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BU Covid Dash – Back to School Time

If we are to judge from recent events like cricket at Kensington Oval and political campaigning – supported by utterances from the Chief Medial Officer and Minister Kerri Symmonds –  the government is about to switch to a getting ‘back to normal’ mode. We must do all that is possible to address educating our children.…

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If we are to judge from recent events like cricket at Kensington Oval and political campaigning – supported by utterances from the Chief Medial Officer and Minister Kerri Symmonds –  the government is about to switch to a getting ‘back to normal’ mode. We must do all that is possible to address educating our children. Crop Over will fall in line.

Attached are charts for the week ending 4th Feb 2022.  The major takeaways may be that the R0 chart is continuing to trend downward, as is the daily cases chart and that the Death’s and total isolations charts are continuing to trend upwards.  These changes need to be monitored over the next couple of weeks to determine any changing or continuing trends. I’ve reposted the positivity chart as there seems to have been some recent interest in that statistic – Source: Lyall Small (Click image to see BU COVID 19 Updates page)

76 responses to “BU Covid Dash – Back to School Time”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    Fix the hazards

    New BUT head says teachers ready to return to classroom
    by TRE GREAVES tregreaves@nationnews.com
    RETURNING TO FACE-TO-FACE teaching without fixing some of the infrastructural challenges at schools can have a detrimental impact, says newly-elected president of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Rudy Lovell.
    So although teachers are in favour of resuming in-person instructions, he said the Ministry of Education would also have to pay attention to fixing the hazardous situations that exist at many schools.
    “I want to reassure the public that teachers are willing to get back to classrooms for face-to-face instruction but when it is absolutely safe to do so. We are parents too, so we understand what parents are feeling. So we are calling on the Ministry of Education to continue the discussion for as long as it takes. We, however, are mindful that schools don’t exist in a vacuum and we can’t just return to schools and expect everything will be okay,” Lovell told the DAILY NATION yesterday.
    His comments came after the Safely Open Schools Barbados group staged a protest on Bay Street, St Michael, opposite Government Headquarters, on Saturday evening. The group has asked new Minister of Education Kay McConnney to stick to reopening schools on February 21.
    A meeting with the unions is set to take place tomorrow to discuss the issue.
    When asked about the hazards, Lovell knocked the ministry’s maintenance plans and said there were many issues at schools, including faulty windows.
    “There are some schools with windows and doors that can’t close and we know that to curtail COVID-19 you need proper ventilation. So we don’t want to be in a position where we are going back to school and lumping all the hazards together,” he added.
    He defeated Dwane Goddard by 244 votes to 63 on Saturday to become president. Lovell replaces former president Pedro Shepherd, who resigned on January 3 after he was nominated to contest the St Michael South East seat in the recent General Election, losing to former Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw.
    Lovell, who is the head of the Industrial and Technology Department at Grantley Adams Memorial School, has been a teacher for 21 years and a member of the BUT for 17.
    He served as a steward in the union, chairman of stewards in 2016, deputy general secretary, second vicepresident and first vice-president before his elevation as president.
    Lovell said he also wanted to provide more professional development opportunities for members and improve communication between the executive and membership.
    When asked how he planned to tackle the perception by some that the trade union movement was losing relevance, he said it was vital to take criticism and act on suggestions where possible.
    “As trade union leaders we need to be cognisant that we are carrying out the mandate of those persons who elected us, and to do that, we must have a greater dialogue with those individuals. The only way we can change the perception is by communicating with the members, hearing their views and implementing the suggestions which we can,” Lovell said.


    Source: Nation

  2. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush Tea

    We have to protect the children too.
    ———————

    One unexpected sign of Omicron infection in some children: croup

    https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/08/health/croup-omicron-variant/index.html

  3. GreenMonkey Avatar
    GreenMonkey

    Getting back to normal means eating less junk food and getting more vitamin D circulating in our bodies to boost our immune systems (as I said from day one of the lockdown when they shut us in our homes during the prime hours of daylight when vitamin D production from sunlight on skin would be possible).

