Nicola Sturgeon and masks in Scotland.

[Ohshitx]

Nicola Sturgeon today refused to rule out making it compulsory for Primary aged children to wear masks in school where it isn’t possible to socially distance. These guidelines have already been issued for high school pupils.

How is that going to work? How do you get kids aged 5 to safely wear, and appropriately remove masks? Surely they’ll be swapping them like Pokemon cards by the end of the first day 🙄

Beginning to feel more and more like Scotland’s kids were the guinea pigs.

Yes there were other sources of seeding, the article mentions them, and international travel was definitely one.

IMO the nike conference was NS's Cheltenham - she let it go ahead just as Bojo let Cheltenham go ahead, and both aren't above criticism for it. There would still have been seeding from travel, but maybe less seeding.

@Vintagevixen

Yes there were other sources of seeding, the article mentions them, and international travel was definitely one.

IMO the nike conference was NS's Cheltenham - she let it go ahead just as Bojo let Cheltenham go ahead, and both aren't above criticism for it. There would still have been seeding from travel, but maybe less seeding.

But there was over 2 weeks between each event you mentioned. Cheltenham is major event and had thousands in attendance, not sure a conference is comparable.

@SBTLove

I honestly think it’s some weird misogynistic thing, I’m an active SNP member and campaigned for my local MP, I have had more women than men openly say ‘I hate Sturgeon’ yet when asked can’t offer a reason only sexist name calling. Regardless of whether you believe in independence I really think she has been frank and open throughout and like all other countries we are learning as we do yet here we have pp yapping ‘Scotland is a guinea pig’, aren’t all countries?

I'm not a member, and SNP don't really align with my particular political outlook, but I am pro-Indi so lend them my vote as a means to an end.

I know exactly what you are saying regarding female disdain for NS that they can't adequately explain, as I come across it myself constantly as well. There's a level of spite, hate, and pettiness that is way beyond anything voiced by men who object to her, and I find it all rather bemusing. "Just like Hitler", yes, really, and "wants to be Queen" being two claims that stick in my mind. Then there's the ever hilarious "Wee Jimmy Crankie" put-down that some folk appear to believe completely obliterates NS's political credibility in one quick soundbite. It's truly bizarre.

I can only agree about the misogynism, I just really struggle to get my head around women being even more vitriolically misogynist than their male peers on the same matter.

70 delegates at the event so clearly would have been many fewer than Cheltenham! But also held indoors at the Hilton as opposed to outdoors with the associated higher risk of transmission.

Not trying to link the two events - just saying that Bojo should have stopped Cheltenham and NS should have stopped the Nike conference, it was the end of Feb and they seem to have both been putting their heads in the sand about what was happening re. Covid. Even after the events both should have held their hands up and admitted they were wrong not to stop these events, but hey who ever saw a politician apologise!!

Hate Bojo, used to like NS and wish I was in Scotland but lately...not so much.

@Vintagevixen
You don’t live here yet are commenting on a subject that has no effect on you?
Nike was in Feb, Cheltenham was a month later when we knew more. Johnson has lagged behind in every decision.

Nike was 26/27 Feb and Cheltenham 13 March so only a two week interval. IMO even mid Feb the information was there, but both chose to ignore it in favour of business. With Bojo I would expect it, but with NS I had expected better of her, she is an arch remainer like me so I quite liked her.

Comment is free, and it does affect me when politicians say they follow the science then don't - I repeat there are no RCT's on face masks, not one!

I genuinely didn’t mean for this to turn into a debate on Nicola Sturgeon. More a discussion about the reality of primary aged kids wearing masks.

Sbt - schools the thread is about schools. I am pleased with many of the decisions made by the FM which were then followed by other parts of the four nations. No sign of visors in my fit to burst secondary. I have asked for gloves repeatedly to pick up the discarded wipes that the pupils use to wipe down desks. SD impossible in small PFI built schools with boxy poorly ventilated classrooms. I want more protection afforded to pupils and teachers not less. Currently awake as I am worrying about my C19 test result. A test which I have to had due to potential exposure to bodily fluids in school. That's why scientists are watching Scotland as we have opened up schools 100 % with very little protection. Before the teacher bashers chip in - I was desperate to be back, worked crazy hours in lockdown as I couldn't step away and missed my colleagues and pupils terribly. I just wanted clear policy first not open to interpretation guidelines to support schools, their pupils and staff and the families we go home to. Add to that the threats to "threaten the jobs and careers " of any member of school staff who challenges pupils about not wearing face coverings made (and not refuted after many requests to condemn the words) made by usforthem- yep it's great being a lab rat and a DM to one.

@Lidlfix
You need to speak to the school if they are not implementing correct safety measures. I have written my own experience as that is what is in place in my local high schools.

[quote SBTLove]@Lidlfix
You need to speak to the school if they are not implementing correct safety measures. I have written my own experience as that is what is in place in my local high schools.[/quote]
Neither of the local high schools near me have staff wearing visors either 👀

Oh we are but that's the trouble with having guidelines not a policy. No visors unless you provide your own. Same with wanting gloves etc. Your high schools are lucky but my contacts throughout Scotland would not say that what they have is the norm.

@Ohshitx

Which utterly terrifies me. I’m not an overly anxious person with regards to Coronavirus, but this genuinely scares me. Surely it was either safe to go back or it wasn’t? If they introduce face masks in Primary School, I genuinely think I would pull DS. It’s a strange enough learning environment as it is without adding in masks for the kids 😫

You would do away with all the positives - the socialisation, face to face learning etc, over a mask?

So what if he takes it off (given your preferred option is not wearing it at all) he will be no worse off and teachers will manage that appropriately.

But masks are normalised now, not scary.

On the Nike conference, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen etc all had conferences of that size and bigger taking place at the end of February. No one was even thinking of cancelling corporate events at that point, that only started as we got into March and I know of lots of corporate gatherings of 100+ people that were taking place right up until lockdown - stopping the Nike conference would have meant putting a ban on large gatherings at the end of February. With hindsight yes, that should have happened but as we know everything was done a bit too late. The issue with the Nike conference is that the Scottish Government didn’t tell the public about the Covid cases, however it seems that it was well contained as the strain found in the testing of the people from that event who tested positive showed a strain of Covid which hasn’t been seen in Scotland since.

Criticising 'women' as yapping and being misogynistic is, ahem, an interesting approach. Ignore my earlier advice about starting a thread in FWR, you wouldn't survive with logic and language like that.

FWIW I'm an SNP member which is why I'm annoyed that they have thrown science away in favour of platitudes when it comes to schools. NS could have been proud of her approach to Covid imo but the way schools have been reopened is woeful. No bubbles. No social distancing. A half-hearted stance on masks. It's not too late for them to claw back some credibility but they need to take responsibility for the risks they have been asking teachers, pupils and families to face.