Third Wave is Here...

[Hopeful8]

Pigletto, we felt the same way when we decided this morning to just keep the kids home this week. Mixed feelings but then I just felt the need to err on the side of caution. Our area is in decent shape but didn't want to take any chances right before the school break. We just dealt with DS having a cold last week and having to keep him home until the negative test came back. Was not fun at all. (even with the negative test, we kept him home all week, doing the school work remotely)

 

[OnceUponATime15]

Our schools here are still being dealt with on a school by school basis. 25 outbreaks and 7 schools shut down by public health or the boards isn’t enough to consider a complete shutdown.

I just spoke with my daughter, she is keeping my grand’s home this week. She went in to the school today and picked up their work/assignments for the remainder of this week. She said there were several parents there doing the same thing.

So far there are no cases in the school they attend, but there are cases and outbreaks in all the other schools and many childcare centres in the immediate vicinity of their school. We are hoping that the break until April 18th will help slow the spread and allow for a safer return to class.

 

[wdwmom3]

We have our son in school this week. But his school has been really good at making sure all the guidelines are followed and their classes aren’t crowded. Haven’t had any cases in his school.

But I do think they need to go remote.

 

[dvcdisney]

If anything it's leading to more non-compliance IMHO. I was texting our son last night when I saw the news reports dribbling in and he's not happy AT ALL. According to him every time the rules changed idiotically (his words, not mine) to some random set of limitations that limit nothing or less than they did the previous time his co-workers get excited and then agree to do MORE. He's 35 and works at OPP headquarters btw and has put in numerous HR complaints about the lack of adherence to mask wearing by others in his office. He says they seem to take great pleasure in looking for the loopholes that are being created and they jump right thru them <sigh>

I'm seeing the same reactions in our townhouse complex, the confusion over what's open and what's closed is just making people do what they want. More gatherings are happening in the parking lot, more group dog walking is happening and they shrug when we wear masks from our car to the front door. Frustrating to watch the poor doctors pleading for more restrictions and then see what is actually (not) being done

I know it's confusing and it doesn't help that the announcements are made with a "stay tuned" attitude. I agree about the doctors...I just can't believe people don't see their pleas and immediately change the plan to get those essential workers vaccinated. It's so important and they always say listen to the medical community and science...they're saying something...people refuse to listen. By the time people stop denying how critical things are getting, it'll be too late.

In the beginning, I thought people would work together (and put selfishness aside) against this because we're all just trying to survive this pandemic. I was naive.

I know most people know what to do when asked not to gather...that part is not confusing...just don't gather. They're just finding ways to rationalize their defiance.

 

[bankr63]

Our schools here are still being dealt with on a school by school basis. 25 outbreaks and 7 schools shut down by public health or the boards isn’t enough to consider a complete shutdown.

I just spoke with my daughter, she is keeping my grand’s home this week. She went in to the school today and picked up their work/assignments for the remainder of this week. She said there were several parents there doing the same thing.

So far there are no cases in the school they attend, but there are cases and outbreaks in all the other schools and many childcare centres in the immediate vicinity of their school. We are hoping that the break until April 18th will help slow the spread and allow for a safer return to class.

The question is, "who's numbers are those". In Ottawa the OCDSB reporting is totally bogus. DW's school shows only 1 infection. There are several more, but if the class had already been dismissed because of one case, the rest of the cases do not get counted (and THAT is why Dr. Etches here says it is "all community spread"). Another neighborhood school has 7 out (4 students and 3 teachers) but 7 classes have also been sent home - number reported by the board? Zero. It only counts as a closed class if it is ordered closed by Public Health, but since the school dismisses the kids first, closed classrooms are almost NEVER counted.

Attendance overall at her school today was down 20%. Multiple reports of kids waiting for results, more than one with confirmed infections (but only counts if infected in school). The situation is MUCH worse than the statistics show, because the statistics are manipulated to tell a very specific story.

ETA: I'm a Computer Engineer and a numbers guy. I used to work for Stats Can (co-op placement decades ago), and one thing I remember from those days is that there are 3 kinds of lies - 'lies, darned lies, and statistics'. We were taught how to report statistical information properly and impartially, but I am very sensitive to when statistics are being manipulated.

 

[Hopeful8]

So my neighbor just told me that 5 students in her daughter's class got sent home, feeling unwell today. And the teacher. Half the students in her son's class didn't come in today. She's now keeping her kids home the rest of the week.

