May half term or September?

[Ricekrispie22]

Of course, nobody can say for sure, but if you had to hedge your bets, based on what other countries are doing, do you think schools will be re-opening and the end of May or September?

@K1999 the article you've posted doesn't even mention schools or education (not sure if you've posted the wrong one).
In fact it says we won't "completely" end lockdown meaning some form of shielding is likely to continue for the most vulnerable. Unfortunately a balance needs to be reached that minimises rish but where the cure is not worse than the virus. The country can't afford for children to receive no education and for the economy not to move in some way. Would be nice if everyone could just have a long paid holiday at home but we can't pay for that.

I personally think and hope for May half term, however the WHO has just called us out again. Like they did when we were too slow, they said although there are positive signs in Europe, we basically are bucking that trend. I think the press has a lot to answer for, if it wasn’t for their poor reporting and deflecting the situation we are in. We wouldn’t have all these screeching threads and reporters demanding normality next week, when we are not anywhere near being ‘over this’. Other countries handled things a lot differently to us, shutting schools completely, stopping anyone going to work unless they were emergency services etc, which is why they will come out of it quicker and easier.

however the WHO has just called us out again.

What have they said?

*Of the 10 countries in the region with the highest numbers of cases, there have been optimistic signs in terms of the climbing numbers in Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Switzerland in recent weeks.

But small positive signals in some countries are tempered by sustained or increased levels of incidents in other countries, including in the UK, Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. The next few weeks will be critical for Europe. Make no mistake - despite the spring weather, we are in the middle of a storm.*

Why would a more prompt and severe lockdown mean a country will come out of this quicker and easier than we will?
Those of us who've been hiding away and escaped it so far have mostly just postponed the experience.

Why would a more prompt and severe lockdown mean a country will come out of this quicker and easier than we will?
Those of us who've been hiding away and escaped it so far have mostly just postponed the experience.

I think in 1918 the flu pandemic in US states the longer the lockdown the quicker the economy recovered. I am not exactly sure will have to research it but some evidence comes from that.

Longer? The other poster (sorry can't scroll back easily on phone) said prompter and more severe. Length is a different thing.

My apologies
“We find that cities that intervened earlier and more aggressively do not perform worse and, if anything, grow faster after the pandemic is over,” they conclude.

That’s logical but I’m not sure it works in a global community? Unless a country never excepts flights again etc - we really all need to help each other here

Accepts!

My phone is illiterate - apologies!

Far too soon to tell (which is pretty much what the Welsh Minister said) we need a little more time to look at what is happening and back over research

Things like this

www.bbc.com/news/health-52308783

What effect children have on spreading it do they or not - we need really to work that out and properly research conditions

At the moment we just havent sifted through the data and there is a lot they can learn in the next 6 weeks to really make an informed decision.

Also at the moment children simply shouldnt have it if they have been properly locking down

Also at the moment children simply shouldnt have it if they have been properly locking down

I don't think this is true.
Parents could still pick it up when shopping and pass it onto their children.
There are many children whose parents are key workers and they may also catch it from parents or from school if they are attending.

Educating - I would hope the numbers would be really low though? Especially as key workers may have protective clothing? Although not all as we know. After 6-8 weeks of a lock down I really hope the virus is v limited

Friend in Italy says schools aren't going back until September.

Official.

Well yes that makes sense schools break up in Italy on June 7th!

US schools are the same.

If we broke up on June 7th I would fully expect that we wouldnt be going back to September either. The fact is English LA can fit up to 7.5 weeks of school in from June onwards so its a different argument

@quartz - Really great point. I didn't realise...

However as another perspective

If we work on June 7th and take it as two weeks behind Italy then that would leave 4 weeks.

4 weeks would still be useful though.

Also Furlough has been extended now?

www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-extends-furlough-scheme-to-end-of-june

I can’t see schools going back until after that.

Bbc have been instructed to create online educational content till mid July i was told so...

www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zn9447h

Nope. Summer school would be pure punishment.

@collatetalmadamage furlough was extended, because firms who would have had to lay off more then 100 people at the end of May would have had to go into statutory consultation this week. I don’t think the Chancellor actually wanted to do it, but without an exit plan large firms were saying they would have to start the process.