National Lockdown to be announced next week?

Galaxy

I work in schools I want to carry on but I am very bored with those who on the whole are safely at home telling us how it should be.

Don't read their posts then if they bore you.

We have stated, though, that we have families on the front line and have discussed with them how they feel.

Personally, I'd stay at home for longer if it meant those who are willing to keep society going for the future of younger generations can do so.

There are so many selfless people out there.

all groups whose work brings them into contact with the public and potentially the virus have a right to expect that there has been proper risk assessment and they are protected as mush as is reasonably possible.

Yes, of course.

But Call I think some workers are not being protected as much as reasonably possible and I think that includes some shop workers, teachers and others. Given the infection rates in older pupils (2%) why aren’t they having to wear masks in school to protect pupils and staff?

Here older pupils have to wear masks in school when in communal areas and moving around the school.
They have to be 3 layered.

Callistemon

Here older pupils have to wear masks in school when in communal areas and moving around the school.
They have to be 3 layered.

But it's in poorly ventilated, over-crowded classrooms where the aerosol effect is greatest.

Well open the doors and windows to maintain circulation of fresh air. Tell the kids to put extra layers on to keep warm.

I would say there has been an excellent debate here on gransnet where people have expressed their views on the lockdown issues. Can I ask what members think about looking after grandchildren after school. Over 60s are in the vulnerable group. It seems that we can continue to care for our grandchildren but that does put us at risk. Should we say yes or no?

?

That was to Ellianne, I was not giving you a yes, pigsmayfly.

pigsmayfly, of course there is some risk, yet still, a lot of grandparents say yes. My children wouldn't even ask, though, as they want to keep me safe.

The reason that we do not see our children and grandchildren is because we would hate to burden them with the responsibility for infecting us unknowingly, and possibly killing us off.

We are so lucky to have phones, email, whatsapp etc so we can keep in close touch, even with those who are far away. Just think how much worse this pandemic would have been thirty or forty years ago.

pigsmayfly If the grandparents in question want to do it, they should.
It's difficult, tho, if they don't want to (because of covid) but the parents have no other childcare.

Jane10

Now I'm scared. I never was before but somehow, this time, I'm worried. DH and I will lockdown without being told to.

I said exactly the same thing to my DH last week Jane10. We will go out once a week for shopping and walk the dog twice a day, that’s it. We visited both sons, their wives and the two youngest grandchildren last Friday and will FaceTime from now on until things improve.

Ellianne

Well open the doors and windows to maintain circulation of fresh air. Tell the kids to put extra layers on to keep warm.

Yeah! Yeah! If you really cared about pupils, you'd know that might mitigate the risk, but it won't remove it. If you knew about schools, you'd also know that many above ground classrooms don't have windows which open more than a couple of inches. You'd also know that opening doors and windows at the same time isn't a good idea because it causes draughts, but doesn't circulate air.

I've read so much on these Coronavirus threads that show that so many GNers opening admit to having broken the rules introduced after lockdown and for the Tiers.

It's no wonder cases are now starting to increase.

One rule that seems to be broken a lot is meeting up or having more than one bubble. We have had to make choices about which of our family members we can see inside. Why has it been so hard for some not to stick to the rules?

Schools definitely need to close. We won’t get the numbers down with schools open and it spreading through families via children. Lives are more important than a few months of education.

What I DO know growstuff is that by so doing I would be following the current guidelines. I can't wave a magic wand for the fabric of every school in the land and remove the risks totally, but I am a doer, an optimist and I never give in. Those are the qualities I care about instilling into my pupils.

blue25

Schools definitely need to close. We won’t get the numbers down with schools open and it spreading through families via children. Lives are more important than a few months of education.

Problem with that is that if primary schools close It creates a huge problem for parents needing to work And in turn may well lead to grandparents ignoring guidelines in order to help out

There seems to be massive disagreements going on at the moment in the Johnson government. That was the reason for the chaotic press conference and it huge delay, as there was a bitter row going on between the various factions.

It seems that Johnson was bounced by Gove into locking down before he was willing to do so.

Now Gove has announced a possible extension - to Johnson’s huge annoyance. No 10 immediately repudiated the idea of an extension.

The bitter in fighting will be evident in the commons this week when the lockdown is debated, although we know that the Tories are very good at putting a lid on these things.

I suspect that Johnson - the appeaser- after listening to Steve Baker, promised the hard liners that lockdown would be limited and as little as possible and Gove has made it his business to scupper the plans.

I don't usually comment on these threads but can I clarify just what happened in the Gove interview.

He was asked several times if the lockdown would be extended if the numbers did not go down. He eventually agreed if they didn't go down then the lockdown would have to be extended (a logical assumption I would have thought). He did "announce" there would be an extension.

Sorry - meant to say "he did NOT announce there would be an extension

And still it continues people giving really rubbish information, as growstuff is pointing out, to those working in schools.

Gove announced a possible extension

Ellianne

What I DO know growstuff is that by so doing I would be following the current guidelines. I can't wave a magic wand for the fabric of every school in the land and remove the risks totally, but I am a doer, an optimist and I never give in. Those are the qualities I care about instilling into my pupils.

What you could do is face the facts and accept that a Plan B might be the best solution. Nobody in their right mind would willingly sit in a poorly ventilated room for hours with only about two square metres of space for every person and not even a face mask. The advice from government for all other areas is different for schools, but coronavirus doesn't get to the school gates and head off in a different direction because the government says schools are safe.

I agree growstuff. Schools are mostly not safe and my daughter is very stressed. Some of the classroom windows don't even open at the school where she teaches. There's not enough space and it's not as if teachers can wear PPE like medical staff.

She cleans 30 tables and chairs every hour, and is as scrupulous as she possibly can be, but with 1500 teenagers milling around the school, many of whom are forgetting or not bothering with the rules, she needs eyes in the back of her head.

She is a single parent with 2 children, each at different schools. The possibilities for a virus breakout are tremendous.

Of course teachers want to be in school teaching their pupils, but they also want those pupils and members of staff to be as safe as possible.