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A friend of mine is a school librarian at a large Notts Comprehensive School.  She has worked for only half a day since lockdown although the school has been open for children of essential workers throughout the Summer Term.

She has now been advised, without any discussion, that from the start of the Autumn Term she will no longer be a Librarian but instead a teaching assistant for Special Needs children.  The Library is to be used as an extra classroom, allowing for  the necessary social distancing.  She's given them a month's notice as she is not trained to be a teacher.  They've twisted her arm and she will stay on at the school and her job will be as a cleaner, wiping down, spraying anti-bacterial stuff, etc.  I'm wondering how long she'll stick that job.  

It must be very difficult for the Head Teachers to organise everything within a school, large or small.  I don't envy them.  

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Margie is right. I keep popping in to see how you all are. Thankyou all so much for your posts.   I'm afraid we are not very well the pair of us. This must be the 'Long Covid' that we hear a

I really wish that more people were afraid. For their own safety.    I don't think anyone who hasn't witnessed in reality a person down on their hands and knees gasping  with a chest full of

Am in total dismay at the human race. It's becoming more like Mad Max at the moment.        This me me society we have created cares only about themselves: I'm alright Jack, the rest of you can f

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1 hour ago, LizzieM said:

.....she will no longer be a Librarian but instead a teaching assistant for Special Needs children.  ...... she will stay on at the school and her job will be as a cleaner, wiping down, spraying anti-bacterial stuff, etc.  

 

My daughter in law is a teaching assistant at a small village primary and had a similar experience . After a few weeks on furlough she was asked to go back but there weren't enough children to look after so she ended up sorting the library out for something to do .

Then similarly , was asked to go into cleaning mode , wiping door handles  etc . Got so desperate for something to do that they even spent a day removing cobwebs from the fencing around the school perimeter ! 

 

Her brother works for a national holiday cottage rentals firm and you would think they would need all the staff in during this busy few months but he and another member of staff are still on furlough . Turns out those two were the highest paid in the local office and I guess the government picking up the 80% of their wages suits the firm , even though it means those in work are probably having to work doubly hard .

 

He's had no communication from the firm in this time but expects (hopes !) at the end of the season he'll be made redundant .

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13 hours ago, philmayfield said:

Scotland is part of the UK. It's just an extension of northern England.:biggrin:

 

But I was told that Scotland has different ideas from England. 

Sorry Phil but being away for so long has made me ignorant of where Scotland belongs.:rotfl:

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This virus has really mucked things up. It seems that many qualified people are put to menial jobs because things have to be rearranged and it makes a mockery of qualifications.

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39 minutes ago, nonnaB said:

 

But I was told that Scotland has different ideas from England. 

Sorry Phil but being away for so long has made me ignorant of where Scotland belongs.:rotfl:

Its ok Nonna,,,with each country giving its Coronavirus figures independently i reckon its added to the number of people ''Living here'' who have no idea what the difference is between....''Great Britain'' the United Kingdom and the British isles.........

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46 minutes ago, nonnaB said:

This virus has really mucked things up. It seems that many qualified people are put to menial jobs because things have to be rearranged and it makes a mockery of qualifications.

 

But menial jobs are now some of  the most important.  Keeping things clean is essential to keep this horrible virus at bay.  Our eldest son had very good qualifications and a brilliant high paid job but, after being made redundant, he now drives a food delivery van for Sainsbury's.    No skills are involved but what he does  is an essential service nowadays ....  (and strangely, he says he enjoys it as he has no responsibilities, no long commute to London and he does seem much more relaxed.... even coping OK with much less money)

 

When I was nursing many many moons ago, we nurses were responsible in part for keeping the environment clean on the ward, wiping down surfaces etc.  We were told it was a very important part of our job to keep infection down.   As I said, menial jobs are really necessary.......

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Yes Margie I had to do some menial jobs too when studying hairdressing , that goes with a lot of jobs. I had to clean and disinfect and sterilize equipment and the solution for sterilizing affected my eyes it was so strong . But it was an important part of my training and to this day when I do something that I did in those long gone days I remember to do them the correct way.

I think in this day and age we have to be prepared for anything and be humble if things go pear shape. i know someone has to do these menial but important jobs and I doubt whether the unemployed at this moment are even considered.

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3 hours ago, benjamin1945 said:

Its ok Nonna,,,with each country giving its Coronavirus figures independently i reckon its added to the number of people ''Living here'' who have no idea what the difference is between....''Great Britain'' the United Kingdom and the British isles.........

 

A bit like people here don't know how to maneuver a traffic island.

