Coronavirus ROI/NI number 4

[eggandonion]

I don't believe it, would it ever go away!

I’m not getting into the many, many problems that bellended learning (I got that on here) would cause. My blood pressure won’t take it.

On another note, does this mean that the border counties are currently under the strictest lockdown in all of Europe (non essential retail is open in NI)?

If so, that would be ... heavy handed.

Blended learning would be a disaster.

We can't continue to disrupt our children's education.

@PierreBezukov

Blended learning would be a disaster.

We can't continue to disrupt our children's education.

I agree so much with this! Closing schools repeatedly is not 'living with Covid'

I agree that blended learning is unrealistic for many people. There is a school in my locality that has had to close due to staff shortages. Out of the eight teachers, two are positive cases and others on the staff had to self isolate as close contacts including the principal, so that's also disruptive.

TBH I think that is bad planning, that so many teachers are close contacts. Obviously a teacher and an SNA in 1 classroom will be, more than likely. The rest should be social distancing etc. If they need to meet face to face, it's masks, 2m+, in well ventilated areas. For everyone's protection. You live and learn.

Our school has staggered breaks so half the teachers never see the other half. Separate bubbles including teachers and SNA's.

Exactly, Quarterback11. You would think so.

Teachers distancing from each other can be harder in smaller or older schools though. The 8-9 staff members in my children's primary school all share one small toilet (which doesn't even have a window) for example.

Yes, LizzieAnt. Very true. It's a minefield. I don't know what the answer to it is. Blended learning of some sort would have suited me, but I'm probably in the minority. In my dd's class today, a student came in whose sibling is waiting for a test result. It's infuriating.

Hi everyone, can I join in please? I'm up north, my P5's bubble burst at the weekend, small rural school and 4 in the class have tested positive, plus a teacher of one of the other classes (who is also a P5 parent!). We are now closed altogether until after midterm and I'm back in homeschooling WFH hell with 2 primary and 1 preschooler. I couldn't hack blended learning.

That sounds very hard @Northernexile. I guess the trouble is different solutions suit different families. I'd be a fan of blended learning too, like IsFuzzyBeagMise, but I know it wouldn't work for lots of people. Hope things go okay for you over the next few weeks.

Thank you, @LizzieAnt. Have a good day, everyone.

Hi everyone and thanks for the new thread. I also can't believe we're still dealing with this - back in March I fully expected it to all be gone by the Summer

We've had a notification of a positive case in one of the DC secondary school, but not in the same year group so we don't need to do anything. In my office, a colleague is waiting on a test result (should be today) and if it's positive then I'm a close contact and will have to be tested and isolate etc. My boss will too. And his daughter works part time and her boss called yesterday to say he's tested positive and she's a close contact so she'll have to be tested.... it's just going to be like this for the foreseeable I think, but it's so unsettling.

I'm pissed off with the way the government has handled this to be honest. They knew this was coming back in the winter, they knew how many ICU beds etc they have nationwide. Why have they not been ramping up? Putting a plan in place? Why is it all put back on the people?? I personally don't know anyone who's been feckless, everywhere I go people are wearing masks and being mindful of social distancing etc. I don't see what more we could do. I see a lot more that the government could do though

Anyway, level 3.795 it is so, and we'll just have to get on with it...

I'm pissed off with the way the government has handled this to be honest. They knew this was coming back in the winter, they knew how many ICU beds etc they have nationwide. Why have they not been ramping up? Putting a plan in place? Why is it all put back on the people??

I totally agree with this.

In a country where we pay such high tax and the health service is strongly supported by private provision, it’s actually gobsmacking that our service is so poor.

The sacrifices the population are having to make for this incompetence are very significant.

In the longer term the main parties will struggle to recover from this. FF in particular.

I never thought I’d be beating the drum of SF, but I’m beginning to think ‘bring it on’. I’m actually shocked I wrote that.

Totally agree with above posts...

I mentioned it on the other thread about kids playing outside after school... We live in a huge town & the kids on our road all go to different schools... However from around 4 o clock onwards all are out playing together, no social distancing sharing toys & treats... Last night I counted at least 16 ranging in ages 5-13, all in different schools, classes how many contacts have they had during the day combined between the lot of them. Our neighbours both work from home & they say themselves once the uniforms are off they "turf" the kids out so they can continue with work...
Surely we all need to reduce our contacts, kids included. For the moment school is essential & I'll be only letting my dc mix in school with their class pods..
I'm my opinion after school socialising isn't important , we're in a pandemic & parents need to parent & reduce unnecessary contacts for their families....
I know this is an unpopular opinion. Kids are calling for my dc daily, I have spent a fortune on playdoh, new arts & crafts, we've ordered lots of library books & they have time to build their lego... My neighbour said her kids have suffered enough & she won't be keeping them off the road as they are mixing with kids in school anyways...

