Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

[Brisan123]

While the supermarkets have to be commended, the differences in their situations (clientèle for comparison etc.) and how to deal with them are pretty stark.

Most people have been happy to go to the supermarket once a week, queue up for say thirty-minutes at staggered times and work on a one in one out basis.

Their staff, say except check out staff who have screens, have less close interaction with their customers and are allowed PPE in store. There's still a risk!

Yet, the government are wanting more people in, for longer periods, with less ability to stager and PPE pretty much not allowed. Adaptation is more difficult here.

In reality, the adaptation has come from online learning, which from my experience has been pretty commendable although it's probably not consistent.

Online learning is working well in my wifes school
2 caveats though
Its a private school so all the students would have access to their own PC/Laptop/Ipad etc and good broadband
Special needs students ,even the highly intelligent ones find the change in routine hard to cope with.
Online learning can work but it needs resources

 

[roydo]

New infections down to 2600 from 3100 and consistently over 4/5000 for about a month. If that trend continues we can hopefully start looking at TTI by June

Just looking at Italy opening up. They're desperate to get some tourism back for the summer. Really hope it doesn't backfire on them

I can totally get why would want a summer with tourists, but other than Italians, I am not convinced many others would bother. Same here.

 

[Goat]

How did you find doing the test Goat.

It wasnt that bad if im honest, it said to do the tonsil 1 for 10 seconds, it seems as tho my gag reflex is quite high cos I only managed a second, spat all over my daughter who was doing the test by mistake and wouldnt let her stick it in my mouth again.

The nose 1 just tickles.

So I suppose if you do the tonsil thing correctly it would be quite horrific.

 

[Brisan123]

They will have known schools will open at some point. What have they been doing?

TBF Bruce there is SFA they can do unless they get more staff and double their classrooms in the next 2 weeks

 

[Brisan123]

I'm not comparing what they did as much as the speed and comprehensiveness of the response. Supermarkets changed to provide a safe environment for staff and shoppers in about a week. Schools have had two months and seem largely clueless about how they might reopen.

well the kids could all queue up outside and go in one by one for a 5 min lesson once a day

 

[Tubey]

TBF Bruce there is SFA they can do unless they get more staff and double their classrooms in the next 2 weeks

He doesn't seem to understand this for some reason.

 

[Brisan123]

Purely to illustrate a possibility, so don't get hung up on the actual numbers, and it's very crude analysis anyway ...

If 10% of Londoners had been infected and are currently immune.
On it's own, that drops R0 down from 3 to an R of 2.7

If social contacts in London are down by, say, 80%, that would drop R0 down from 3 to an R of 0.6, or, taking into account the 10% infected, drop 2.7 to a bit over 0.5.

At an R of 0.5, new infections would drop pretty quickly.

New cases in ireland less than 100 for 2 days in a row
So only 1 in 50,000 people a day being diagnosed
A small chance you would meet one in a 2 week period

 

[Brisan123]

Unlike you, I don't claim to have all the answers to everything known to man. I was asking because I don't know what schools have been doing. What I know is that they were able to operate with small numbers of children, but don't appear to be able to operate with more akin to a normal volume of children. What the issues are that prevent them, I don't know, hence the question.

With regards to the PPE point, my wife has been doing home visits for several weeks now in full PPE (gown, mask, visor etc.), and she's visiting children. It seems to be fine, and much of that is down to the message the parents give to their children about the situation. One kid, for instance, asked her if she was one of the super heroes that mummy had told her about.

Given the huge uncertainty around a vaccine, schools will presumably have to open at some point, especially as the advice of the unions is not to teach any new material online at the moment, which hardly seems good for the children's education. Sectors across the country have been remarkably creative in trying to maintain a degree of normality, so hopefully the schools will be able to be similarly inventive in ensuring that children still receive an education.

30 kids 1 small classroom ,that's one thing
600 kids 2 or 3 bathrooms that's another
Break time in the yard that's another
PE classes that's another
Canteens that's another
I could go on

 

[Barnfred 55]

I can totally get why would want a summer with tourists, but other than Italians, I am not convinced many others would bother. Same here.

Popular with cruise ships maybe. I suppose there's 6 weeks to see what the fallout is before we get to July

 

[Bruce Wayne]

TBF Bruce there is SFA they can do unless they get more staff and double their classrooms in the next 2 weeks

He doesn't seem to understand this for some reason.

So presumably schools across Asia managed to find teachers up a tree and built classrooms overnight?

 

[Brisan123]

So presumably schools across Asia managed to find teachers up a tree and built classrooms overnight?

Their R0 number was a lot lower and I have no idea on class sizes or how the different cultural values affect the way kids behave in schools in Asia

 

[Bruce Wayne]

30 kids 1 small classroom ,that's one thing
600 kids 2 or 3 bathrooms that's another
Break time in the yard that's another
PE classes that's another
Canteens that's another
I could go on

So test them before they're allowed in? I posted a video earlier of the rigmarole Etihad airlines require passengers to go through before boarding a plane. It's quite probably not foolproof, but it nonetheless probably reduces any risks. For some reason, schools don't seem to think this is an option.

 

[Brisan123]

So test them before they're allowed in? I posted a video earlier of the rigmarole Etihad airlines require passengers to go through before boarding a plane. It's quite probably not foolproof, but it nonetheless probably reduces any risks. For some reason, schools don't seem to think this is an option.

Do you honestly think this will work with 600 under 12s ,and all done between lets say 8.45 and 9 am

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Their R0 number was a lot lower and I have no idea on class sizes or how the different cultural values affect the way kids behave in schools in Asia

The R number would be irrelevant though surely, as the schools are testing for the presence of the virus. A low R number only works if the rigmarole children go through before entering school there is a waste of time and they're just hoping few children have it to begin with.

I'd be amazed if a silver bullet is found, but surely a combination of isolating vulnerable teachers, who can do their lessons remotely, wearing masks, keeping as much social distancing as practicality allows, maintaining thorough hand hygiene throughout the day, and doing Asian style fumigation of the spotty blighters before they enter the building would be enough to reduce the risk to manageable levels?

 

[Brisan123]

The R number would be irrelevant though surely, as the schools are testing for the presence of the virus. A low R number only works if the rigmarole children go through before entering school there is a waste of time and they're just hoping few children have it to begin with.

I'd be amazed if a silver bullet is found, but surely a combination of isolating vulnerable teachers, who can do their lessons remotely, wearing masks, keeping as much social distancing as practicality allows, maintaining thorough hand hygiene throughout the day, and doing Asian style fumigation of the spotty blighters before they enter the building would be enough to reduce the risk to manageable levels?

Kids are by and large asymptomatic ,and therein lies the problem