Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak

[Azeem]

So the Arabs are calling it the Iran virus 

[IgnisExcubitor]

1 hour ago, Fairy In Boots said:

 

I think it’s inevitable now China is going to come under quite a bit of international pressure to improve its sanitary standards because this isn’t the first time a flu pandemics have come out of their markets. 

I think it will also be used to justify trade wars and protectionism by all. This will wake countries up to the importance of supply chains for important resources. 
 

bizarre choice of words you were the coronavirus in WW2 

This. That is the only way the world can control China.

The amount of dependence every other country has on China due to its massive manufacturing market is staggering. They are fast losing their textile markets to Vietnam and Bangladesh. There is competition from us in the market of generic medicines. Hopefully others step up too in other fields.

The least everyone could do is force them reform their huge wet markets. Otherwise we will continue to have these diseases once every decade.

[Azeem]

[Stan]

Good news for Wuhan and Hubei, 2 of the most significantly hit places at the start. 

 

[True Blue]

Bosnia goes to 45, for a country of 3.5 mill people we could be facing a huge problem.

[SchalkeUK]

Even at my age I have been asked to get my clearances up to date in case I am asked to go in and help out in the local schools. What worries me is that too many fit and younger people are 'stressing' rather than just taking care and being 'anxious' as their action are frightening others by seeming to be the sort of idiots that buy 7 packs of toilet rolls just because they can - this morning older folk who were told that Supermarkets were allowing them in early to shop have been unable to get in as no security was there to stop  young folk pushing in first.    Probably the interlopers were all stressing! I can remember the  mid 1940's when we were kids and the adults were all trying to keep calm so that the kids were feeling safe - now many of them are being frightened by what the older idiots are doing.  Not sure now you sort that out!

[CaaC (John)+]

 

 

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12 minutes ago, SchalkeUK said:

this morning older folk who were told that Supermarkets were allowing them in early to shop have been unable to get in as no security was there to stop young folk pushing in first.   

Not at Iceland up here in Leith, they had a security guy at the door when they opened for OAP only (2 hours) and turning young looking people away and I think Tesco's here will do the same as they have ample security staff there on both doors front & back, but the likes of Farmfoods do not have security but a lot of the staff stop people buying in bulk.

Trying to get pasta related stuff in the big stores was a nightmare, the bloody shelves were empty but all I did was go to a small Pakistani shop and got some long spaghetti no bother, a lot of people seem to forget about the small grocery type shops but even in that shop the guy said he was telling people to piss off who came in and try buying in bulk. 

[MUFC]

People saying we'll be on lockdown from 5 today. Where do they get they're information from?

[RandoEFC+]

46 minutes ago, SchalkeUK said:

Even at my age I have been asked to get my clearances up to date in case I am asked to go in and help out in the local schools. What worries me is that too many fit and younger people are 'stressing' rather than just taking care and being 'anxious' as their action are frightening others by seeming to be the sort of idiots that buy 7 packs of toilet rolls just because they can - this morning older folk who were told that Supermarkets were allowing them in early to shop have been unable to get in as no security was there to stop  young folk pushing in first.    Probably the interlopers were all stressing! I can remember the  mid 1940's when we were kids and the adults were all trying to keep calm so that the kids were feeling safe - now many of them are being frightened by what the older idiots are doing.  Not sure now you sort that out!

I have only sympathy for my colleagues across the UK. The message to schools has been that we're staying open to keep kids out of the house until too many teachers get sick to keep going. The message we've had is "when enough of you get sick to close the schools down, then we'll close the schools down". We've been made to feel as if giving the government a bit more time to make a plan of some sort is more important than our health. I'm calm about it, but I can understand why it's caused such an overwhelming anxiety for some people. There isn't even a confirmed case on the Isle of Man yet, but I'm still getting questions every lesson from the younger ones about what's going to happen when I don't have any answers for them. The rest of today I'm teaching all GCSE and A Level classes who have been told that their exams are cancelled and the government haven't yet settled on what to do about their grades. Many of them have places at colleges, universities, jobs depending on their exam grades this summer. I've personally never been in a position to not be able to offer any help or guidance to students in this scenario. There's even talk of teachers having to assign grades themselves which puts us under incredible pressure and potentially drives a wedge between schools and their students and their families. None of this is anyone's fault. The government certainly should take their time to find the right solution and there are more immediately urgent matters at hand, but for those of us who care about all of the above, yes this is causing us a huge amount of anxiety. I can't imagine what it's like for schools in England where teachers are dropping like flies and there's still an expectation for some sort of work to be provided for the kids.

[Stan]

33 minutes ago, MUFC said:

People saying we'll be on lockdown from 5 today. Where do they get they're information from?

