That’s not true. Children are extremely low risk and If other business’s are opening then kids need to go somewhere as presumably their parents will be going back to work. The best policy is to get schools back Asap first and see what happens.
What about children who have siblings who are vulnerable or parents or living with grandparents?
When the schools close again for the summer then they’re back to square one. Who’ll look after the kids?
Uk holidays are always in the middle of July/august so that’ll be no different to any other year. They don’t get June off like in Ireland.
I know that. Childcare won’t be available this time when the schools close though.
People will be going off furlough to go back to work for a few weeks while the schools open and once they close many will have to take absence from work as childcare facilities won’t be available. During these few weeks children and teachers are going to schools and are at risk of spreading the disease to each other or even bringing it home to more vulnerable relatives.
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But that’s exactly what you want. You have four months to spread the disease slowly in the summer. I presume you are saying they should remain closed till September when we are facing into a long winter where other flues will be going around. That would be mental. Schools are easily opened and closed. If things started to spike they can close schools again relatively easily. If they don’t they’ll be two steps closer to beating this thing. Lock down buys you time. It isn’t an end game and many people don’t seem to get that.
Interesting article here by Lara Marlowe about the differing rates of death in France and Germany and why that might be.
French media and politicians are asking why Germany has fared so much better than France in the Covid-19 pandemic.
France’s near obsession is matched by German discretion. For fear of appearing arrogant, or tempting fate before the crisis is over, German officials do not boast and commentators are cautious.
In the early stages of the pandemic, the disparity between French and German mortality figures as a percentage of cases was explained by the fact that Germany was conducting far more tests, and thus identified more cases.
But as of yesterday, France had reported more than 3.5 times as many Covid-19 deaths as Germany, according to Worldometer.info, for a smaller population of 67 million, compared to Germany’s 83 million.
There have been 25,531 fatalities for 170,551 cases in France, compared to 6,993 deaths for 167,007 cases in Germany.
France ranks fifth in the world in terms of Covid-19 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, at 37.63, while Germany ranks 8th, at 8.43 deaths per 100,000, according to statista.com.
The stark comparison is traumatic for the French, because of historic rivalry with Germany, and because France long believed its healthcare system to be the best in the world.
France spends 11.3 per cent of GDP on healthcare, compared with 11.25 per cent in Germany, according to the OECD.
Bureaucracy
“The German example proves that the efficiency of a system does not depend only on means,” the lawyer and conservative deputy in the National Assembly, Jean-Louis Thiériot, wrote in Le Figaro. “It depends above all on organisation, a state of mind and authority that is well-calibrated, at the right level.”
In France, 35.2 per cent of hospital staff do administrative work, compared to 24.3 per cent in Germany. France often gives the impression of a country paralysed by bureaucracy.
“Liberate hospitals from the bureaucratic curse!” said a petition signed by 20 eminent medical professors, published by Le Figaro on Sunday. “This crisis has seen a drastic reduction of administrative procedures,” the doctors wrote. “We were able to break out of paperwork hell. We must not fall back into it.”
Germany has 4.3 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants, compared with 3.4 in France. German hospital staff work 40 hours per week, compared with 35 hours in France. As private sector employees, the Germans enjoy less job security, but their salaries are 20 per cent higher. The wages of German nurses are 13 per cent higher than the average salary; those of French nurses 5 per cent lower.
In Germany, the federal government determines general policy orientation, but the states – the länder – distribute funds and take investment decisions.
In France, the regional health agencies (ARS) have concentrated on reducing spending. Stories of local communities fighting to keep medical facilities are legion.
When the pandemic started, Germany counted 28,000 beds in intensive care units, compared to 5,000 in France. That has since risen to 40,000 beds in Germany, compared to 14,000 in France.
Because Germany has retained greater industrial capacity, it has encountered far less difficulty than France in producing the chemical reagents for tests, personal protective equipment and ventilators required to treat Covid-19 patients.
At the outset of the pandemic, Germany was conducting half a million tests weekly, when France was still questioning the necessity of testing, doubtless to mask a severe shortage. The slogan of the World Health Organisation has been “test, test, test”. The WHO wanted governments to isolate the virus, not the population.
The different management styles of French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel have also been a factor. Macron has used war-like rhetoric and, in the tradition of France’s monarchical presidency, delivers half-hour-long televised speeches at 8pm.
Merkel, by contrast, met for four hours with the minister-presidents of German länder before explaining her policies in a press conference.
German political institutions work through consensus; French institutions through confrontation. “Obviously, French political leaders have many lessons to learn from German resistance to Covid-19,” an editorial in Le Monde said.
Polling by Cevipof, Ipsos and Sopra Steria in several EU countries found that 62 per cent of French respondents were dissatisfied with their government’s handling of the crisis, compared to 26 per cent in Germany.
“Fundamental characteristics of our country, its pessimism, fragmentation, more radicalised opinions, the fact that one expects everything from the state, amplify criticism of the executive,” the political scientist and director of Ipsos, Brice Teinturier, told Le Monde.
Since his election three years ago, Macron has dominated the European stage. In Europe’s greatest health crisis in a century, his youth and vigour have been outshone by Merkel’s age and experience.
A rebalancing of their respective influence could be a consequence.
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What’s not true? Are you lying again here?
That’s it’s an unnecessary risk to open schools before September.
You said above “ it’s exactly what we want “ when asked if it was okay for kids to bring home a virus potentially which could kill an relative with an underlying issue.
Stop wumming you stupid cunt.
You do realise herd immunity is the only answer? Having schools open in the summer is the perfect test. It is literally exactly what we want.
I realise you are a Grade A idiot.
The only person making an idiot out of themselves is you. You can’t reply to anything just guessing and throwing around insults. You are a shambles of an individual.
Stick to the ponies you imbecile.
The comparison between Ireland and Sweden is far from flawless regards per head of population etc.
Sweden has roughly double the population of Ireland but has 6 times the area in which to house them i.e. Sweden is considerably less densely populated.
Ireland has failed miserably is protecting the aged conversely Sweden have done better here overall but they have also sacrificed the unknown Vulnerables i.e. their death rate for the under 50’s is high comparitively to ours.
What is striking and potentially more applicable is how Sweden are failing miserably to their closer peers and neighbours in Norway and Finland.
Using the per head of population method Swedens death rate is 7 times higher than both its Nordic neighbours.
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As I said you haven’t a notion just barbs. You have really revealed yourself as a sad individual on top of being a coward.
80 plus % of Swedes live in the Southern Third. So roughly twice the area of Ireland. So a fairly close comparison.
Most of Sweden’s population lives in high population density areas in fact, for reasons of climate and Geogrpahy. Much more than ours.
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Am I correct in saying that Preventative measures were taken in Sweden also?
There seems to be a myth that is was carry on as normal.
They did social distancing, closed universities and secondary schools, but left most business open so long as they were compliant. A sensible enough half way house job. They’ll still take a dent especially since the rest of the World will be fucked, but they haven’t driven into a wall either.
They say their deaths are higher than their neighbours because they’ve kept their definition of Covid death broader than those around them.
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