    From the Irish BioChem Engineer Ivor Cummins
    Wow – the Latest Vitamin D Study is Kinda Stunning! Viral Revelations
    Not one to miss – the latest Israeli Vitamin D status vs Covid Severity study is not only stunning, but agrees with the similar studies I featured in April 2020!

    https://youtu.be/HLvDkYr3GaY
    Alternate link to the video in case the YT link is censored: odysee(DOT)com/@IvorCummins:f/wow-the-latest-vitamin-d-study-is-kinda:2

    The peer reviewed study “Pre-infection 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and association with severity of COVID-19 illness” is posteds at: journals.plos(DOT)org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0263069

  4. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    There were 714 new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, 310 males and 404 females, recorded on Monday, February 7, from among the 2 674 tests

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2022/02/08/barbados-records-714-new-covid-19-cases/

  5. GP Avatar
    GP

    COVID IS COMPLICATED
    REALLY?
    YOU MEAN TO THOSE WHO HAVE COMPLICATED IT WITH POLITICS AND GREED AND THE DESIRE TO CONTROL MINDS ?
    SANE SERIOUS SOLID STUDENTS OF MICROBIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY HAVE TREATED THIS CORONOVIRUS INFECTION SENSIBLY FROM THE BEGINING

    THE IGNORANT MASSES DO NOT UNDERSTAND THAT THEY ARE BEING CONTROLLED BY MEN WHO HAVE SOLD OUT TO THE GOD OF THIS WORLD AND HIS ASSIGNS WHO ARE CONTROLLED BY GREED POWER AND THEIR WARPED DESIRE FOR POWER,

    AS THE ONSET OF THE ESCHATON APPROACHES. MANKIND IS BEING PROGRAMMED AND PREPARED FOR CONTROL BY THE ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT LED BY ANTICHRIST FOLLOWING THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH

  6. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Great article GM
    Thanks for reinforcing what has been obvious from the beginning.

    @ David
    “@Bush Tea …We have to protect the children too.”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Clearly you have clothes on the line and you looking for rain… LOL

    Protect the children from what?
    Were we not saying all along that it was the old people who needed to be protected? …and that children had to be masked up in order to do so?
    If you force children to wrap their noses and mouths all day, why would you now be surprised that they get upper respiratory track infections?
    After two years of isolation, fear and insecurity, what do you think will be the outcomes for these poor children, when even PRE-pandemic, they were stressed beyond any previous generations?
    Now our teachers are sayin that they a’int going back to school unless the children take the experimental ‘vaccine’ …and that this is for the teachers protection.
    We going around in circles Boss….
    A clear sign of the blind leading the blind.

    Don’t be surprised if the REAL trouble start when we finally get details about the ongoing ‘vaccine’ trials….

  7. David Avatar
    David

    No Bush Tea, the blogmaster was defending a position ALL must be protected.

  8. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    ‘All must be protected’
    ~~~~
    If you think about that statement David, the folly of the Global response to Covid19 will become apparent.
    Do you have ANY idea of the complexity and BRILLIANCE of the human body? …and of the inter-related, collective systems of nature in general? … VERY FEW DO. (LOL ..and those that do, speak in ALL CAPS)
    The very IDEA that a bunch of shiitehounds from Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson are able to ‘intervene’ in this process to achieve positive outcomes at a global scale would be laughable …if it was not so blatantly and ridiculously outrageous.

    If you want protection, …see Green Monkey’s post above….or check Bushie privately..lol

    Those crooks are best known for high level scams – where they push dangerous drugs with high level PR, and make $$billions from susceptible BB’s. Then they voluntarily pay the $100million fines imposed by the FDA when they are caught.
    Steupsss….
    What protect what??!!
    That is like asking ac to ‘protect’ you in court with her legal acumen – if you were charges with a serious offense.

  9. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush Tea

    GreenMonkey’s post assumes individuals have been managing their health situation before Covid. A healthy body as the presenter stated is created as a result of a routine.

  10. John Avatar
    John

    Brits got real problems with their water as I have been pointing out for months!!!

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/medical/toxic-water-warning-contaminated-supply-could-cause-type-2-diabetes-thousands-at-risk/ar-AATCoTT?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=W069

    Fix the water and fix COVID!!

  11. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush Tea

    You listened to local talent Dr. Doughlin?

    ——————

    Dr Elliot Doughlin – Assisting the Body to Fight Coronavirus – Barbados Underground

    https://barbadosunderground.net/2020/03/19/dr-elliot-doughlin-assisting-the-body-to-fight-coronavirus/

  12. GP Avatar
    GP

    GreenMonkey’s post assumes individuals have been managing their health situation before Covid. A healthy body as the presenter stated is created as a result of a routine.

    FOLK WITH THE MOST UNHEALTHY BODIES HAVE RESPONDED QUICKLY AND FAVOURABLY TO HYDROXYCHLOROQUNONE, LONG PROVEN TO BE EFFICACIOUS FOR CORONOVIRUSES, AND TO HAVE AN EXTREMELY HIGH SAFETY INDEX…….AND OF ALL THINGS VERY CHEAP. AND THUS AMENIABLE TO BE GIVEN OUT TO THE MASSES VERY CHEAPLY.

