It’s never going to happen is it?

[MyDcAreMarvel]

The schools are not going to close are they, at all. Just seen on bbc news they are passing emergency legislation so that when teachers go off sick the remaining teachers can teach large class sizes. That and the law to force head teachers to keep schools open.
The government are determined to ensure as many children as possible are infected whilst isolating the elderly.
I wish I lived in a country where I could feel safer.

The point is if we all go and get it to build mythical “herd immunity” then the NHS won’t cope. There won’t even be a camp bed in a tent for us! Britain is massively short of ventilators and the government is on a catch-up mission akin to trying to build enough spitfires during the war. The more of us stay in the more we are doing a national service because we keep the hospitals clear. If you can work from home then do it. If you can’t then please take every precaution. Don’t try to catch it!!

Personally I had a very hideous bout of flu last year and I don’t want to go through anything even like that. I’m a lone parent and my kids need me. I cannot end up in a hospital bed!

I think it is imminent. In the event that a lot of staff are self isolating - keeping a school running will be untenable.

The government can push through larger class sizes etc but if the structure of schools are set up with physical limitations (which most are) on numbers -it will be unenforceable.

There are no bank staff to call on....

I understand there are high level meetings taking place today so we should all have a clearer picture very soon.

I've done the school run this morning and the gates open at 8:40. I was standing there at 8:38 thinking it's quite quiet, there's not many cars here and there's not as many people. I think roughly 25% of people who are normally at the gates were not.

My sister's little girl goes to a village school on the outskirts of the town I live in. Her schools about a mile away from my daughter's school. And they got a email last night to say that any parent who would rather keep their children home now are allowed to do so and they respect that decision. at the moment my daughter's school is business as usual. Learning support teacher said this morning to us that they think that the holidays will be brought forward and they are preparing work. Then I've come online and saw this and I'm thinking what is going on. can they actually force people to go to school or send their children to school when they can't guarantee the childs safety anymore. I mean this isn't just bringing home a cold or a bit of a tummy bug. This is bringing home a virus that can cause pneumonia and death. I think it's absolutely ridiculous that we don't have a right to decide what's best for our children and I can't believe Boris thinks whatever plan he's got is going to be better than Ireland, Italy, China ,America etc. is just typical really isn't that we live in the one place that's trying to take a different approach.

if everybody was self isolating as much as possible then other bugs and viruses would also die off a bit or a lot. If we were all healthier because we won't catch all the other coughs and colds that are still going around, then we be stronger and more likely able to fight off this nasty virus.

if they bring in a law to say you have to take your children to school soon then I think as people we will all be an anxious mess and the people will just be scared even more. what stood out to me all along with this is Boris is not once said that any child with weak family members can stay home. he's literally put nothing in place for people. we all know that attendance targets and fines are an issue. so people were too scared to keep their children after school without permission even if they feel their child is not safe enough to be at school at the moment. I don't really know the answer but how many more months is going to go on for it's such a shame.

If we are on the same trajectory as Italy (approx 2 weeks behind, according to the numbers), schools will close at the end of this week. My guess is that when it hits a 100 deaths, the calls will be too loud to ignore.

The flip side of this - which the Government is thinking about - are people's livlihoods. Shut down restaurants, cafes, gyms and cinemas (for example) and that's a lot of people out of work. We are already seeing airlines going bust: it's going to happen on a much bigger scale for small businesses that simply don't have the cashflow to survive 4 months with no income. I truly hope there's a plan in place for this, so people are not made homeless through no fault of their own.

Economically it is very concerning- I think we have a big recession coming. Most business float on debt and many will go under. The stock market is spiralling.

The issues around this are massive and far reaching - life is likely to change for a lot of self-employed people.

The government have a very difficult job navigating through this- as will we all.

Most frontline healthcare workers will be far more worried about catching the virus at work than at home.
The panic on mn is ridiculous but then the posts that regularly appear where common sense it severely lacking has been increasing exponentially over the last few years.
My advice is to use your common sense and make your own risk assessment the act on it. Don’t rely on the nanny state to do it for you.
If you live with vulnerable adults or children do what is best for them.
If you are one of the worried well get a grip.

Anyone who thinks herd immunity is mythical needs to educate themselves. It's how anti vaxers have got away with not becoming seriously ill for so long but now there's a large group of them we're seeing a resurgence of measles etc. Young healthy people should be able to manage the virus at home ie. build up immunity without using NHS resources. This is the hope. I trust this as my near 70 year old DDad was able to manage at home. This is why schools are open, the vast majority of children and their parents should be able to gain immunity thus providing LONG TERM protection to the elderly and those with ling term health conditions.

I genuinely don't think they are going to close the schools now. They seem dead set against it. My DC's are off this week as they have a cough but if schools are still open I will have to send them in. I won't have any other choice. I can't pay fines indefinitely and I desperately don't want them to lose their places.

Young healthy people should be able to manage the virus at home

Even if they did (and it won't be 100% anyway) how will they manage other medical emergencies?
What happens when a kid has appendicitis, has a bad fall?

What happens to anyone with health condition that could survive but won't?

Even if it was "just" covid 19, the casual attitude is frightening, but the existing medical issues and emergencies that have been stretching the NHS for years are still there. So what?

It's just said on sky news that it's unlikely Boris will announce school closures this afternoon after his meeting. They said it's not the right time yet to lock the schools down still and it's not at that stage yet. I think that they will make it work so they close the school so it's mainly in the holidays anyway. So it might just be that they leave it a couple months so it just falls in summer holidays. It wouldn't surprise me.

See the thing in my situation is my work don’t allow me to work from home unless the government advises or it or in the case of schools
Closing to look after children. So who is going to pick up my children at 2pm other than their grandparents- there is no one else to do it. Closer the schools I can work from home, get my children myself and increase social distancing? Which one protects the vulnerable more? There’s no one size fits all answer.

The government have a very difficult job navigating through this- as will we all.

I'm sure the government will manage this with the élan and grace that they managed Brexit.

Out of (genuine) interest, where did the figure of 500,000 dead in the UK come from? Is that probable, or worst-case?

If the schools close, I will not be able to go to work. I am a nurse that works in theatres with HDU/ITU experience. Most of my colleagues will also not be able to Go into work due to childcare issues as unfortunately we will not have anyone to look after our children. We cant have time off to look after them for months as the NHS is already short nurses, never mind those with my specialist experience. I could hardly give the kids to my mum who is 60+ just so i can go in and treat others putting my own mum at risk? There is no right answer in all honesty and i actually agree with nit closing the schools for now. If people follow good hygiene (at schools and around the uk) it will massively lower cases. Self isolating with cold symptoms and also social distancing will help hut unfortunately this virus isnt just going to disappear and agree we need to get it for herd immunity. This virus isnt going to go away, just as its distant cousin doesnt which gives us a cold each year

DFE guidance just came out. No schools to shut, even with a confirmed case, unless public health England advise them to do so.

Times like this I'm glad we're private and at home now.
-Childcare- State schools won't close, you need to take them out if you don't agree with them being there.