Don't know about from 5 today but I've had 2 people tell me similar things already today.

First a work colleague who has a friend in the army saying they've been prepared to deploy from next week. Not necessarily to be deployed, but preparing.

Same was said from my cousin who is in the army...

[Azeem]

If it continues for longer periods and people have to work from home could it cause a long term change in how we see work in many professions ?

[Stan]

9 minutes ago, Azeem said:

If it continues for longer periods and people have to work from home could it cause a long term change in how we see work in many professions ?

I feel for companies and individuals that work for such companies where they've immediately had to make employees work from home. Sometimes the infrastructure just isn't there - from equipment, connectivity, accessibility etc. In some cases people's world's have totally changed even if it is relatively temporary. 

Working from home isn't for everyone. I know that when the company I work for introduced it for is, a lot of people took time to adapt, some way more than others and dare I say the older generation it took longer. It's not as easy or luxurious all the time. But people have been forced to do it.

I hope companies are patient and tolerant with their employees about it.

Alternatively, I hope it makes people realise you don't need a fucking meeting for every single thing and an e-mail will suffice !

 

[Machado]

785 infected in Portugal. Starting to look like a big number.

[SchalkeUK]

2 hours ago, RandoEFC said:

I have only sympathy for my colleagues across the UK. The message to schools has been that we're staying open to keep kids out of the house until too many teachers get sick to keep going. The message we've had is "when enough of you get sick to close the schools down, then we'll close the schools down". We've been made to feel as if giving the government a bit more time to make a plan of some sort is more important than our health. I'm calm about it, but I can understand why it's caused such an overwhelming anxiety for some people. There isn't even a confirmed case on the Isle of Man yet, but I'm still getting questions every lesson from the younger ones about what's going to happen when I don't have any answers for them. The rest of today I'm teaching all GCSE and A Level classes who have been told that their exams are cancelled and the government haven't yet settled on what to do about their grades. Many of them have places at colleges, universities, jobs depending on their exam grades this summer. I've personally never been in a position to not be able to offer any help or guidance to students in this scenario. There's even talk of teachers having to assign grades themselves which puts us under incredible pressure and potentially drives a wedge between schools and their students and their families. None of this is anyone's fault. The government certainly should take their time to find the right solution and there are more immediately urgent matters at hand, but for those of us who care about all of the above, yes this is causing us a huge amount of anxiety. I can't imagine what it's like for schools in England where teachers are dropping like flies and there's still an expectation for some sort of work to be provided for the kids.

There were times in the 60's when we had to assess pupils' work rather than have formal exams and most teachers were able to do the task with total fairness and positivity.  When the kids finally took the exams the results and assessments were almost identical so if that information is given to your present day students they will probably be less anxious - particularly as we sometimes had to assess before the full curriculum had been finished - judgement was made on the up-to-date position so no penalties were imposed as a result of early termination of a term's schedule.  I know there are sceptics, but most educationalists are somewhat 'Spockian' in their logical approach to problems and it is normally all that is needed.  Meanwhile calm amongst the older members of society will help the younger ones - silly panic and stupid unreasonable comments will only cause the kids problems as they can always seem to 'suss out' when they are being told porkies!  A long school holiday now will probably make them realise it's not the best idea and pressure for more later will be eased a lot!  If they think they get bored in school the just tell them to wait and see if they still believe that in two months time!

Edited March 19, 2020 by SchalkeUK

[RandoEFC+]

4 minutes ago, SchalkeUK said:

There were times in the 60's when we had to assess pupils' work rather than have formal exams and most teachers were able to do the task with total fairness and positivity.  When the kids finally took the exams the results and assessments were almost identical so if that information is given to your present day students they will probably be less anxious - particularly as we sometimes had to assess before the full curriculum had been finished - judgement was made on the up-to-date position so no penalties were imposed as a result of early termination of a term's schedule.  I know there are sceptics, but most educationalists are somewhat 'Spockian' in their logical approach to problems and it is normally all that is needed.  Meanwhile calm amongst the older members of society will help the younger ones - silly panic and stupid unreasonable comments will only cause the kids problems as they can always seem to 'suss out' when they are being told porkies!  A long school holiday now will probably make them realise it's not the best idea and pressure for more later will be eased a lot!  If they think they get bored in school the just tell them to wait and see if they still believe that in two months time!

For the first point, I don't think I have to explain how much things have changed since the 60s, you're seriously underestimating the entitlement of modern day students and their parents. If I fairly award a B grade to a student and they think they have an A, we could hear about it for months on end. The days of being trusted as a professional are long gone.

