Coronavirus

[Dave2002]

Wonder how many parents might be considering this now?

I think it requires some notification - but I'm not sure. I don't think a parent can just refuse to send a child to school on the spur of the moment. Also, under current rules (which are probably **** stupid anyway ...) a child who is taken out in that way is probably not then entitled to any support - for example, such as distant learning courses, or other teaching material, which may be offered to his or her friends who officially remain in school.

If that's an issue, then maybe pressure can be brought to get the rules modified, but right now that may be how things are.

[oddoneout]

I think it requires some notification - but I'm not sure. I don't think a parent can just refuse to send a child to school on the spur of the moment. Also, under current rules (which are probably **** stupid anyway ...) a child who is taken out in that way is probably not then entitled to any support - for example, such as distant learning courses, or other teaching material, which may be offered to his or her friends who officially remain in school.

If that's an issue, then maybe pressure can be brought to get the rules modified, but right now that may be how things are.

Apparently not, according to this https://assets.publishing.service.go...tationv2.2.pdf

If your child is currently on the roll of a school you are not obliged to inform the school
that he or she is being withdrawn for home education or gain consent for this

[MrGongGong]

I think it requires some notification -.

No, it doesn't
It's polite to inform a school that you are withdrawing your child and they would probably contact you anyway if you didn't

I don't think many people do this on the "spur of the moment" having done it myself

[oddoneout]

Hooray, Britain leads the world !! Top of all the tables.

But less and less likely to have a seat at the top tables?

[Cockney Sparrow]

"Coronavirus: UK hardest hit by virus among leading G7 nations":
England has a 55% excess deaths rate, the highest in the G7, 1% higher than Spain. (This was an item in the last half of the 10pm News, BBC1 yesterday).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53222182

" The separate Oxford study, using the same methods, analyses Europe's worst hit nations using percentage excess deaths as the key metric.

It splits out each of the four UK home nations, which sees England just above Spain on 55% and 54% respectively. On this measure Spain has had a worse pandemic first wave than the UK on 52%. England is on 55%, compared with Scotland on 41%, Wales on 33% and Northern Ireland on 30%.

The study also identified that England and Wales saw significant excess mortality among the working age population (16-64 years old) over the peak 11 weeks of the pandemic, in excess of 60% in some weeks.

This stands in some contrast with, for example, France, where excess mortality in all but three weeks was negative."

[DracoM]

So all that bfaw crap from govt about what a wonderful job they are doing etc etc blah blah bluster bluster.........and here we are more or less sliding back to square one: a sizeable city locked down, at the precise moment when the same 'govt' is screaming about how good they are being at re-opening everywhere else........... Ahem.

[Pianorak]

Guardian article published 23 June warned that government fails to pass on data to local councils. One reason for Leicester spike and lockdown? https://www.theguardian.com/politics...s-say-councils

[Serial_Apologist]

So all that bfaw crap from govt about what a wonderful job they are doing etc etc blah blah bluster bluster.........and here we are more or less sliding back to square one: a sizeable city locked down, at the precise moment when the same 'govt' is screaming about how good they are being at re-opening everywhere else........... Ahem.

Working conditions in manufacturing presumably considered customary are also being offered as one strong likely factor in the high rate of transmission in Leicester. That really says something.

[johnb]

So all that bfaw crap from govt about what a wonderful job they are doing etc etc blah blah bluster bluster.........and here we are more or less sliding back to square one: a sizeable city locked down, at the precise moment when the same 'govt' is screaming about how good they are being at re-opening everywhere else........... Ahem.

It is inevitable that there will be flare ups and that local lockdowns will have to be introduced to combat them.

More worrying, at least to me is that local authorities have been kept in the dark about the stats for their own area, with the government trying to "control" everything centrally and using private companies for track and trace, drive through testing and posted test kits).

Even more concerning is that the decline in the number of daily deaths has been barely perceptible over the last week. This is a lagging indicator so it is especially worrying now that the easing of lockdown restrictions is taking place.

[ardcarp]

I recommend today's [final] More or Less on Radio 4

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000kfpy

No holds barred. My only reservation was the interview with Prof Spiegelwhatsit at the end. He was, IMV, over-optimistic about the near future.