    IN FACT WHAT JOHN CALLS THE O MY GOD VARIANT WHICH IS ALMOST A VACCINE IN ITSELF DEVELOPED IN AFRICA IN FOLK WHO HAD BEEN TREATED WITH THIS DRUG FOR MALARIA. THE DRUG CAUSED THE VARIANT AS A POINT INSERTION MUTATION BY INDUCING INTERCALATION BETWEEN THE COMPONENT NUCLEOTIDES OF THE VIRUSES MRNA.

  13. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    David
    Dr Douglin has the same problem as Bishop Atherley.
    Too sensible, practical and logical for the local brass b bureaucracy.
    He would never be a ‘MOST HONOURABLE’ …like the ‘covid bosses’ bout here that parrot The WHO and CDC (who are funded by the biggest crooks currently alive)… and change their minds every month…

  14. John Avatar
    John

    JohnFebruary 8, 2022 4:35 PM

    Brits got real problems with their water as I have been pointing out for months!!!

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/medical/toxic-water-warning-contaminated-supply-could-cause-type-2-diabetes-thousands-at-risk/ar-AATCoTT?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=W069

    Fix the water and fix COVID!!

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    So if the water in Cambridgeshire can cause Diabetes because it is contaminated and the same principle as I have described is causing COVID, then we should see a period of flooding in the recent past.

    Voila!!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10347211/Flooding-hits-Cambridgeshire-river-burst-banks-experts-warn-50-floods.html

  15. David Avatar
    David

    Protocols set for back to school
    Stories by MARIA BRADSHAW mariabradshaw@nationnews.com
    SCHOOLCHILDREN can now be as close as three feet apart when schools finally reopen for face-toface classes on February 21, instead of the required six-foot physical distance as stated in the COVID-19 protocols.
    In addition, both students and teachers will soon be subjected to random COVID-19 testing.
    These were among several measures which the Ministry of Education will be implementing for schools and which are contained in a draft document entitled: A Road Map For The Safe Reopening Of Schools In Barbados.
    Yesterday, new Minister of Education Kay McConney and key officials in the ministry, including Chief Education Officer Ramona Archer-Bradshaw, as well as Chief Medical Officer (CMO), The Most Honourable Dr Kenneth George, met first with the principals’ and teachers’ unions, and then with teachers to inform them about the measures, some of which will be immediate and others to follow.
    In terms of the three-feet distance which many teachers questioned, George explained that it was part of the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).
    “The CDC and PAHO guidelines are three feet and that is going to apply with all schools,” he said. “There was at one time where we didn’t have much information and we were at six feet, and this changed overtime as we had more information. This is generated by our public health partners UNICEF, PAHO, CARPHA (Caribbean Public Health Agency), that the schools can operate in a three-feet environment.”
    However, he pointed out that if a school “had the internal space to go beyond that type of arrangement, we certainly don’t have any objections to that”.
    In terms of random testing, George advised it would be on hold until less invasive testing kits become available.
    He told the teachers: “Random testing is not off the table and the ministry has invested a lot of resources to get the appropriate testing to Barbados. Once those are here we have indicated we would start the training of individuals . . . but it’s not off the table.
    “We have invested too much funding in this, but we realise that nasopharyngeal swabs are not ideal in a school environment – it is too invasive and we have gotten the specs for the nasal swab which has less sensitivity and specificity and we would be using those as soon as they become available.”
    Addressing concerns about having face-to-face school amidst the highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19, he stated “our metrics are trending downwards”.
    The CMO noted that schools were lagging behind and PAHO had indicated that the return to the classroom should not be impeded at this time.
    No vaccine mandate
    George said while a vaccine mandate was no longer being made a requirement, Government was still trying to source vaccines for young children in nursery and primary schools, and “for secondary schools we have asked the Ministry
    of Education to expand their programme to make sure that all persons on the school plant understand the importance of immunisation”.
    He revealed that only 65 per cent of the teacher complement had been vaccinated and the ministry wanted that number go up to between 85 and 90 per cent.
    Both he and McConney stressed that masks should be worn, sanitisation stations placed throughout the schools, and if anyone fell ill while at school, they should leave the premises. Also, people should not attend school if they were feeling unwell and those exposed to the virus should stay home and get tested.
    In addition, they said children who test positive will have to produce a medical certificate to return to school.
    McConney, in her opening remarks, sought to allay concerns expressed by the unions regarding the conduct of the meetings.
    “I want to make it clear this is a conversation with partners which we believe need to be included in the conversation about how best schools can be reopened. This is not an intention on my part or on the part of the ministry, or on the part of the Government, to in any way, form or fashion seek to overstep any unions in which many of you are members.
    “It is not any intention for us to do any divide and conquer as some have sought to suggest . . . . It is simply us coming together to have a conversation in which you are being included to help us plan the best way forward.”
    Come February 21, reception, nursery, special schools, Infants A and B and Class 4 primary pupils, as well as Forms 1, 4, 5 and 6 at secondary schools will return to the classrooms. This will be assessed and the following week they will be joined by Classes 1, 2 and 3 in the primary schools, and second and third formers at secondary schools.
    School will start at 8:45 a.m. and end at 2 p.m.

