If the peak is in 9 days...

[SleepingStandingUp]

And we'd have been in lockdown for 3 weeks, does that mean lockdown is likely to end within the next 4-6 weeks? Or sooner? Could the kids be back at school before May half term?

I think expecting the remotest hint of competency or organisation from this govt is pissing in the wind!

They’re not testing enough

They’re not recording test results accurately

They’re not recording deaths accurately

They’re not providing even medics with appropriate safety equipment

They’ve totally screwed up on buying safety equipment, tests and ventilators

I don’t expect things to even be remotely back to “normal” for several months...and then we’ll be dealing with Brexit!

Unless and until they get their heads out their arses and deal with this crisis sensibly and appropriately nothing’s going to improve any time soon.

I don’t see schools going back till at least September...and I’m writing from Scotland where we normally go back mid august.

We won't be out of lockdown until at LEAST mid-May, probably later.

The length of Lockdown will depend on whether people stay at home or not. If they don't, the lockdown will be much longer. Essential workers have to go out, everyone else should stay home and keep trips to shops to the absolute minimum.

FFS the kids are not going back to school until September. Accept it and move the fck on!

accept that they are off!! everyone seems to hate having the responsibility for their children. they won't be back anytime soon! face reality

You have NO fucking clue why I want to know when they'll be back. I have a child who is medically vulnerable on 92 but who weirdly isn't shielded. He was home a week before the other kids cos school didn't want him. If the schools go back in May, it's unlikely he'll be going back which means all the other kids will be catching up, rebonding and getting ready for yr1 whilst mine isn't. If they don't open until Sept then he'll hopefully be in the same position of all of them and won't be left behind socially or academically.

I think people need to look at what employment is essential, there's more to life than money.
Obviously we need to be able to put food on the table and pay essential bills, but some will just have to give up work lose to take care of their family responsibilities.
Kids come first, and their health and safety is paramount, above any surplus money.

@DownstairsMixUp
I agree. At this point none of us know. It actually might be counterproductive to wait until September as that would mean the second wave hits us in autumn and winter. That’s the last thing we want! It would be better for it to hit in August/ summer. Less pressure on NHS then. If the second wave comes in winter it would be catastrophic

You think ‘surplus money’ is the only reason people work?

Op don’t you know that you aren’t allowed to have any hope or optimism! We must all believe that schools will be closed until at least September and no-one is likely to go anywhere until at least July!!!!

Nothing wrong with looking for a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. I personally think we have approx 6 weeks of lockdown after Easter if we do see the peak fairly soon, anymore than that and I think people will get fed up and lockdown requires public buy in to a degree. Plus the government can’t indefinitely prop up the whole economy!

Bollocks to the schools right now
And yet statically it's less likely than more likely my son and I will die before schools go back so I'm still capable of worrying about his education and what happens if everyone else goes back before he's allowed

I think people need to look at what employment is essential,

Lol what?!! I don’t know a single person who doesn’t HAVE to work to pay their rent, bills, mortgage, food, council tax etc. It’s not about “surplus money”, - if you can’t work then you have no income.

You can't practice social distancing at schools so they won't be open until September unless they decide to only open to certain years like y10 and y12 because of exams next year.

Opening schools won't be on the government's radar until after the point that we can get antibody tests on demand. Considering that frontline people aren't getting it yet, it will be months before kids can get it.

I think expecting the remotest hint of competency or organisation from this govt is pissing in the wind! this is what makes me worry he'll rush it Tbh, cos I have no faith in them

Obviously we need to be able to put food on the table and pay essential bills, but some will just have to give up work lose to take care of their family responsibilities.

People are working because they can't afford not to!

DH is self-employed. If he decides not to work and stay home, the work will be given to someone who is willing to work and he'll lose out - not just now but in a year or five years time. Word spreads and people will say "MrVanilla wasn't willing to work when MrPeach was willing so MrPeach will get this job as he's clearly more reliable".

People are working to feed themselves and their families and to protect their future, not because they want surplus money to squirrel away!

@LavenderQuartz

I agree. I'm nursing NHS colleagues on ventilators. People having to actually look after their own children shock, horror! is the least of my worries atm.

My colleagues are risking and losing their lives over this and people are worried about school ffs!

If any schools are telling you they are reporting not going back to September, report because no one actually knows when anything is going back to normal. Seriously all this speculating is making everyone on edge and worried. There are people living with abusers who feel sick at all this "maybe we won't go back till September" crap. Stop scaring people!

This.

My children like school and they would love to go back as soon as. They are missing out on so much already. None of this is fair on anyone.

Why do some people think the peak is in easter? They said 12-14 weeks 2/3 weeks ago.

Schools really shouldn’t open until September at the earliest, it’s a stupid idea to open them prematurely. They should be near last on the list, as the last thing anyone wants is a round 2 of covid/another wave after the initial peak, which will happen if we all go back to normal too quickly. Schools have a high amount of people in constant close contact, so a breeding ground for the spread of covid.

People need to continue social distancing until the vaccine appears unfortunately, however long it takes. I don’t think anywhere near enough people would have survived covid by the end April to achieve herd immunity so it would counterproductive to open schools in May.

accept that they are off!! everyone seems to hate having the responsibility for their children. they won't be back anytime soon! face reality*
*
I'm betting PP is a SAHP and the lockdown isn't affecting her day-to-day routine as much as it is the full-time WOHP who now have to work full time, educate their children and take time out of work to queue to visit the supermarket because there are no online slots available. I'm not grumbling, I totally understand the safety of the nation comes first, but PP's comment was a rather sweeping generalisation.

Some of us are having to ‘actually look after our own children’ while also working full-time, which is a bit difficult. And on a national level it’s not great for children to be out of education and shut up in their homes all day, and a lot of children who aren’t safe or fed at home are really going to suffer. We aren’t disrespecting the NHS to not be enjoying this.

To be honest, I agree with @LavenderQuartz. (I say this as a mother, expectant mother, key worker and partner to someone who is a key worker on the front line).

This isn't an ideal situation, at all, but schools need to be seen first and foremost as places for the education and socialisation of children- not as a childcare setting. I hope at least now the parents who primarily saw them as a place to dump their kids off at actually appreciate the work teachers do.

Multi tasking is not easy, but parents of kids with SN/SEN have been doing this for years. I feel horrendous for them that their support networks likely disappeared overnight, and they probably really are struggling right now. However, to the rest of us, it's a very small taste of what a lot of parents have to contend with on a daily basis.

So, instead of making countless threads about schools being off, maybe we should all just accept that they won't be open until September, this is the new normal, and within a few weeks of a solid routine, things will settle.

@Devlesko honestly what a ridiculous comment. All employment is essential if it's what pays the bills. I'm a single parent so me working is essential, am I going to just magic money out of thin air?

Op. Your reception aged child won’t be academically left behind, it’s way too early in their education for any serious impact. Year 9/10/11 students perhaps but not someone in reception.

Because that was before lockdown, MonkeyToes. The point of lockdown is to slow the spread of new infections drastically and immediately. So the peak of new cases will be the people infected right before lockdown, who’ll then take a few weeks to get really ill.

Oh ffs

We won't be back back until September

Chill the fuck out and move on.. we're all in the same boat.

Pour a wine 🍷 - you need it