I agree with you @321mamma.
With the new restrictions only 6 people from a maximum of 2 households are allowed to meet outside while social distancing...no visitors to houses or gardens...maybe that'll help change things?

I doubt it, during the lockdown in March everyone on the estate abided by all the regulations & there definitely wasn't mixing of households... Once the restrictions lifted our road was a free for all... I understand many parents are still working from home but the kids are old enough to play independently with lego, crafts, read a book etc... We're in a nice, affluent estate none of the said parents are short of a few bob to get some activities to keep them occupied while they work.. Sure some were the first to complain when the schools were closed & another mom was raging that they can't go to the Canaries over midterm....
Do they not understand that the only way we're ever going to get back to some normality is if we all reduce our social contacts to essential meetings (school being essential!) It's really bugging me!

The fear has subsided very substantially since March.

That’s the only thing that made people comply with behaviour that is (let’s face it) totally contrary to human nature.

Ensuring compliance with further lockdown restrictions will be a hell of a job.

It's really bugging me too @321mamma.
It's been reported that the majority were in favour of the government applying stricter restrictions yesterday. I think people are scared again @TheKeatingFive.

My gang have asthma, and because of a vulnerable family member too, have been strictly isolating since March. They have returned to school, but not to any training or mixing outside of school. They have still managed to pick up numerous infections since being back. Between them they've had 4 Covid tests in the last 6 weeks - we're still waiting on results of the last one. And that's a bit scary too.

I think part of the problem is that the guidance is contradictory...that is, it's ok to send children to school with sore throats or runny noses - and I absolutely realise that many children sniffle half the winter so I don't know how this can be changed. But, when you get the Covid test you're told not to return to school/work until two days after symptoms have gone. The doctor told me this was to guard against false negatives, but is also designed to reduce the incidence of other infections in the community because these are complicating things. I can tell you now that other infections are rife in my school community at least, and this probably isn't helped by kids mixing after school as described upthread. For many, these other infections will be minor, but my kids with asthma always tend to end up worse...coughing, on inhalers/steroids etc. My gp won't take any chances so hence all the Covid tests. They've missed so much time already - they generally miss more than average, but all the testing on top of that has made things really unworkable.

I'm really hoping people will comply with the new restrictions. It might help.

Lizzie ant that must be incredibly tough on you. Totally agree that the guideline re attending school are contradictory.. My youngest gets a cough from Dec to march every year but is not atsmsthic, I will be keeping her off when it devops as her immune system is low & as a family we can't afford to let covid inside our door....

Morning all, just checking in.

I’m feeling really cross about the new restrictions- it’s that feeling of the whole class getting detention because of a few messers. I visited my elderly df last night and then caught the announcement on the radio on the way home. I’ve worn a mask, sat 2m away, kept windows open, used hand gel and done everything I can to keep him safe. He hasn’t got the mobility to meet in a public place. Even getting to the footpath at the front of the house would be a challenge so now I can’t even see him.
But at the same time I understand what the govt are saying. My ILs have been much more relaxed, and now two of the adult gc have tested positive and everyone is panicking and trying to organise tests because they had dinner with pils last weekend. And we were unpopular for refusing to come. Hopefully everyone will be ok. I completely understand why they don’t want to accept this new normal, neither do I. But one gc is a nurse and the other is a student with a part time job in a bar so a little bit of common sense from any of them wouldn’t go astray.

I’m really not sure that I can comply with this one. I’m not the problem here.

I’m really not sure that I can comply with this one. I’m not the problem here.

Well this is the issue. Stopping people from seeing close family and friends responsibly is a step too far for many. Lots of people are very upset right now.

It’s also virtually unenforceable.

@thelegohooverer
You are still allowed visit elderly/vulnerable relatives in a caring capacity. This is especially true if they live alone.
If you check the gov.ie site that's what it says anyway. They changed the Level 3 restrictions last night, so we're still officially on Level 3...but the guidelines at the level are different now (which is confusing but that's what they've done).
Anyway, if the above situation describes you and your DF, visiting him would still be in compliance with restrictions.

@thelegohooverer
Since last night it says -
"No visitors to home or garden, with the exception of visits for essential purposes (for example: family reasons such as providing care to children, elderly or vulnerable people, and in particular those who live alone."

Yes. I intend to keep visiting my mother. She rarely goes out, has no other social contacts apart from myself. We are always very careful and stay well apart. At most it's once a week.

My sympathy to you @LizzieAnt. I may have said it before so apologies if I'm repeating myself, but my first daughter had asthma from age 3-11 years old. One year she had six visits to the GP for antibiotics, steroids, medicine for the nebuliser. I couldn't imagine dealing with school in these times if she still had asthma. I hope ye get through it alright. It must be very difficult.

You are right, @321mamma about kids mixing after school. It's time to call a halt to it.