Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[ICTChris]

The claim that Chris Whitby supports a new lockdown has been retracted.

[Szamo's_Ammo]

There's little doubt in my mind the schools, colleges and universities will be moving towards a blended learning model in the next few weeks, as they had planned for all summer before the government scrapped those plans.

You would have to think most parents of school children will have already prepared themselves for this eventuality in terms of childcare and flexible working discussions with their managers. 

I'd expect the furlough scheme to be extended or at least a new version to be brought in, probably a month too late for many people going by this government's track record.

The UK isn't going to miraculously avoid the second wave that we are seeing on the continent.

Edited September 17, 2020 by Szamo's_Ammo

[Michael W]

19 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

The claim that Chris Whitby supports a new lockdown has been retracted.
 

Johnson was ruling it out just yesterday so there's a high chance it'll come to pass regardless. 

[Binos]

11 hours ago, virginton said:

When in doubt a useless government will always push the 'blame pubs' button, despite them telling anyone who'd listen that they don't actually know where the virus is.

Who had 'two weeks' on the sweep for how long it would take full-time schooling across the UK to completely obliterate the country's virus control and testing capacity (the two of course being linked)? It's almost as if that was a terrible idea all along.

Not educating a generation of children is not an option

[Donathan]

Looks like Whitty is calling for a two week national lockdown. 

No he isn’t. One independent sage member tweeted that based on gossip he’d heard and the media ran with it. The same guy has a different source telling him it’s bollocks, you won’t see the media reporting that.

[Ron Aldo]

Johnson was ruling it out just yesterday so there's a high chance it'll come to pass regardless. 

Rightly or wrongly, I think Johnson's main concern throughout this whole thing (even going back to the shitstorm that was March/April) has been getting the economy moving. I'd therefore be very surprised if we locked down completely again.

[Wee Willie]

16 hours ago, Jacksgranda said:

I think I stopped in 2012 too, 30th April.

Ye think!

It's imprinted in my brain!

Sunday 30th December, 2012 11pm I had my last smoke and my nip of rum.

Woke up on Hogmanay no feeling too well. Cup of coffee but nae cigarette.

And that was the start

A couple of years later I had tae gie up the rum

[Gaz]

1 hour ago, Aufc said:

m back in my office now and in the company of my mrs granny who is 87

Shouldn't she be retired?

[Billy Jean King]

Not educating a generation of children is not an option

Exactly but he thinks the wee scamps in places like Greenock and Port Glasgow will respond well to home learning.....but we all know that even he realises that isn't true, he's just gone beyond the point of no return. It may well come to pass that we do return to a blended model which he would no doubt rejoice in but the stark fact is a fair chunk of the parents and pupils in Scotland simply won't engage that way, that was abundantly apparent pre summer holidays and that was with millions at home with the time available due to furlough which wont be the case (or so Sunak maintains) the next time around but hey ho just cast them adrift, chuck them on the scrap heap.

[Binos]

4 minutes ago, Billy Jean King said:

42 minutes ago, Binos said:

Not educating a generation of children is not an option

Exactly but he thinks the wee scamps in places like Greenock and Port Glasgow will respond well to home learning.....but we all know that even he realises that isn't true, he's just gone beyond the point of no return. It may well come to pass that we do return to a blended model which he would no doubt rejoice in but the stark fact is a fair chunk of the parents and pupils in Scotland simply won't engage that way, that was abundantly apparent pre summer holidays and that was with millions at home with the time available due to furlough which wont be the case (or so Sunak maintains) the next time around but hey ho just cast them adrift, chuck them on the scrap heap.

No kids anywhere will respond well to home learning

[dirty dingus]

If they push for another lockdown it will be early November and sold on some pish like protecting Christmas but there will be caveats about once the virus is quashed after a fortnight that every bugger better get back into their real jobs, none of this working from home malarky and no testing unless you work front line or have a letter from your mum or doctor.

[Donathan]

If they push for another lockdown it will be early November and sold on some pish like protecting Christmas but there will be caveats about once the virus is quashed after a fortnight that every bugger better get back into their real jobs, none of this working from home malarky and no testing unless you work front line or have a letter from your mum or doctor.

I think Boris and Cummings are already drawing up the “lockdown” to save Christmas thing but there’s no way it’ll be an actual lockdown. They’ll just ban certain things and close certain things but you’ll be allowed to leave your house as much as you like.

