Looks like the plans are now leaked.

[pinkhappy]

The Times seems to have leaked the plans now. I for one will be very happy if children's outdoor sport starts on March 8.

March 8:
Schools
Kids outdoor sport
Golf + Tennis

Early April:
🛍Non-essential retail
Outdoor pubs + restaurants

Mid April:
Gyms

May:
Cinemas + Theatre
Indoor pubs + restaurants

August:
Foreign holidays
Clubs

Well if schools all go back on 8th March as the only change, we’ll find out how much school affects case numbers.

Don't worry - you won't need it for summer holidays as lockdown 4 will be in full flow

There won't be another lockdown. People would simply not accept it. Especially with vaccines having reduced the risks to the nhs.

Yes, hair, beauty etc are classed as “close contact services”, not retail.

Vinyl I have. Won't be starting band six for at least another week. Lots of places haven't started band six

At the very very best they won't be completed (first dose) until July. - three weeks until effective - thats AUGUST at best!

We don't need the entire population to be vaccinated. Just the elderly and vulnerable. They're almost all done already.

StrUng up! STRUNG, for the love of god!

@afternoontoffee 😁 ah the government 'leak' trick working again, this government is laughable! We wait for 7pm tomorrow.

fireflies

Only for a few hours though. A one off at the start of term. Thereafter the plan is that kids are tested at home not in schools. So teachers don't teach for an hour or two while they do the tests, then they get back on with teaching for the rest of the term. My niece's job isn't doing Covid testing either. Not is her it her employer's job who showed her how to do the test. Not the NHS staff who test people on admission to hospital, etc etc. All these people just do what needs doing and then get back on with their job. Is it really a big ask to expect teachers to oversee testing for a few hours on just one day? Then get back to teaching

Honestly it’s not that easy. You should have seen the planning that went into setting up the damn testing centre in school.

The floor has to be nonporous. Testing stations a distance apart from each other. You don’t get a result straight away so the kids have to be stuck in one area till they hopefully get the all clear.

We would have to move almost 1000 people around school getting them into the test area. Then you factor in that you are testing teenagers not adults.
Honestly I’m dreading the testing. Especially considering the bloody tests are so unreliable.

Do the posters harping on about "but mutations!" realise that when a virus mutates it is doing so in order to survive, thus generally becomes less deadly....

It's basic science 101 FFS.

Can we stop with the hysterics please?

There won't be another lockdown. People would simply not accept it.

You'd hope not @Violetlavenders, but unfortunately they do again and again. Some of them are even begging and pleading for it.

Do people think it’s going to mutate into the Bubonic Plague, or something?

The impact of the current vaccination programme will be ENORMOUS, mutations or no mutations.

There is already significant evidence that vaccination stops transmission as well as illness.

This alone is huge. This means that we all benefit even just from the third of the population already jabbed.

If it mutates, it will still be a similar virus. The chances of it mutating into something so different that the vaccines don’t work at all is vanishingly small.

Mutations may reduce effectiveness of the vaccine enough to cause some blips along the way, but this will be constantly monitored and vaccines will be tweaked as necessary.

One hour form time at the start of the school day during which each teacher shows the class how to do the swab test and oversees them doing it? Big schools have more teachers surely. Doesn't seem an insurmountable problem to me.

One problem is that the instructions my school have state that the tests need to be carried out in a room with “non-porous” flooring. Our form rooms all have carpet. So no, your bright idea won’t work.

Can we stop with the hysterics please?

Of course not. Some people have become addicted to the drama.

@Dustyboots

Insanity: Carrying out the same action again and again yet expecting different results.

You can sort of see the Johnson hamster wheel brain in action - can't you?

Oh yes, and it's not a pretty sight!

regarding hairdressers there are suggestions in wales that they'll open at the end of march there. which is bit more realistic . But that could be very interesting if england's remain shut. I suspect Mr Drakeford will not like people crossing the border to get their hair cut!

Octane tell that to the children and pupils of a local teacher that died in their 30s (no underlying conditions and not obese).

People who are not vulnerable are dying/long Covid and many vulnerable people are not yet vaccinated

@VinylDetective

Can we stop with the hysterics please?

Of course not. Some people have become addicted to the drama.

I’m not addicted to the drama. But I can see it’s not still safe to mix with relatives as we want because there will still be other parts of society whose work places are still closed because the numbers are still high. I can’t see my family because they live abroad and the numbers are still high. But Ey it’s fine for others to do what they want because they’ve had enough. Don’t you think pub workers have had enough as well?

Do people think it’s going to mutate into the Bubonic Plague, or something?

The media have a lot to answer for, tbf. They really do love to scare people.

Even the mutations we've seen so far, the vaccinations still work to some extent or another.

@pinkhappy

Those suggesting lockdown 4 seem very pessimistic. Very few people infected after 14 feb will die in the uk because of the vaccinations.

14 Feb? Holy hell, what are you drinking?

@Pieceofpurplesky

Octane tell that to the children and pupils of a local teacher that died in their 30s (no underlying conditions and not obese).

People who are not vulnerable are dying/long Covid and many vulnerable people are not yet vaccinated

anecdata! Lovely!

@purplebatbear

Images of data linked to school transmission increases

Theres no doubt school contributes to the community transmission but if the most vulnerable to the virus are vaccinated, it shouldn't (fingers crossed) mean that the NHS gets overwhelmed which is the whole point of lockdown - nothing else

@ChloeCrocodile

One hour form time at the start of the school day during which each teacher shows the class how to do the swab test and oversees them doing it? Big schools have more teachers surely. Doesn't seem an insurmountable problem to me.

One problem is that the instructions my school have state that the tests need to be carried out in a room with “non-porous” flooring. Our form rooms all have carpet. So no, your bright idea won’t work.

There aren't any halls, gyms, science labs, corridors, or any other non-carpeted spaces in your school then?

Or maybe you just don't want to find solutions, only problems.

I have an idea for the parents worried about their child’s hair style. Whilst children are waiting for their test results in schools there’s a bit of spare time?! Teachers do you think..?

“At the very very best they won't be completed (first dose) until July. - three weeks until effective - thats AUGUST at best!”

Possibly I’m a lone voice, but given where we were a year ago I think even August is bloody fantastic.

@BettyBoomerang

And why would we be having more lockdowns anyway? We have vaccines and the entire adult population will have been offered them by the end of July

How can people be this dense? Because unmitigated transmission (as happens in crowded, unventilated, un-socially distanced, unmasked schools) leads to a much increased risk of mutation and vaccine escape. This kind of fucking stupid move could easily mean that we all lock down again in a few months, waiting for them to tweak vaccines and then DO THE WHOLE VACCINATION PROGRAMME OVER AGAIN. Jesus.

Unreal how utterly utterly uninformed some people are. No understanding of the science At All 🤦🏻‍♀️