 

[Carolynleanne]

So my neighbor just told me that 5 students in her daughter's class got sent home, feeling unwell today. And the teacher. Half the students in her son's class didn't come in today. She's now keeping her kids home the rest of the week.

Yikes! I have never been more glad we homeschool than the past year

 

[Donald - my hero]

our schools are moving to virtual effective tomorrow, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph, and dang, so many armchair critics are attacking our Medical Officer of Health because they don't see the need based on what is happening in their own schools, cities, areas. I just watched a webinar that she participated in and OMG I completely get it now! I've taken a screenshot from their Facebook page to show why she made this extremely difficult decision. The rapid increases in numbers over the past 5 days is shocking. These specific numbers are just for our health unit, but according to Dr Nicola Mercer the trend is the same across the province.

 

[Spotthecat]

We're just coming out of a 14 day household isolation due to a positive case in one of my boys' classes...the kids were supposed to go back to school tomorrow, but I've chosen to keep them home for the rest of the week, and then for the April break week that follows...I'm kind of liking the idea of a full month of isolation for my family while things are spiking around us in York Region.

 

[OnceUponATime15]

Good Morning.. overnight news Ontario - Province wide stay at home order going into affect 12:01 am Thursday

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5977646

 

[mshanson3121]

The situation is MUCH worse than the statistics show, because the statistics are manipulated to tell a very specific story.
.

Exactly. And the story they want to spin is that school is safe and it's not spreading in school.

 

[mshanson3121]

Yikes! I have never been more glad we homeschool than the past year

SAME!

Good Morning.. overnight news Ontario - Province wide stay at home order going into affect 12:01 am Thursday

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5977646

But sure, leave the schools open

 

[damo]

My issue is that they keep closing everything down but don't do the most important thing and that is paid sick days. We've gotta keep sick people from going to work.

 

[mshanson3121]

My issue is that they keep closing everything down but don't do the most important thing and that is paid sick days. We've gotta keep sick people from going to work.

Yes! The reality is, a good chunk of the working population can't afford to stay home when sick. If missing 1-2 days of work means you may not have food or be able to pay your bills... Well, you're going to work.

Then, on the flip side - employers need to be more understanding. A lot of minimum-wage type employers are MISERABLE - they do not care if you or your child are sick, have health issues etc... If you don't show up, you're fired. That needs to change. There needs to be far better enforcement of the laws that are supposedly in place to protect employees.

 

[OnceUponATime15]

Just heard on my drive to work.. Education workers in Niagara Region will be receiving their first covid shot April 10 through 18th!

Public health taking it into their own hands... as it should be! WTG! Good job NRPH

 

[wdwmom3]

My issue is that they keep closing everything down but don't do the most important thing and that is paid sick days. We've gotta keep sick people from going to work.

Agreed. But I don’t think it’s gonna happen. I have more comments but they would be political and we don’t our thread shut down lol.

Companies could step up and do something themselves though.

 

[damo]

"While Ontario’s focus on restaurants and retailers appear to indicate that the businesses are responsible for the third wave sweeping the province, a Toronto Star analysis of workplace outbreak data shows the real spread is coming from offices, warehouses, construction sites and food processing plants."

From the Toronto Star.

 

[wdwmom3]

"While Ontario’s focus on restaurants and retailers appear to indicate that the businesses are responsible for the third wave sweeping the province, a Toronto Star analysis of workplace outbreak data shows the real spread is coming from offices, warehouses, construction sites and food processing plants."

From the Toronto Star.

Yep. And none of these are being shut down. We really need one like we had last April.

 

[azrivest]

SAME!



But sure, leave the schools open

How does everyone manage with homeschooling? Is it that you all have older children? I will be despondent if they close schools again here in Quebec. My husband and I both work full time. We can't handle distance learning, unless we stop working. And my two ADHD kids can't handle 5h+ on screens, they lose focus after 30 minutes.

 

[damo]

How does everyone manage with homeschooling? Is it that you all have older children? I will be despondent if they close schools again here in Quebec. My husband and I both work full time. We can't handle distance learning, unless we stop working. And my two ADHD kids can't handle 5h+ on screens, they lose focus after 30 minutes.

And therein lies the problem with closing schools.

It's not only ADHD kids that have an issue, it is an impossible learning situation with most kids. The emotional toll on kids is immense.

What happens to those kids whose parents have to leave the house to work?