Covid-19

[iHeart]

well to be honest I don't imagine alot of Christmas parties happening this year, to be honest it's kind of difficult for me to think about the Holidays this year

 

Edited September 16, 2020 by iHeart

[Mr Dee]

The super importance of face masks...

 

”If we did face masks for 6, 8, or 10,12weeks, we’d bring this pandemic under control”

 

[iHeart]

🤦‍

 

Edited September 17, 2020 by iHeart

[FrostyWinnipeg]

[Super Duper Negatron]

So asymptomatic, socially distanced, masked students still spread this thing like wildfire. Huzzah!

[Mr Dee]

Red-faced Redfield. He didn’t ask for clearance on his release.

 

[Mr Dee]

This is Redfield’s first tweet.

 

Then, he got talked to, so he came up with this:

 

[bustamente]

5 minutes ago, Mr Dee said:

This is Redfield’s first tweet.

 

Then, he got talked to, so he came up with this:

 

Say what I want you to say or pack your bags, no backbone from the CDC director

[FrostyWinnipeg]

Apparently the only thing i was spreading was negative waves.

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

9 hours ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

Apparently the only thing i was spreading was negative waves.

Awesome! Good to hear that you are covid negative!

[Sard]

16 hours ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

So asymptomatic, socially distanced, masked students still spread this thing like wildfire. Huzzah!

Problem is that they aren't all masked, all the time.  I know that at a lot of high schools, the kids are being told that as long as they are 2m apart, they can take their masks off.  Then they start to move around and forget to put them back on right away.  Allowing the masks to come off for an extended period of time is the problem.

Edited September 17, 2020 by Sard
spelling

[JCon]

50 minutes ago, Sard said:

Problem is that they aren't all masked, all the time.  I know that at a lot of high schools, the kids are being told that as long as they are 2m apart, they can take their masks off.  Then they start to move around and forget to put them back on right away.  Allowing the masks to come off for an extended period of time is the problem.

Whoa, really? My oldest (G5, A10) has to wear his mask at all times inside the school. The only exception is outside. If he chooses to take it off, he has to stay two meters away from others in his cohort and 4 meters from someone outside his cohort. 

[bustamente]

[Sard]

11 minutes ago, JCon said:

Whoa, really? My oldest (G5, A10) has to wear his mask at all times inside the school. The only exception is outside. If he chooses to take it off, he has to stay two meters away from others in his cohort and 4 meters from someone outside his cohort. 

Yeah, I was surprised to hear that as well.  My youngest is in G3, and her whole class keeps them on all day (except for eating), and they have plexiglass walls between them on the desks.  My older ones (G10) have been told that they can take them off in their classes when they are at least 2m apart, but they tell me that they keep them on all the time anyway.

[JCon]

Just now, Sard said:

Yeah, I was surprised to hear that as well.  My youngest is in G3, and her whole class keeps them on all day (except for eating), and they have plexiglass walls between them on the desks.  My older ones (G10) have been told that they can take them off in their classes when they are at least 2m apart, but they tell me that they keep them on all the time anyway.

Your school has plexiglass? I wish. Our school mused at Parent Council the other day that they could buy them if all parents gave $200. It's September and our school still doesn't have a clue. Our school division has been AWOL this entire pandemic. I'm so disappointed in the leadership from top to bottom. 

My G1 wears his all day, except to eat. More than half the kids in his class wear one. 

[Sard]

7 minutes ago, JCon said:

Your school has plexiglass? I wish. Our school mused at Parent Council the other day that they could buy them if all parents gave $200. It's September and our school still doesn't have a clue. Our school division has been AWOL this entire pandemic. I'm so disappointed in the leadership from top to bottom. 

My G1 wears his all day, except to eat. More than half the kids in his class wear one. 

My youngest goes to a catholic school, so we've given them enough money to afford them I guess.

I do feel though that the government and the school divisions dropped the ball pretty bad when it comes to handling this.  The gov dragged their feet for 6 months without putting out any guidance and then basically said we'll put things back pretty much the same as usual with the addition of masks and cohorts.  Now I get that the divisions were waiting for guidance from the province, but I feel like they could have come up with something and then tweaked it based on the guidance that came out later.

Also, the last minute funding that the province announced felt like it came out in a desperate attempt to make their plan look better, but announcing that a week before school opened was too late for the divisions to use towards hiring more staff to all for smaller class sizes and such things.

Nice to hear that the kids in younger grades are wearing the masks, even though they aren't required.  I was pleasantly surprised when my kid told me her whole class had them.

Edited September 17, 2020 by Sard
additional comment about funding

[GCJenks]

2 hours ago, JCon said:

Your school has plexiglass? I wish. Our school mused at Parent Council the other day that they could buy them if all parents gave $200. It's September and our school still doesn't have a clue. Our school division has been AWOL this entire pandemic. I'm so disappointed in the leadership from top to bottom. 

