Good grief! In the space of a week we have gone from it’s-too-hot-to-sleep-even-with-just-a-sheet-on-the-bed to get-the-winter-weight-duvet-out-again-please. From let’s-socially-distanced-sit-on-the-grass-with-a-cold-drink to lets-have-a-socially-distanced-cup-of-something-warm-in-our-fortunately-quite-large-kitchen. I didn’t even run this morning but donned wellies and waterproof to walk to the local coop store to buy a couple of essential items.
In fact the weather conditions have apparently been so bad that mountain rescue teams had to go looking for people lost in the mist above our local beauty spot Dovestone reservoir. As reported in the Oldham Chronicle:-
“The heroes of the hills took part in a dramatic rescue when a group got lost in poor weather conditions at mist-shrouded Dovestone, near Greenfield.
Oldham Mountain Rescue Team were contacted by North West Ambulance Service after the group were unable to provide accurate location information, and their plight was compounded by one unable to walk any distance.
OMRT pinpointed their exact location at Wimberry Rocks using a combination of telephone conversations and PhoneFind technology.
And the team sent some of their 21-strong party to establish their condition.
“Two of the three were able to walk down, with the third being loaded onto the team stretcher and carried," said an OMRT spokesperson.
“The casualty was transported to hospital by NWAS, leaving team members to return to base in order to dry out soggy feet and get the kit cleaned, disinfected and dried ready for the next job.”
The operation on Sunday lasted two hours and 30 minutes.”
If the weather stays like this I shall be even less inclined to sample the delights of sitting outside the pub drinking beer. Not that I was planning to do so anyway. Will it put others off though or will they storm the premises so that all can sit indoors?
In a reinstated governmental briefing yesterday, Gavin Williamson informed us in mournfully sentimental tones that schools are to reopen in September for all pupils.
Ways to make it happen:-
Staggered start times for different year groups.
Class “bubbles” keeping groups as separate entities.
Restrict contact.
Restrict movement around building
Okay - so parents going back to work could have children starting and presumably finishing school at different times. Logistical nightmare.
Class bubbles - good idea - especially in small primary schools, regimenting playtimes and lunchtimes. But no whole school assemblies, no praising and giving out of certificates, no nativity plays or Christmas carol concerts? All those things that give a sense of community and where smaller pupils learn from older ones.
Class bubbles, restricting movement and contact - hopeless in large secondaries. They all arrive together mostly by public transport. Pupils move from room to room for different subjects - if a class stays in one place and teachers move, who transports the piles of books and equipment?
What about subject related displays?
What about setting? After all, a 14 year old could be in one “bubble” for English, another for Maths, another for science.
And as regards optional subjects ... well?! Your guess is as good as mine!
Oh yes, what about specialist subject teachers who usually teach their subject to several classes! That will restrict contact!
It seems to me like a good (?) idea worked out by someone with no experience of what the inside of a big secondary school is really like.
They’re discussing travel possibilities on the radio discussion programme. On top of everything else, there is the thorny question of travel insurance. There’s a bit of me that wonders why anyone at all is rushing to have a holiday abroad at the moment. And then I look out of the window at the rain and gloom...
Here are a couple of odd consequences of the pandemic:-
“In Alabama, a group of students held “Covid parties” this week, according to Tuscaloosa city councilor Sonya McKinstry, where students wagered over who would become infected.
“They put money in a pot, and they try to get Covid. Whoever gets Covid first gets the pot. It makes no sense,” McKinstry told ABC News. “They’re intentionally doing it.”
The parties fly in the face of advice from the Alabama department of public health, which has asked people to maintain a 6ft distance, and explained the concept of superspreader events in guidance sent out to local governmental officials.”
Crazy young Americans!
Meanwhile, from a other part of the world, more wary of the virus, there is this:-
“Delay pregnancy for two years: Papua New Guinea doctor delivers coronavirus warning.
Leanne Jorari reports for the Guardian:
A leading Papua New Guinean obstetrician has advised women in that country not to fall pregnant for up to two years, saying fears of Covid-19 transmission have seen pregnant women turned away from hospitals, resulting in the death of at least one baby.
The warning comes as Papua New Guinea’s military headquarters remains in lockdown after a spate of coronavirus cases. But reports from inside the barracks suggest lockdown measures are not being adhered to, raising concerns of a wider outbreak.”
There you go.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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