[DracoM]

A series that has devastated govt endemic lies, evasions, failures with polite and quiet lack of drama. Essential listening for all.

[Dave2002]

That programme was good, though pity it’s the end of the series. There will be a weekly podcast though, until August - hopefully with new material and updates.

At least Prof Spigelhalter said that he appreciated comments from others. I wonder if he read any of the posts from here.

In the meantime, here is an update on life in South Korea https://www.ft.com/content/d68d6292-...c-54ce850a3f7a

[Cockney Sparrow]

Working conditions in manufacturing presumably considered customary are also being offered as one strong likely factor in the high rate of transmission in Leicester. That really says something.

Article in the Guardian online this morning - some employers in garment industry, it seems, have forced workers to work when they have Covid symptoms, also quite possibly claiming furlough payments at the same time. It references sub minimum wage rates (known from previous years) and workers who don't understand English so public health messages may not have got through.....

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/30/some-leicester-factories-stayed-open-and-forced-staff-to-come-in

Also on Guardian online an article that the US has bought ALL stocks/production of Remdesivir for the next three months. This is the country we are treating as our next ally and principal trading partner. But at least we need be under no illusions where we (or other countries) stand.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/30/us-buys-up-world-stock-of-key-covid-19-drug

"....there [is] a way for the UK to secure supplies of this and other drugs during the pandemic, through what is known as a compulsory licence, which overrides the intellectual property rights of the company. That would allow the UK government to buy from generic companies in Bangladesh or India, where Gilead’s patent is not recognised.

The UK has always upheld patents, backing the argument of pharma companies that they need their 20-year monopoly to recoup the money they put into research and development. But other countries have shown an interest in compulsory licensing. “It is a question of what countries are prepared to do if this becomes a problem,”"

I'll be writing to my MP, and others asking them to pressure the Government to adopt that mechanism, in concert with the EU. I feel its likely Trump will take offence at any effect on US Pharma's profit margins, so Johnson won't want to do that as he's hoping for a trade deal pre No Deal Brexit.

[Serial_Apologist]

Article in the Guardian online this morning - some employers in garment industry, it seems, have forced workers to work when they have Covid symptoms, also quite possibly claiming furlough payments at the same time. It references sub minimum wage rates (known from previous years) and workers who don't understand English so public health messages may not have got through.....

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/30/some-leicester-factories-stayed-open-and-forced-staff-to-come-in

Also on Guardian online an article that the US has bought ALL stocks/production of Remdesivir for the next three months. This is the country we are treating as our next ally and principal trading partner. But at least we need be under no illusions where we (or other countries) stand.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/30/us-buys-up-world-stock-of-key-covid-19-drug

"....there [is] a way for the UK to secure supplies of this and other drugs during the pandemic, through what is known as a compulsory licence, which overrides the intellectual property rights of the company. That would allow the UK government to buy from generic companies in Bangladesh or India, where Gilead’s patent is not recognised.

The UK has always upheld patents, backing the argument of pharma companies that they need their 20-year monopoly to recoup the money they put into research and development. But other countries have shown an interest in compulsory licensing. “It is a question of what countries are prepared to do if this becomes a problem,”"

I'll be writing to my MP, and others asking them to pressure the Government to adopt that mechanism, in concert with the EU. I feel its likely Trump will take offence at any effect on US Pharma's profit margins, so Johnson won't want to do that as he's hoping for a trade deal pre No Deal Brexit.

Well said!

[oddoneout]

The article on Leicester makes for depressing reading, as does this earlier(Jan 2020) related article

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jan/23/national-shame-mp-sounds-alarm-over-uk-fast-fashion-factories

not least for the standard 'government refused to implement ...'

Last February, an Environmental Audit Committee heard evidence of environmental and labour abuses flourishing in the UK’s fashion industry. MPs found that the Modern Slavery Act was not sufficient to stop wage exploitation at UK clothing factories and issued a series of recommendations, including forcing brands to increase transparency in their supply chains. However the government refused to implement any of the committee’s recommendations, which also included moves to improve environmental sustainability and limit waste.

Boohoo, the company mentioned in the first article, says on its website that everything is fine, so the implication is that 75% of the factory activity meets necessary standards.
I do wonder how much of this is yet another example of what happens when local authorities can no longer afford to carry out their HSE and Environmental Health regulatory functions?