Going back to work or school and social distancing

[whoosit]

I'm going back to work, my child is due to go back to school. I will need to get public transport for some of these journies. So should I still be socially distancing and not seeing my family or friends? It seems like I'm getting all the rubbish parts of life like work and school, the drudgery of it all, but none of the positives. So if they're opening schools and work places why cant we have some of the good parts of life? If my kid is exposed to people at school and I'm exposed to people at work why not just allow us to flow free?

Test, track and trace is not in place so why am I safer at work, my kid and his teachers safer at school than I am with my family?

This graphic shows how important it is to limit interactions as much as possible. If you add in social contacts as well as ones necessary, then it makes a huge difference to the rate of spread. It’s heartbreaking not seeing family but it’ll help to protect them too. Some people have underlying conditions they don’t know about till it’s too late, so you can’t know for sure who’s vulnerable to the serious effects of this bastard thing.

Well you answered your own question!

We are increasing numbers at work and school.
Therefore increasing the numbers of people having contact already.

So there is a current restriction remaining on family and friends and visiting other homes etc.

Our transition rate is still almost every person can infect another. The more people you come into contact with the greater chance one of those is carrying the virus.

It is shit I get that! But it's the same for everyone

OP: I guess you would rather stay at home & your DD stay off school but then you get to see your family. That would be nicer.

Fine... so who educates your child? Who pays your bills?
Don't you see that responsibilities should come first?

I pay my bills myself as I have been working from home throughout this. I have also been educating all 3 of my children, albeit not as well as their own teachers would be able to. My husband is continuing to work from home which is fine for him and he could do that whilst also doing a couple of hours of school with the kids. I in no way expect anyone to pay for me and am not expecting someone else to educate my kids. Have been working throughout this whole situation and will continue to work. I'm not worried about going back to work at all. Just dont see the logic in going out and about for school and work but then spending the little bit of free time out of work trapped in my house.

You can meet your family for a chat now.
Stay 2m apart, do it outside in the park and meet one at a time.

I am a key worker and have worked out of the house right through. Yeah, it’s crap I can mix at work but can’t mix with family and friends, but it’s the way it has to be for now.

Thanks happyhippie and others. I think I will do some outdoor meetings with friends and family. The whole thing is a big nonsense once everyone is back to work and school anyway!

OP why don’t you just decide? Boris isn’t responsible for your decisions; you can make the choice yourself. BUT, appreciate and accept the risks. Having worked throughout this entire nightmare on the NHS frontline I personally choose not to see my Mum, who lives alone, beyond dropping stuff off on her doorstep.

However, I do go food shopping. I haven’t moved out and although I sleep in a grotty spare room on a camp bed, I interact with my kids whilst trying to keep some sort of distance. I’ve been tested twice and both negative. So- I go to work, risky. I mix with people very likely to have it, risky. I take massive precautions, less risky. I choose not to see my Mum at present due to the risk I possibly present- understandable I think. I don’t think you need to be told what to do- weigh up the risks but take responsibility for any outcomes which come from them.

It's not a big nonsense, it has been explained to you several times already.

Yeah, but it is a load of nonsense if I'm to believe random people on a bus or parents at school drop off or people I meet through work are shy safer than people I actually know and can say 'have you had a cough or temperature? Yeah? Then better we dont meet up.' And I know they won't lie to me because they're pressured to go to work or whatever. So I think the whole thing is nonsense. And yes, we make our own decisions and I trust my own family and friends more than the general public who are just strangers.

*any safer

I've been going to work throughout. I've seen my co workers but not my family. Just how it is!

If you can work from home then you ought to be staying at home working.

Your employer should only be bringing back those who cannot work from home.

It's not that one set of people is safer than another. It's a numbers game. The more people you are in contact with, and the more people those people are in contact with, and so on and so in, increases transmission rates.

Whether someone would be truthful to you about feeling ill is also irrelevant, the virus is contagious way before the onset of symptoms and some people are asymptomatic anyway.

Yep sure does suck. I will not be seeing my mother after the kids are back to school so I'm meeting up with her outside next week. I can't have her ancient, obese husband on my conscience even if I can't stand him!

Because seeing friends and family in their homes is a luxury we just can’t have right now. See them in the park with a 2m distance.
Work and going to school are more necessities aren’t they?

Why are your employers making you go in if you can wfm though? Thought was only IF you can't wfm...

It’s all about limiting interactions with people and minimising risk.

There are things that we have to get back to I.E. school and work but these can be managed interactions.

Meets with family and friends wouldn’t have the same boundaries. People who care naturally kiss / hug / touch hands quite frequently. Also, go to someones house your in it touching chairs, cups, bathrooms etc. Guard is down when comfortable so makes transmission more likely. Not as alert and aware of dangers. Therefore the ‘stay slogan’.

"And I'm sure I can control myself and not kiss or hug them. We just want a chat and a a catch up!"
You can do this on the phone, or outside.
A 2nd wave is coming as people cannot grasp the basic risks.

What good bits?! We're keyworkers as well and mix between homeworking with kids to school and working in high risk areas, putting our children into school and STILL having to somehow school our children! I will not continue to not see our family for much longer so we are all at home for 14 days and then we will visit our elderly relatives (outside, 2m etc), none of who have been anywhere.

Our families mental health, including the children, is declining and I won't allow it to continue.

Dh and I both been at work throughout, dd doesn't need to be at school as shes 13 and can be home alone. Dh and dd spent 20mins in fil garden yesterday as he went to pick something up. That's the first time weve seen them.
Dd also spent some time with the neighbours kids yesterday but they're all older so stayed 2m apart and were outside.
That's the first time anyone has spent time with anyone outside of shopping or work.
Personally I dont worry about catching it off other people,I'm just aware I work in a factory with 250 others and could spread it.

Because it is still about limiting the amount of interactuons to as few as possible. If you socially distance on public transport and at work and maintain hygiene while doing so including masks for example and you child only interacts with their bubble at school then that increases the interactions by a certain factor.
But is you went to non social distanced interactions with multiple households then you are taking you increased social distanced activity and your child's school interactions and multiplying the risks again across these households.

SD in general will be more or less over for us when we ànd are children have no choice but to go to work and school (the DCs and I in school with no SD anyway). Of course the people who are most protected are those who have children in independent schools (closed until Sept) who can afford a SAHP.

Our mortified!

Why do people think it shouldn’t be about the economy. Being safe only gets you so far. Risk exists in everything we do, even stepping out of the house in a sterile environment wearing a hazmat suit would carry risk of some other kind.
What risk factor do you think is acceptable before the economy should start going. Or is the price of safety to shut down all economic activity, live in mud huts and become subsistence farmers?
This virus is here is to stay, people will continue to die, the rate can be minimized but the price of a weaker economy is much worse for everyone’s long term health and life chances.

There are inevitably going to be people who take the view, if the expectation is for the population to return to work and school, I'm not missing out on the emotional and social benefits of seeing loved ones. And I do get that. The obvious response to that has been given this thread, but then there are going to be millions of people who can continue to wfh and whose children won't be going back in June, so who aren't going to view it as a significant risk.