My G1 wears his all day, except to eat. More than half the kids in his class wear one. 

I was surprised last night when my G3 told me that he and most of the class keep them on all day now. First week it was only when moving between classes but the kids themselves are making the decision to wear the masks. I am pretty damn proud of our kids.

2 hours ago, Sard said:

My youngest goes to a catholic school, so we've given them enough money to afford them I guess.

I do feel though that the government and the school divisions dropped the ball pretty bad when it comes to handling this.  The gov dragged their feet for 6 months without putting out any guidance and then basically said we'll put things back pretty much the same as usual with the addition of masks and cohorts.  Now I get that the divisions were waiting for guidance from the province, but I feel like they could have come up with something and then tweaked it based on the guidance that came out later.

Also, the last minute funding that the province announced felt like it came out in a desperate attempt to make their plan look better, but announcing that a week before school opened was too late for the divisions to use towards hiring more staff to all for smaller class sizes and such things.

Nice to hear that the kids in younger grades are wearing the masks, even though they aren't required.  I was pleasantly surprised when my kid told me her whole class had them.

Saying they had 6 months (not just you but over and over again I have heard it) is a red flag for me. 6 Months ago were were just finding out about the pandemic, today we are still learning. Saying they had 6 months and couldn't get it done is a misplaced criticism of people that are working very hard and making decisions based on information that is changing every day sometime multiple times a day. I really think we should be giving more praise and appreciation for the many civil servants and school administrators that have had to put their own family in the background while they worked all summer trying to find solutions and options.

I honestly believe that all our officials are doing their best and have done a damn fine job with the information they have. Financial resources have not been held back and money is being spent on any possible solution. We are not talking about a disease that has been studied for decades and we have established best practices and are ignoring them.

This is new and different and most everyone is working to protect our communities based on the current information and situation.

Overall Manitoba has had an excellent response to the pandemic and I'd much rather be here than anywhere else in Canada or the world frankly.

 

[JCon]

Just now, GCJenks said:

I was surprised last night when my G3 told me that he and most of the class keep them on all day now. First week it was only when moving between classes but the kids themselves are making the decision to wear the masks. I am pretty damn proud of our kids.

Saying they had 6 months (not just you but over and over again I have heard it) is a red flag for me. 6 Months ago were were just finding out about the pandemic, today we are still learning. Saying they had 6 months and couldn't get it done is a misplaced criticism of people that are working very hard and making decisions based on information that is changing every day sometime multiple times a day. I really think we should be giving more praise and appreciation for the many civil servants and school administrators that have had to put their own family in the background while they worked all summer trying to find solutions and options.

I honestly believe that all our officials are doing their best and have done a damn fine job with the information they have. Financial resources have not been held back and money is being spent on any possible solution. We are not talking about a disease that has been studied for decades and we have established best practices and are ignoring them.

This is new and different and most everyone is working to protect our communities based on the current information and situation.

Overall Manitoba has had an excellent response to the pandemic and I'd much rather be here than anywhere else in Canada or the world frankly.

 

6 months ago, they were closing schools and already knew about social distancing. They could have easily developed a plan and have done little to nothing. 

Cripes, my school does not even have a rain plan yet for the students. It's September and they don't know what to do if it's raining outside. 

When students were going back in June, my children went for less than an hour. They had no assessment done at that time. They were abandoned by the teachers and the school. 

One teacher was so horrible at online delivery, she spent her two hours (!!!) a week of online teaching, reading a story to the kids and asking them if they had any questions. 

No, leadership from the Province, from our school division and our school has been a disaster. 

Well, civil servants and the administration didn't put anything on hold, they just did their jobs, kind of. 

 

[JCon]

To add.... But not to dwell, I see other school divisions proactively making changes to their school set up to allow for social distance. Our school is happy with a meter and wonder, out loud mind you, if they need to do anything else. 

 

I know in a few weeks time that my children will be out of school. Something will trigger a shutdown and I know that our school is just as prepared for online delivery as before. So, not at all. 

[rebusrankin]

Am curious JCon, which division.

[JCon]

1 minute ago, rebusrankin said:

Am curious JCon, which division.

Pembina Trails. 

 

 

I should also add that I don't hold the teachers responsible. They were stuck out there with little supports. I know that they are working tirelessly, while managing their own personal situations. We have older teachers in the system that must be worried about their health and younger ones with children at home trying to figure out schooling too. 

[GCJenks]

28 minutes ago, JCon said:

6 months ago, they were closing schools and already knew about social distancing. They could have easily developed a plan and have done little to nothing. 

Cripes, my school does not even have a rain plan yet for the students. It's September and they don't know what to do if it's raining outside. 

When students were going back in June, my children went for less than an hour. They had no assessment done at that time. They were abandoned by the teachers and the school. 