[vikingTON]

1 hour ago, Billy Jean King said:

All this yet still the analysis of positive tests by age group shows very little confirmed infections in school age kids. It's panicking head teachers and parents fuelled by the media that is driving the need for tests, govt need to stamp that out.
 

The main symptoms of Covid infection involve any one of a fever or persistent cough and if you have these then current advice is to self isolate and get tested. Hundreds of thousands of people pick these up every day in autumn in the UK from regular infections, which are massively accelerated by the return of schools. Which is why the testing system has collapsed under the strain within two weeks of the English schools returning.

There's no way of you wriggling around the inconvenient truth that full-time school attendance is incompatible with any credible pandemic control strategy. It should have been a blended learning strategy from the start and we're now seeing the folly of letting snippy parents influence that decision.

1 hour ago, Aufc said:

 

Surely the main point of the schools being back full time is to get the economy moving again?
 

 

Last time I checked the advice in Scotland was to home work wherever possible so having your sprogs do their required home learning as well is really not an issue. The idea that the economy is hanging on full-time mummies getting to their work right now is ridiculous when the economy is actually sloughing away jobs on a daily basis. There is no economic imperative for people to leave the house to work every single day this autumn unless you are a key worker - for whom we already have a hub strategy for childcare. 

[vikingTON]

1 hour ago, Binos said:

Not educating a generation of children is not an option

Chucking weans into a school at full capacity for 30 hours a week is also not an option, as the past four weeks of nonsense bear out in spades.

23 minutes ago, Billy Jean King said:

1 hour ago, Binos said:

Not educating a generation of children is not an option

 It may well come to pass that we do return to a blended model which he would no doubt rejoice in but the stark fact is a fair chunk of the parents and pupils in Scotland simply won't engage that way, that was abundantly apparent pre summer holidays and that was with millions at home with the time available due to furlough which wont be the case (or so Sunak maintains) the next time around but hey ho just cast them adrift, chuck them on the scrap heap.

There was no 'blended learning' taking place earlier this year so you are simply demonstrating your ignorance with this hysterical shrieking.

[madwullie]

1 hour ago, Binos said:

Not educating a generation of children is not an option

While true, the only reason we think kids need to be educated the way we currently educate them is becuase it's the way we've always done it. 

This is the absolute perfect time to explore other methods of teaching and learning, with the focus NOT on trying to make it as normal as possible, but on trying to give the best education experience possible. 

Sadly Lord McConnell saw a bandwagon and a chance to make a bit of political capital and drag himself towards, but not to, relevance. So he attached himself to some bunch of covid deniers and rode the wave and forced the govt's hand to promise that kids would go back as normal, rather than the blended model that had been planned for for some time. And here we are 

[Forest_Fifer]

There's little doubt in my mind the schools, colleges and universities will be moving towards a blended learning model in the next few weeks, as they had planned for all summer before the government scrapped those plans.
You would have to think most parents of school children will have already prepared themselves for this eventuality in terms of childcare and flexible working discussions with their managers. 
I'd expect the furlough scheme to be extended or at least a new version to be brought in, probably a month too late for many people going by this government's track record.
The UK isn't going to miraculously avoid the second wave that we are seeing on the continent.

Universities are already doing it, my daughter only has 1 lecture a week in the university, everything else from home.

[hk blues]

1 hour ago, Binos said:

No kids anywhere will respond well to home learning

My son (8) has been doing it for a month or now - he loves it.  But, it does need a fair bit of support from a parent so might not work for all. 

 

[Gaz]

1 hour ago, Binos said:

No kids anywhere will respond well to home learning

Well, that's not true.

[Distant Doonhamer]

Rightly or wrongly, I think Johnson's main concern throughout this whole thing (even going back to the shitstorm that was March/April) has been getting the economy moving. I'd therefore be very surprised if we locked down completely again.

Johnson’s main (only) concern is Johnson.

[Billy Jean King]

Last time I checked the advice in Scotland was to home work wherever possible so having your sprogs do their required home learning as well is really not an issue. The idea that the economy is hanging on full-time mummies getting to their work right now is ridiculous when the economy is actually sloughing away jobs on a daily basis. There is no economic imperative for people to leave the house to work every single day this autumn unless you are a key worker - for whom we already have a hub strategy for childcare. 

Again you double down that every parents employment allows that they can work from home which again you know is utter tosh but it fits your narrative. Home working brickies, plumbers, lorry drivers, air traffic controllers, the list is endless that cant.