Impact 3rd July
Government says schools in England must be re-opened for all children by September and these are the “rules”:
* Keep children together in groups or “bubbles”, a primary class or a secondary year group
* Avoid contact – separate starting, finishing, lunch and break times
* Attendance compulsory – parents fined if not at school
* Test and trace in place for schools
* Regular cleaning of hands, but no masks
* If symptoms – stay out of school
* No big group events like school assemblies
* Separate groups on school buses – not public transport
* Pupils have to work on their GCSEs and A-levels
Head teachers said it would be impossible to try to keep groups of pupils apart all day. Health official said families need to “control their teenagers in the social interactions outside school”. That means stop them wandering around the streets in groups.
Schools in Scotland will open on 11th August … before the English schools.
They call it “super Saturday” when the pubs in “England all open again. Boris tells people to act responsibly”. Same instruction form police about going to the beach.
Good nose (news) – they say if you lost your taste and smell with the virus, it does come back after about a month. If you are worried you can find information online from abscent.org
Impact 2nd July
Because of the virus and perhaps because of the situation in Hong Kong, it is likely that many thousands of Chinese students will not come to University in the UK. This could cause a lot of problem for the fee income to the Universities.
Boris told us they would recruit 20 thousand more police officers. But police commissioners and mayors are saying that new finance cuts which are coming as a result of the virus, will mean that police will be short-staffed and not have enough resource. They have already gone over budget because of lockdown, and people working from home. Money from local councils has been reduced and it looks very difficult for police to do their job properly.
In 2019, water companies polluted the rivers by letting human waste (sewage) to go into the rivers and streams more than 200 thousand times. Major rivers like the Thames and the Avon in Bristol have suffered very badly from this pollution. During this time, more people were using the rivers for leisure with canoes and even swimming. Bad idea.
More worries …. Now about nursery schools and play groups. Many have been closed during the virus and now only part opened, but they have had a lot of costs. Now they say many will have to close down permanently as they cannot afford to pay staff. This may be a bigger problem in poorer areas of the UK.
Don’t get plastered this weekend! Pubs are open and police and hospitals are worried about accidents and violence.