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There’s been an outbreak of cv in Newark at the Bakkavor deserts factory. They employ 1600 people making deserts for all the large supermarkets. Around 39 have been tested as positive and about a third of those come from Lincolnshire. A testing centre has been set up at the truck park near the cattle market island. 

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Ben we are are only an hour away from the French border and easy enough to get into Spain along the coast. Germany is a bit more difficult but not impossible to reach by car. Hope everyone stays in their own country but suppose it's impossible. I'd be afraid to travel under these conditions as much as I want a break but we are getting loads of tourists around here from everywhere it seems. U.S. France Germany UK or is it GB or even England and for the record Ireland and Scotland.

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My School Librarian friend was happy to retire, she’s 61 and has worked for 40 years.  She has been persuaded to stay on, the job she will now be doing could be done by a genuine unemployed person.  

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There have been number of mini-outbreaks at food processing places and other places, both in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. They all seem to have been successfully contained and didn't result in any dramatic reactions.

 

You see them reported in the media when they first appear, and then you don't see them mentioned again.

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There are a lot of minimum wage jobs at food processing factories. Workers turn up even if they’re feeling ill, because they need the money. The food itself is prepared in a strictly controlled hygienic environment so there is little chance of contamination. If you saw food being prepared in a restaurant kitchen you probably wouldn’t eat it!

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My husband flew to Kingston Jamaica yesterday on business. He wore a mask all the time from entering Gatwick Airport right through til getting into his hotel room in Kingston.

5 days before departure he had to complete an on-line form for the Jamaican Ministry of Health & Wellness, confirming he hasn’t got Covid.

The BA flight was packed, mainly with Jamaicans. He was obviously permitted to remove his mask to eat lunch, which wasn’t presented in the usual way but arrived in a box, that’s not what he paid for!
On arrival at Kingston everyone was  tested, using what he described as something resembling a broom handle (!) being poked up each nostril and then a swab taken from the back of his throat.  He said the experience wasn’t very comfortable.

He’s not permitted to use any of the public areas of his business hotel for 2 days, and until he’s got the all-clear, so he can’t have his usual ‘breakfast meetings’ just yet.  Presumably he can go to eat in outside restaurants.

Every morning when in Kingston he goes for a walk around Emancipation Park, along with many Jamaicans, they love marching around there for their morning exercise.  This morning he found it closed.  
He’s just phoned me (again ....... he must be missing me)  and even though it’s only 9.45am over there he’s had his temperature checked 4 times already, every time he’s entered a building. 
So far so good, hopefully he can move around more freely in a day or so, then of course there’s the possibility of being in quarantine when back home.  

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Hang on ! Don't wish to be pedantic but I thought the thread was ' Meet ups' ,not Coronavirus. Is there going to be a meet up or not?? In view of latest news. Just askin,' is all.

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Thankyou it was kind of you Phil but you haven't tried the two here, we have the same reputation. Just look on TripAdvisor.

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RR I do look after myself but I have a mild underlying condition, so if I get the virus, I may well not get over it!

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Take extra care Margie.

 

On the same subject, as I've said before we have a lot of illegal immigrants or refugees that always seem to land in the small island of Lampedusa. It's not just one boatload it's hundreds in one boat and there are plenty of boats all illegal. No one wants to refuse entry to genuine cases but it's getting too much now. People are coming into the country from countries that have no wars or whatever. 

Now the latest is a boatful  of Tunisians who are about to be sent back and passages paid for by the Italian govt.  All these immigrants or whatever you want to call them all have the most up to date mobile phones and plead poverty and complain having to go through all the medical checks, some try to escape and some manage to escape. But the worrying thing is now every time a boatload comes in our virus cases increase. We had got them very low with only a few deaths ( still too many) but yesterday after about a week that these boat people arrived , out of 100 people 73 have been tested positive.  That's why our counts go up can you blame us for being worried and angry. These people are not escaping anything they just want to work illegally selling countafeit objects at holiday resorts.

Now our govt is starting to make a plan for when Italians re enter from their holidays because they know it will increase. A plan is also being made for new rules to be in force as we go towards autumn.

Keep safe everyone.

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As above , now holiday makers are re entering our new cases are increasing at an incredible rate. People from Malta, Greece, Croatia and Spain are being checked on entry into Italy. I heard on the news that holiday makers from England were all in a hurry to get home before isolation orders. Well done Boris. But I do wonder about those arriving after midnight . They will be put into self isolation but how is it being controlled, trust or something else. Hope there aren't many who are carrying this virus. 

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