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

@Judystilldreamsofhorses

Completely agree re hairdressers. Predominantly run by and used by women (although mine is a man, and he owns the salon) so of no interest to the government - despite having spent £££ on becoming “covid secure”.

This. It’s a massive industry but because it’s deemed to be a mere frippery for women it gets ignored. Surely rather than use the blanket term ‘non-essential’ they could open up on the basis of likely increase to the R rate.

@MrsMiggins22

Hairdressers are non essential in a bloody pandemic, that’s why they’re later! Just let it grow, cut it or pin it up...

I am not skilled enough to cut my teen son's hair, he certainly doesn't want to pin it up or have it growing long so seems fairly essential to me (and him)

Hairdressers are no more or less essential than shops/pubs/restaurants

Agree that it is because they are viewed as 'womens' services

@Beebityboo

All schools back all at once is literal madness tbh. There's some agenda there because there is no way that any scientist has told them that's a good idea. I fucking despair.

I agree too. What is the agenda? There will be no mitigations either. Also the use of the term 'Big Bang' is so combative/negative too.

@freezingcoldsnow If its May hairdressers will have been shut for nearly ten months of the last year.

No periods of self isolation for my DDs primary class either and she's been going in through lockdown too.

I think it's right that schools open up and soon, kids need to be in school and parents need to be able to work.

Looking forwards to non essential shops and gyms/swimming pools too. Desperate for something that isn't a walk in a muddy field!

Love all the clairvoyants on here predicting ... no one knows ffs

@DownstairsMixUp such bullshit.

@WhenSheWasBad

No phased opening of schools.

Kids not vaccinated, parents mostly not vaccinated, school staff mostly not vaccinated. Honestly if you wanted to engineer a lovely big hike in Covid infections this is what you would do.

I really hope I’m wrong.

This is on the money.

They need to get shops and leisure opened before April. The economy is tanking. And yes all the kids back to school.

@AllAroundTheWrekin

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.

1. Except the promised one hour zoom army training session hasn't materialised.

1. PPE is used for lft which is disposed of afterwards so I think it might take a tad longer for each pupil.

1. The teachers job is to teach,

You could argue that the army's job is to fight wars by that same logic couldn't you? Are teachers really that militant and petty that they're not prepared to spend an hour or two - or even a full day of that's what it takes - doing something that'll help keep them and their pupils safer? Which is what I thought they'd been calling for for months? My desk-job nurse friend has been redeployed onto an ICU ward (and expected to do her old job in her storage time). I've had colleagues in my organisation moved to entirely different tasks at short notice to deal with Covid. Yet teachers are saying their job description cannot, under any circumstances by varied to include spending a few hours as a one off teaching children how to do lateral flow tests, to help keep schools safe? FFS

I should probably stay of threads like this, but this kind of comment does make me despair. Especially as the teachers a know in real life are all lovely and wouldn't have a problem at all with doing this. Why are the teachers on MN so destructive and negative? I just don't understand.

A year ago we had no vaccine and the virus was in retreat as the warmer weather arrived.

Did you not notice there was a fairly substantial lockdown at the same time?

In our area we rose from one of the lowest in the country, to in the top 50. Yes, it was driven by schools. You can see on the heat maps with the ages.
Rates started going up in the 10-14 age category and 15-19 age category (no universities in our area to blame) All of the secondary schools were at least half closed in the second half of November, and then rates went down.
The schools went back and within 2 weeks the rates in those age categories shot up first, then the 45-65 age categories-the parents, then the rest of the community.

Currently the 5-9, 10-14, 15-19 age categories are the lowest.
Interestingly there's a jump in the 5-9 about 7-14 days after they had the one day back in January. No jump in the secondary age group.

@SonnetForSpring

It sounds to me like they are giving us freedom because they know people are at the end of their rope. However, we will be back in a form of lockdown in the winter months. As predicted, rolling lockdowns, that's what people can cope with psychologically, a consistent level of restrictions won't be accepted.

Well I for one can't cope with rolling lockdowns, I need my life back properly. I can't cope with getting used to a bit of normality and then it being snatched away over and over again. 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?

A lot of perfectly viable hospitality businesses, primarily bars, pubs and restaurants, are about to go to the wall. The writing has been on the wall for while though sadly.

The hairdresser situation is ridiculous. Are any actual outbreaks related to those businesses?

If schools all go back en masse , then why can't everything open up ? See their families?
This is how people will think. I can't blame them.

Indeed @Monkeytennis97 but in March last year the infection rate was accelerating and deaths peaked at Easter as the infection rate started to decline. The infection rate is in decline right now and will continue to do so with a combination of vaccine and better weather.

U.k holidays ?

Looks good to me. Cases will probably rise a bit but the vaccine effect (even with one dose and yes, even with mutations) plus the seasonality should mean hospitalisations and deaths won't rise. I'm confident it'll all work out fine. Have faith.

Looking at the figures this time last year, they're just following the curve. Nothing mysterious about it, nor clever.

@WhenSheWasBad

No phased opening of schools.

Kids not vaccinated, parents mostly not vaccinated, school staff mostly not vaccinated. Honestly if you wanted to engineer a lovely big hike in Covid infections this is what you would do.

I really hope I’m wrong.

The most ECV teachers and pupils family members will have been vaccinated though with the CV to follow shortly (im aware there will be a short time frame between vaccination and some immunity initially ) Technically cases within the community of the non vulnerable will of course cause disruption to schools/businesses/services due to people and contacts self isolating it shouldn't have a huge impact on the NHS which is what these lockdowns have been all about.

I really don't want my kids going back before Easter. I also really dont want to deregister them, but if needs must then I will. I'm not putting my kids at risk so the government can use them as guinea pigs again. Surely they have learned from experience?

@Theromanempire

I completely agree. DS1 is in Y11 and needs be concentrating on his work not worrying about his hair. I can’t cut it and he can’t put it up so not entirely sure what I’m supposed to do. Also it will be weeks and weeks to even get an appointment when they do open.

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