As for the younger/older argument, you're totally stereotyping. I'm one of the youngest teachers in my setting and also one of the calmest. Anyone who is anxious has every reason to be for the reasons I've stated in the previous post. To suggest that the silly young teachers will appreciate the calming influence of older teachers just because they're older is patronising because the majority, like me, aren't panicking, they're simply trying to do everything they can to get organised and limit the damage to the kids education.

[MUFC]

I've found in the office that it's the older generation who tend to flap under pressure.

[Michael]

1 hour ago, Machado said:

785 infected in Portugal. Starting to look like a big number.

That's quite a high number for a country the size of Portugal. These are indeed worrying times.

In Ukraine where I am at the moment, there are 2 confirmed cases of deaths from Coronavirus, while 16 people are said to have this virus. However, it's been reported that the authorities have only tested 640 people in total so far, that's a very low number to have tested. But it is said that they are going to ramp up the testing now and I am sure that they will find that there is a much larger pool of people who will be confirmed as having this virus.

I just looked out of my kitchen window this morning and across the road, I saw a man and his son taking 6 litre bottles of water out of the boot of their car. In total I counted 10 bottles. Some of the shelves at the supermarkets are now empty as well and I can see that the situation in Ukraine is only going to get worse as more people start to panic.

The UK has got it very bad and I am starting to worry about older family members over there. I just hope that people keep safe and ride this out.

[Guest]

Got laid of today. Can go back to the job when this is sorted but not sure what I am gonna do in the meantime

[Stan]

3 minutes ago, Gunnersauraus said:

Got laid of today. Can go back to the job when this is sorted but not sure what I am gonna do in the meantime

Sorry to hear that. 

Are you in a position to find other work or claim UC as a consequence of being out of work now?

[Dr. Gonzo]

2 hours ago, Stan said:

I feel for companies and individuals that work for such companies where they've immediately had to make employees work from home. Sometimes the infrastructure just isn't there - from equipment, connectivity, accessibility etc. In some cases people's world's have totally changed even if it is relatively temporary. 

Working from home isn't for everyone. I know that when the company I work for introduced it for is, a lot of people took time to adapt, some way more than others and dare I say the older generation it took longer. It's not as easy or luxurious all the time. But people have been forced to do it.

I hope companies are patient and tolerant with their employees about it.

Alternatively, I hope it makes people realise you don't need a fucking meeting for every single thing and an e-mail will suffice !

 

I hate working from home because I work much more efficiently when I’m in my office.

But yeah I’m also hoping this shows people that not all meetings need to be meetings and some can be emails

[SchalkeUK]

48 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

For the first point, I don't think I have to explain how much things have changed since the 60s, you're seriously underestimating the entitlement of modern day students and their parents. If I fairly award a B grade to a student and they think they have an A, we could hear about it for months on end. The days of being trusted as a professional are long gone.

As for the younger/older argument, you're totally stereotyping. I'm one of the youngest teachers in my setting and also one of the calmest. Anyone who is anxious has every reason to be for the reasons I've stated in the previous post. To suggest that the silly young teachers will appreciate the calming influence of older teachers just because they're older is patronising because the majority, like me, aren't panicking, they're simply trying to do everything they can to get organised and limit the damage to the kids education.

Totally misunderstood what I was trying to say - My intention was totally to support what you are having to do against the outside adults who are probably causing you more problems than the kids.  The assessment idea is only new to those who have never had to do it or consider writing an end of term report.

Apologies if it was my old-fashioned logic which gave you the wrong impression - sometimes even us wrinklies can get frustrated at what Councils and politicians are doing to interfere with education rather than just shutting up and supporting those at the sharp end!  The best head I ever worked under had two bins in his office - one was for all the stuff the local authority sent him and which normally was full of unopened envelopes.  Times, I assume, have not really changed since then!

[DeadLinesman]

3 hours ago, MUFC said:

People saying we'll be on lockdown from 5 today. Where do they get they're information from?

Mums cats neighbours dogs brothers sisters boss.

[nudge]

1 minute ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I hate working from home because I work much more efficiently when I’m in my office.

I'm the opposite. I'm much more comfortable working at home and don't get annoyed/distracted by noise, coworkers or any other stuff so I'm by far more efficient. I also love being able to plan my working hours myself.

[DeadLinesman]

20 minutes ago, Gunnersauraus said:

Got laid of today. Can go back to the job when this is sorted but not sure what I am gonna do in the meantime

I’ve had an email from a colleague that local NHS hospitals are looking for porters/drivers/helpers etc. It’s only Grade 2 but it’s an income. 

[SchalkeUK]

Hey nudge you are turning into a Yankie - the only times I have ever heard the word coworkers has been from young American Students who seem to think that colleagues is not a word in their vocabulary.