One teacher was so horrible at online delivery, she spent her two hours (!!!) a week of online teaching, reading a story to the kids and asking them if they had any questions. 

No, leadership from the Province, from our school division and our school has been a disaster. 

Well, civil servants and the administration didn't put anything on hold, they just did their jobs, kind of. 

 

Not to belittle the point but you're wrong. 6 Months ago they suspended school for 3 weeks expecting kids to return after a little more than one incubation period thinking it would be safe. The information and severity was changing so fast all they could do was extend that. 

I don't know what you do for a living or your past experience but you can only react to this situation. There has been very little time for pre planning as it really requires having all the information in hand to make a decision and move forward with a concrete plan. On a national level for the first time in my life I will give a Liberal government credit, they made decisions but as they got more information and feedback they adjusted and changed at a pace unheard of in Canadian Government EVER. Provincially we weren't quite as adept but always looked to finds the gaps to find what support wasn't being offered and tried to supply those supports.

I feel for you that your division hasn't provided the information or support you feel you need. I feel very differently about RETSD. 

My biggest criticism of any pandemic response plan I have seem from anyone is the need for people to have a plan for every possible situation predetermined. Sometimes you have to remain flexible and know that decisions will be made with the best information available at any given point in time and that the response to a second situation may be different than the first based on if the information has changed.

With regards to the school system please remember, many of those people spent 100's of hours working this summer for a salary that is based on 10 months of the year. They basically volunteered their time to try and provide a safe positive environment for your child to return. If your child was anything like mine he/she likely needed to be back for his/her emotional well being as well as your own.

We will get through this and hopefully a better society is what we are left with, some days I am very hopeful of this, some days not so much.

 

[Sard]

35 minutes ago, GCJenks said:

Not to belittle the point but you're wrong. 6 Months ago they suspended school for 3 weeks expecting kids to return after a little more than one incubation period thinking it would be safe. The information and severity was changing so fast all they could do was extend that. 

I don't know what you do for a living or your past experience but you can only react to this situation. There has been very little time for pre planning as it really requires having all the information in hand to make a decision and move forward with a concrete plan. On a national level for the first time in my life I will give a Liberal government credit, they made decisions but as they got more information and feedback they adjusted and changed at a pace unheard of in Canadian Government EVER. Provincially we weren't quite as adept but always looked to finds the gaps to find what support wasn't being offered and tried to supply those supports.

I feel for you that your division hasn't provided the information or support you feel you need. I feel very differently about RETSD. 

My biggest criticism of any pandemic response plan I have seem from anyone is the need for people to have a plan for every possible situation predetermined. Sometimes you have to remain flexible and know that decisions will be made with the best information available at any given point in time and that the response to a second situation may be different than the first based on if the information has changed.

With regards to the school system please remember, many of those people spent 100's of hours working this summer for a salary that is based on 10 months of the year. They basically volunteered their time to try and provide a safe positive environment for your child to return. If your child was anything like mine he/she likely needed to be back for his/her emotional well being as well as your own.

We will get through this and hopefully a better society is what we are left with, some days I am very hopeful of this, some days not so much.

 

I absolutely agree that there is a need to remain flexible and not need to necessarily have a plan in place for every possibility, but I think that was the problem with the province's school plan.  I think they were trying so hard to have a full plan in place for every contingency and that paralized them into not having anything until a week or two before school started.  Even if you discount the first 3 months as they were dealing with last year's school plan as best they could, but they had 3 months though the summer to come up with some better guidance than cohorts of 75 and face masks for everyone grade 4 and up unless you're able to keep 2m space.  And I'm sure the school administrations would have appreciated having the guidance earlier than they had it so that they could have time to implement the guidance and other things that they came up with on their own (like plexiglass between seats on shared desks).

[GCJenks]

3 minutes ago, Sard said:

I absolutely agree that there is a need to remain flexible and not need to necessarily have a plan in place for every possibility, but I think that was the problem with the province's school plan.  I think they were trying so hard to have a full plan in place for every contingency and that paralized them into not having anything until a week or two before school started.  Even if you discount the first 3 months as they were dealing with last year's school plan as best they could, but they had 3 months though the summer to come up with some better guidance than cohorts of 75 and face masks for everyone grade 4 and up unless you're able to keep 2m space.  And I'm sure the school administrations would have appreciated having the guidance earlier than they had it so that they could have time to implement the guidance and other things that they came up with on their own (like plexiglass between seats on shared desks).

Sadly, even if they had decided on plexiglass 2 months ago they would have had to open schools without it. Material is in short supply and getting the shield made takes time. Schools / government can't just go buy them from anyone, they would have to tender it and such before the design could be created and made. Was at a restaurant last night that finally was able to get plexi installed between booths and has been waiting for over 4 weeks since they ordered it.

[FrostyWinnipeg]