If you're calling for schools to go back, restrictions to be relaxed...

[GrumpiestOldWoman]

...were you also in the group shouting for a lockdown a month ago?

People seem to be as desperate to open things back up now as they were to lockdown a month ago, yet we're still not over the peak.

It's hard not to conclude that the novelty has worn off.

Why are the press giving more airtime to 'relax restrictions' messages rather than 'UK worst in Europe' which we clearly are when care home deaths are added to the hospital deaths numbers? When other countries were reporting the death numbers we have today the UK was screaming for lockdown, but now it doesn't seem to be newsworthy

I don't get it?

I Posted a very similar thread last week (or maybe the week before, days are all very similar at the moment). I had noticed the same then, everyone had been clamouring for the schools to shut down, the public up in arms that schools were still opening, spreading the virus each day, how at risk everyone was because of this. Then after a couple of weeks of lockdown, it seemed everyone was bored of staying at home, dealing with the dc and desperate for the schools to reopen so everything could go back to normal.

FWIW, I’m quite happy to still be at home. To go back to quickly would mean (to me) that staying in for the past month was a bit of a waste of time.

I do wonder if we might have restrictions lifted, then put back in place, then lifted, then lock down again, to ensure the nhs can always cope and a steady stream of people continue to get the virus, providing the herd immunity that we might need to get through all this.

“I do wonder if we might have restrictions lifted, then put back in place, then lifted, then lock down again, to ensure the nhs can always cope and a steady stream of people continue to get the virus, providing the herd immunity that we might need to get through all this.“

Can any business really plan for that? It would be easier for some of them to stay closed or just do mass redundancy or fold altogether.

And then no money for nhs, more homeless etc.

@GrumpiestOldWoman

Yes, fuck all those cancer sufferers and people who have worked all their lives, fuck em.

Really? This is your view?

@LilacTree1 not @GrumpiestOldWoman

Chicken, sorry, I’m confused

I’ve got two cancer sufferer friends who had their treatment cancelled.

Im talking about stats and the economy. Sorry if that offends you, it’s a simple fact that stats are different if the disease was targeting the ages like in the Spanish flu, or children or over 90s.

Is it not possible to have a statistical conversation on here any more? Well, I know the answer to that....

@LilacTree1

Ignore me...I have just read the post you were replying to. Trying to keep up, failing.

No worries chicken

PicsInRed thanks for that!

Testing needs to become more accurate or people will given the all clear to go into work and unknowingly spreading the disease anyway.

It’s a bit difficult to have a statistical conversation on here while people are still pointing out that malaria kills 400,000 a year and tens of thousands die from flu every year.

Rafa, isn’t that part of the discussion?

@RafaIsTheKingOfClay

What statistics do you prefer?

Maybe, but it was something that got debunked a while ago.

But as a comparison:
400,000 people globally die each year from malaria, tens of thousand of flu and that’s over the course of a year.

If we take the route that some are proposing here and ending lockdown fast to protect the economy, we are likely looking at 500-600,000 deaths in the U.K. alone over a period of less than 4 months according to the Imperial report.

2017/2018 was a bad flu year in the U.K. when the vaccine wasn’t particularly well matched to the circulating strains. The highest excess death rate from that season looks to be about 2,000 per week above the 5 year average.

The excess mortality for the week ending 3rd of April was 6,000. And the death rate has been rising exponentially since then.

If we overwhelm the critical care system, it won’t be those with underlying health conditions that are dying. The ICU data already suggests that those in critical care with covid look like a very different population to those you’d expect to be getting viral pneumonia. They are younger and significantly less likely to have severe underlying health conditions.

This really isn’t comparable to anything we have seen globally in recent years.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52308783
COVID is killing the old and the ill

Lockdown is destroying the fit and the well

In think the deaths can be spread over a year without too much pain.

I wasn't calling for lockdown and I am still hoping it will be eased sooner rather than later.

Rafa “ we take the route that some are proposing here and ending lockdown fast to protect the economy, we are likely looking at 500-600,000 deaths in the U.K. alone over a period of less than 4 months according to the Imperial report. ”

Even with social distancing?i thought that figure was based on doing literally nothing.