    Source: Nation

  16. John Avatar
    John

    Columbia now having floods, we can watch and see if in 3 to 4 weeks its COVID cases rise once more.

    If the Brits can have their water spread Diabetes, the Columbians can have theirs spread COVID.

    https://imgur.com/eP5uWwU

  17. John Avatar
    John

    https://news.sky.com/story/at-least-14-killed-as-mudslide-brought-on-by-heavy-rain-hits-colombian-town-12537090

  18. John Avatar
    John

    JohnJanuary 3, 2022 10:01 AM

    Next Country after Brazil and Israel to see a COVID surge I reckon will be Malaysia.

    Expect it will start mid January.

    https://youtu.be/N6q5iVFxAlc

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Yet one more of my many spot on predictions on COVID has sadly, but inevitably, come to pass!!

    Looks like January 15-18 is when cases in Malaysia started to rise.

    If the ground dries out and no more floods, should start to plateau in a week or two given what has happened in other countries.

    https://imgur.com/D3AVgDD

  19. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    ” The more than 12,000 COVID-19 patients in home isolation ”

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2022/02/08/new-facilities-to-cater-to-covid-19-patients-in-home-isolation/

  20. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Did not hear this mentioned in our. discussion
    https://www.the-sun.com/health/4511726/new-covid-variant-omicron-sister-investigation/

  21. David Avatar
    David

    Schools ‘not fit’ for class
    The Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) wants the reopening of schools to be delayed by two weeks.
    Yesterday, following a three-hour meeting, BUT president Rudy Lovell told the Weekend Nation the union did not think it was safe to reopen schools for face-to-face classes on February 21.
    He said the members voted on the position and the majority agreed that the scheduled date was too soon.
    “We are not comfortable with a return to school at this time, given the existing circumstances, along with the fact that we believe that remedial work still needs to be done on the school plants.”
    Lovell said the schools were reviewed and, based on the structural conditions of the plants, they were not fit to facilitate a safe face-to-face environment.
    “Each school has a health and safety committee and that committee is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that all the necessary protocols and equipment are on the school compound. So they would indicate to the ministry and the principal of the school there is remedial work required to have a safe opening.
    Reason for delay
    “So, essentially, the delay is to ensure the safety of the students and the occupants of the school plant, not only the teachers, [for example], if you have any schools that have windows that can’t open because you need ventilation to alleviate the Omicron variant’s high contagious nature,” he said.
    “So we are saying, try to rectify those issues first and then let us come back to the table. We are aware that everything can’t be done but at least address some of the issues.”
    He added that bathroom facilities were also of concern as those facilities at several schools were not functioning.
    Lovell, who did not want to go into details about the suggestions his union intends to put forward to representatives of the Ministry of Education in a meeting today, said the BUT had the support of The Group of Concerned Parents of Barbados and the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union.
    After the meeting, some teachers who did not want to be identified said there were multiple issues they had with the resumption of classes, adding that they felt as though the Ministry of Education was “bullying” them into accepting the terms of their road map to “rush” and reopen schools.
    The concerns which the teachers said were raised in the meeting included:
    • What was the appropriate distance for physical distancing – three feet or six feet.
    • Whether the Ministry of Education would supply teachers and students with KN95 masks because health officials have deemed that cloth masks do not provide the best protection.
    • The COVID-19 positivity rate was too high and they feared it would soar once face-to-face classes resume.
    • Issues relating to teachers
    who were also parents and their ability to look after their wards.
    • The proposed time to end school – 3 p.m.
    or 2 p.m.
    • Whether random testing would be mandatory.
    On Monday, Minister of Education Kay McConney and other education and health officials met with the principals, unions and teachers in separate meetings and told them that the ministry was going ahead with plans for the opening of schools, with one set of students returning on February 21 and the remainder a week later.
    The ministry said that apart from enforcement of COVID-19 protocols, students would now be able to stand three feet apart as recommended by international health agencies.
    Several groups have also been calling for the reopening of schools. (SB)

    Source: Nation

  22. John Avatar
    John

    Things falling apart up north for Trudeau as reality sets in …. the brick wall of common sense!!

  23. John Avatar
    John

  24. John Avatar
    John

  25. John Avatar
    John

  26. John Avatar
    John

    All the truckers need to do if push come to shove is to go home and don’t drive their trucks.

    Same result.

    Yes scabs can be found but trucks are hard to come by!!

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