstrating and singing Happy Birthday twice. My hands are red raw!!
Word in our school today (unofficial) is that our schools, Lanarkshire, will probably close next Friday.

Apologies grannmarie
Thanks Lisagran. Need to wear my reading specs ?

I do agree monica. Thanks for reminding me of that (not) welbeck especially the bit about faecal contamination.

Irish schools are closing from tonight UNTIL 29th March

i think the risk area in gyms, pools, sports centres etc are the changing areas. these are never very clean at the best of times. faecal contamintion on surfaces is always found by those expose pieces in newspapers, you know the ones that shew changing rooms are dirtier than public loos.

annie Only someone safely cocooned by everyone around them using hand sanitisers and having innoculations, could be as stupid as that.

I couldn't resist saying 'I don't suppose you believe in vaccination either'

That was brave, annie

Granmarie
The headlines say Irish schools closing but if you read beyond that you will see that it says Irish schools closing from 29th March
I made that mistake too. Headlines drive me insane

She may have a point, as it's airborne too and we have to breathe. Having said that I am following all the official advice. Why take the risk?

I'm not quite sure where to put this post but it might as well go here - I've just come back from the gym where I went with a little bit of hesitation but there are lots of notices about hand washing and bottles of virus defeating cleaner prominently about the place.

After my session, I walked into the changing room to hear a young woman loudly declaring that she didn't believe in hand sanitisers. All you needed was soap and actually she knew people who never washed at all and they were perfectly healthy, it was all about natural immunity which we destroy with our soaps and sanitisers.

I couldn't resist saying 'I don't suppose you believe in vaccination either' which set her off on another monologue about vaccinations not being 100% and actually we all had natural immunity and we didn't need these things.

I'd like to think she was a rarity but I think the nice safe world of modern medicine in which us oldies live has lulled many into thinking they don't need it. How ironic.

Just heard that Irish schools are closing today.