It's simple. Open the school buildings for childcare, bring in the childcare workers and teachers can continue to teach online.
Childcare workers could assist those in their care.
It will cost parents in the short term, but they can afford it if working and many paid wraparound care anyway.
That way those not needing childcare still get an education, without the risk.
Parents still get to work, instead of having to juggle work at home and childcare.

That’s because we have a lockdown listening.

Half of the critical care patients are under 50, 94% have no severe co-morbidities. They’re not dying in huge numbers yet because we are treating them. They will die if the health system collapses and they can’t get a critical care bed.

Even with social distancing?i thought that figure was based on doing literally nothing.

I’d have to look it up again but I’m fairly certain it was based on the government’s original policy which was mitigation only I.e. vulnerable stay at home, everyone else practice social distancing. It’s why there was a sudden change in direction in policy after the report came out.

In fairness to the government, Everyone seems to have been caught out in Feb/early March.

www.imperial.ac.uk/mrc-global-infectious-disease-analysis/covid-19/report-9-impact-of-npis-on-covid-19/

However, the resulting mitigated epidemic would still likely result in hundreds of thousands of deaths and health systems (most notably intensive care units) being overwhelmed many times over. For countries able to achieve it, this leaves suppression as the preferred policy option.

It does appear we have massively increased intensive care capacity so we may be able to do it

Luxembourg Schools will be returning starting on May 11th
This is an English translation of the Education Ministers press conference today.
QUOTE
The minister for National Education, Children and Youth held a press conference on Thursday afternoon to address the planned exit strategy.

After Prime Minister Bettel announced the gradual steps of the national exit strategy on Wednesday, it was now time for the minister of education to step in front of the press and elaborate on the reopening of schools.

Meisch began his briefing by welcoming students, teachers, parents, and the press alike. He emphasised that although drastic measures had been taken at the beginning of the lockdown, he was very impressed with the levels of adaptation and solidarity, observable throughout the country.

Reopening in phases
As already announced on Wednesday by ministers Bettel and Lenert, schools in Luxembourg are set to reopen in phases. Meisch explained that not only would there be a gradual return to "normal", but that classes would also be separated into two groups to reduce the number of students filling the institutions. This weekly rotation (one group in school one week, the other the next) is designed to allow students to receive direct attention from teachers and cover an extended work load at home.

Breaks will be adjusted to still give students a chance to catch their breath. Circulation in hallways will be reduced to a minimum however, and school cafeterias will remain closed all together. Physical education will not be held under the current safety regulations.

Important changes will also accompany school transportation. Masks will become mandatory for every student on their way to and from school, not once they have entered their classroom however. A pair of masks will thus be handed out to staff and students alike before the schools reopen.

From old to young
The phased reopening of schools will start with Luxembourg's senior students, who will begin their final examinations shortly thereafter, during the week of 25 May. Exams will thus take place as scheduled, but will see students distributed among several rooms to guarantee safety distances.

Next in line will be the remaining high school students, who will be able to return to their schools and see their friends in the week of 11 May. "It is extremely important to give children and young adults a chance to regain some aspects of their daily social lives", Meisch explained.

The final phase will see primary schools, kindergartens and nurseries reopen in similar fashion during the week of 25 May.

Recorded classes for vulnerable students
Minister Meisch also took the opportunity to acknowledge that solutions still needed to be found for special needs students, as well as siblings of those considered vulnerable to the novel virus. He explained that classes would be recorded to assure the safety of those in need.

Sport classes remain cancelled until further notice
Meisch explained that it would not be possible for sports clubs to open their doors again at this point in time. However, music classes for individual students will be able to be taught again. Public playgrounds will remain closed.
END QUOTE

It's simple. Open the school buildings for childcare, bring in the childcare workers and teachers can continue to teach online.
Childcare workers could assist those in their care.
It will cost parents in the short term, but they can afford it if working and many paid wraparound care anyway.
That way those not needing childcare still get an education, without the risk.
Parents still get to work, instead of having to juggle work at home and childcare.

What a crock of shit!

Save the teachers but sacrifice the childcare workers by your logic.

My Children are at University.
They do not need childcare
They need a functioning economy in which to seek graduate employment