Just realised why schools are not closing

[NearlyGranny]

Going by the Spanish experience, half the London chatterati would make a dash for their closed-up holiday homes where they would strip our supermarket shelves and no doubt create a virus hotspot among us privileged year-round residents. I'm pretty sure the unmanageable spike we're all fearing would only be hastened by a general school closure.

If we could rely on people isolating at home, it would be a different matter.

Lots of second homes and holiday homes where I live, and also lots of English grandparent incomers with children in cities like London
Agree that areas like this (rural Wales, near the sea) are going to suffer badly when we get a huge influx of people from cities, thinking that coming here is low risk . It will be low risk FOR THEM , for a short while. Then our cases will soar, our elderly population won’t get beds because we have hardly any hospitals and the lowest bed numbers in Britain.
Same will happen in Norfolk, Cornwall etc. Wales is the highest risk country in the Uk though. We are in a perilous position .
I ask everyone to reconsider their Easter Holiday plans now, if they are going to a rural area . Think of the risk you pose to the community, and that your holiday could cost people their lives.
We need to think of the Uk as our whole community, even the world, and all do our best to not put the most vulnerable at even more risk.

I’m over the it’s because of the economy line.

Yes they probably right to hold out. Others too early.

Well, our leaders aren’t exactly giving the impression that it’s serious, are they? And the country is so divided at the mo that I don’t think there is much sense that we are all in it together.

RogueV the children go home and spread it through the community, it doesn’t stay in the school. That is the whole problem with schools and why half of Europe has closed theirs.
It is a very difficult thing to balance, I see that. Schools open increases community spread, schools closed can cause problems for families working.
I am taking my dc out of school shortly, because I have a dc with an auto-immune condition and no-one seems to know how much this increases her risk. I also have the same condition and am in my fifties, so my risk is higher too. We are avoiding seeing my Mil (84).

When they close the schools people WILL deffo move around the country. For all sorts of reasons. Maybe even good ones like going to help relatives who need care in this, or to be close to friends and family who aren’t coping alone. And some will just wanna get out of their area. I spoke to two ladies in town yesterday in shops who were traveling next week to be with family. It hadn’t occurred to me before then. People might well have very good reason.

I know a couple of families with holiday homes in Spain ... I actually do think they'd go and hang out there if they could get there. But I suspect flights aren't going to be available, and countries will stop and quarantine people at the borders.

I agree that if families do flee to their coastal UK homes in rural communities that tend to have higher than average populations of elderly people, then they will be doing so at their expense. Probably the same people criticising BJ and the government for the handling of the crisis, too. hypocrisy at its finest.

Not many people have second homes. All those I know that do have their kids in private school. Closing state schools or not is totally irrelevant to this.

we live in a building of 14 apartments, most residents own second homes/holiday cottages/caravans etc, this building is usually deserted come friday evening, this weekend the car park is full and I would say by the noise every apartment is occupied. I have seen quite a few residents who seem to have bought half an office home, dh included.

Im in an 'risk group' so we are just staying put, not seeing our dgs (which is going to be sooooo hard because we usually have him a lot)

frankly, I think the OP needs some vinegar to put on her chip.

Why is it better to contain the virus in schools? Teachers are being put in the front line of infection.
Better for who exactly?

Universities closing, mass events banned, but it’s OK to put a teacher in a school with 1800 kids because it’s ‘better’ for everyone else.😡

I’ve been on to my Union about this. Boris has said people should be working from home wherever possible. But we have to keep going into the midst of it all😡😡

What about the health and safety of school staff.? Oh..... wait.... they don’t count.

Just like everyone else, we are concerned about it and want to avoid it. But NO ONE is thinking about our health.

When we all die, the schools will close anyway. So let’s do it now, rather than exposing about100000 people to a dangerously infectious situation. If l read once more that ‘schools need to stay open’ because it’s convenient, because l will lose money etc etc. I will scream. I’m in a situation where l could lose my life, but it’s ok to ignore that.

There is no other situation where people are exposed to such a huge mass breeding ground. Except hospitals, but they have access to protection and sterile working conditions.

At least at school kids are constantly being told to wash hands and the environment is being cleaned

Not in the school I work in. We've been given no guidance on hand washing, how to deal with concerns, protecting ourselves as members of staff. The place is disgustingly filthy (and I'm not house proud).

I am sure many people will have a good reason for moving, but travel is a huge driver for CV.
Our govt should be telling people this, that as much as possible they need to stay put, to slow spread.

@RogueV

Isn’t it better to contain Covid 19 in schools rather than out and about which is what will happen if the kids are off school

This is impossible unless they started boarding at school!, the mildly infected but possibly super spreading kids will be out and about after sch/wkend infecting the rest of the community, parents & grandparents not to mention the teachers & school staff that will be continuously exposed.

School kids told to wash their hands.

😂😂😂😂😡 find me a teenager that cares about hygiene. They don’t give a shit, they are making fun of it! How can you force a million kids to wash their hands all the time. There aren’t any sinks in most classrooms, and they move found every hour spreading every germ they have everywhere

! I've lived in London more than half my life and I don't know of anyone who has a second home.

tbf I was born & raised in London & virtually all my friends parents have 2nd homes but they are all immigrants. However some of the 2nd homes are in the UK coastal areas. I'm in my 30s & a fair number of my friends have 2nd homes.

Frankly London will have the best resources so I wouldn't leave for that alone.

School kids told to wash their hands.

1500 kids! 30 sinks .

Would take at least an hour to do it only once.

Yes, we’re on standby to dash off to my home country if the school gives us the green light (obviously we’d self isolate upon arrival just in case). The temptation of a nice long summer trip vs potentially getting stuck here with dwindling services and controls on movements is too strong to resist.

One in 10 UK adults, or 5.2 million people, own a second home apps

apparently

@bizzybuzzy Does that include caravans and time shares?

And buy to lets?

I don’t know anyone with a second home in London.

I don’t know anyone who votes SNP in Scotland but I’m told they exist.

Why are people so hell bent on pretending there isn’t excess wealth in England’s capital city? There is a risk that this will happen, just as it dd in Italy and Spain.

If you're vulnerable from a health standpoint, it's your responsibility to ensure you're not infected.

So no one else should have to take precautions and inconvenience themselves for anyone else's sake? No wonder we're in the shit.

1500 kids! 30 sinks

This is well below what building regs say is required.

When we all die, the schools will close anyway.

Nah, it just means they get to put a cheap, unqualified teacher in front of every class and make that the new norm.