Yes unfortunately Usforthem is now a rather comedic own goal rather than the general force for good it was at inception. I joined at the beginning as it seemed preposterous that blended learning for the whole academic year was the default whilst numbers where dwindling and most other sectors were reopening.
I never thought that both the British and Scottish government would go oh all right then and open everything up with no safety precautions. But then there is a handy scapegoat to blame - those nasty protesters- and it drives a useful wedge between parents and teachers.
Also I wouldn't be happy about it, but I think we have to acknowledge that if levels get to a certain rate, then school closures- for the absolute minimum period only - have to be on the table, even if only as a last resort.
At the minute it seems like full scale fiddling whilst Romes burning activity. Protesting about masks in schools - obviously appreciate some people genuinely can't wear them - when overall numbers and hospitalisations are going up, just seems counterintuitive. I'm entirely unsure if masks work or not, but if they make a small difference and make teachers feel safer, then fine whatever we need to do to keep schools open.
If there is wholesale school closure, then they're going to find it hard to get numbers like they had initially galvanised. I don't particularly want to be associated with lots of the out there nonsense, even if I am personally sceptical about some of the official numbers due to comorbidity factors and people catching covid in hospital.
They do produce useful daily graphs, although the hospitalisation and ICU one always makes me smile wryly. The numbers are growing, but optimistically it shows it peaking and going down without hitting the hospital bed limits. I do hope this is the case, but I'm not sure we can confidently predict that yet.