Please read your PM.

I completely agree with you - the world has moved on - this has significant implications as commercial property underpins much in the finance of this country - if that sector had a crash things could get very interesting.

We already see the reduction of demand for retail space will we see the same for commercial and office space?

The potential threat of commercial and office spaces being empty is driving the return to the office, in my opinion. If that market collapses it will be carnage. But I just can't see companies carrying on paying for tens of thousands of square metres of office space when they can just rent a small 'hub' office, and have employees come and go as they please while doing the majority of their work from home. A mate of mine has already terminated the contract of his office in favour of paying an hourly rate for meeting rooms, as and when required, for his staff who are now working from home. It'll save him a fortune.

On a personal level, I haven't been in my work office since late March. I may only get in in single figures for the remainder of the year. There is nothing of any note I haven't been able to do from home. Even my biggest yearly projects have been completed and ordered while sat at my kitchen table. My home and work Macs are almost identically specced and fully synched up. It's the same working interface whether I'm at home or in the office.

I suppose the big test will come in the Winter when people working from home are having to heat and light their own houses for the majority of the working day. If companies downsize their offices, saving them fortunes, will they subsidise home workers' utility bills in the Winter?

My thoughts exactly - my wife has been at home since February - it hasn't impacted her ability to deliver on her role - in fact quite the opposite.

I agree, I can't see business keep on on spending on office space which they quite simply don't need.Another thing I have noticed is meetings (on Zoom or Teams) are a lot shorter and achieve more, people are actually doing more when they work from home. They tend to log on early and be around until later, no more 2 hour commutes, buffet lunches etc. The biggest concern is the lack of human interaction, society is changing, even dating etc. is completely different now, no more eyes meeting across a crowded room.

We're finding out that we can do so much with so little. We no longer need long commutes, skyscrapers and Michelin starred restaurants in city centres to have a productive workforce. I hope this pandemic, and change in working culture, sees a steady flow of hospitality business out of the cities and into the surrounding villages and towns. If people are going to be working from home more, they will need these businesses for the after-work social element. The tea room/cafe round the corner from us is doing a roaring trade with takeaways now they've reopened.

We are certainly in for a good few years of change, the high street and towns were already struggling because of online shopping, and that has only increased, we have been incredibly lucky with the weather during the pandemic (well, the early stages, I think it is far from over). Will be interesting to see what Autumn/Winter brings and how behaviour changes even more one it's cold and wet (and windy and snowy).

I've noticed a significant hange in how people are spending, and what they are spending it on, people are now used to 4 cans for £5 instead of £3 a pint, they are drinking more, but they are doing it at home in the garden.

If commercial property collapses, which I believe it will, there will become pension funds and hedge funds that struggle, it seems strange that Apple has exceeded $1tn in value and will only get stronger, crazy times in an increasingly crazy world!

Interesting that in Germany, a country that is thought to be "better than the UK" for their handling of the virus, there have been cases of covid reported in 40 schools, since the opened 2 weeks ago, with 100's of kids and dozens of teachers now quarantined.
It's certainly going to be interesting to see how we go on over here in a couple of weeks time.

Mr Williamson must be really looking forward to it (the restart).

It's the unions fault - apparently

I know that IR80 and Sal will ignore this as it does not fit in with their agenda bit again some more science and evidence which they seem to completely ignore CHILDREN INFECTED EVEN ASYMPTOMATIC CARRY HIGHER VIRAL LOAD THAN ADULTS.. https://hms.harvard.edu/news/silent-spreaders FROM Harvard university Also evidence that babies carry large amounts of Covid in their faeces . You can all make your mind up on the potential implications when 3 million children go back to school in two weeks time .

I know that IR80 and Sal will ignore this as it does not fit in with their agenda bit again some more science and evidence which they seem to completely ignore CHILDREN INFECTED EVEN ASYMPTOMATIC CARRY HIGHER VIRAL LOAD THAN ADULTS.. https://hms.harvard.edu/news/silent-spreaders FROM Harvard university Also evidence that babies carry large amounts of Covid in their faeces . You can all make your mind up on the potential implications when 3 million children go back to school in two weeks time .

Quote ="Durham Giant"I know that IR80 and Sal will ignore this as it does not fit in with their agenda bit again some more science and evidence which they seem to completely ignore CHILDREN INFECTED EVEN ASYMPTOMATIC CARRY BIGHER VIRAL LOAD THAN ADULTS.. https://hms.harvard.edu/news/silent-spreaders FROM Harvard university Also evidence that babies carry large amounts of Covid in their faeces . You can all make your mind up on the potential implications when 3 million children go back to school in two weeks time .'" So is your suggestion that they don’t go back until we have a vaccination - therefore having extremely limited online teaching over the next school year Yes, it could be a disaster and cause infections left right and but what are we supposed to do. Anybody coming up with answers on this are on a hiding to nothing - so easy to sit back and critise

Quote ="Durham Giant"I know that IR80 and Sal will ignore this as it does not fit in with their agenda bit again some more science and evidence which they seem to completely ignore CHILDREN INFECTED EVEN ASYMPTOMATIC CARRY BIGHER VIRAL LOAD THAN ADULTS.. https://hms.harvard.edu/news/silent-spreaders FROM Harvard university Also evidence that babies carry large amounts of Covid in their faeces . You can all make your mind up on the potential implications when 3 million children go back to school in two weeks time .'" So is your suggestion that they don’t go back until we have a vaccination - therefore having extremely limited online teaching over the next school year Yes, it could be a disaster and cause infections left right and but what are we supposed to do. Anybody coming up with answers on this are on a hiding to nothing - so easy to sit back and critise

Quote ="Durham Giant"I know that IR80 and Sal will ignore this as it does not fit in with their agenda bit again some more science and evidence which they seem to completely ignore CHILDREN INFECTED EVEN ASYMPTOMATIC CARRY BIGHER VIRAL LOAD THAN ADULTS.. https://hms.harvard.edu/news/silent-spreaders FROM Harvard university Also evidence that babies carry large amounts of Covid in their faeces . You can all make your mind up on the potential implications when 3 million children go back to school in two weeks time .'" Kids have been back in school as normal in Scotland for 2 weeks? have we seen a huge spike in infections or have we seen further relaxing of the lockdown restrictions?

Quote ="Durham Giant"I know that IR80 and Sal will ignore this as it does not fit in with their agenda bit again some more science and evidence which they seem to completely ignore CHILDREN INFECTED EVEN ASYMPTOMATIC CARRY BIGHER VIRAL LOAD THAN ADULTS.. https://hms.harvard.edu/news/silent-spreaders FROM Harvard university Also evidence that babies carry large amounts of Covid in their faeces . You can all make your mind up on the potential implications when 3 million children go back to school in two weeks time .'" Kids have been back in school as normal in Scotland for 2 weeks? have we seen a huge spike in infections or have we seen further relaxing of the lockdown restrictions?

Just for once why don’t you try to work out an answere for yourself instead of having to be spoon fed.

Look at the science and just think is there an in between way to open up education or is it simple like the government view open all schools full. Time now or just keeping them closed.

Go on have a stab , see if you can workout a suggestion .

Practice thinking , problem solving . Do something useful rather than just following the party line.

your a card aren’t you

If I knew the answer I wouldn’t be on here reading negative nellies like you - no doubt there are all sorts of permutations for a potential solution, we have to leave it to the powers that be to decide on the right one.

The point being whichever route they take will be criticised by you and your like, it’s an almost impossible situation

Well, looks like the tories are done with their massacre of the elderly in the care homes, and are now turning their sights on the youngsters in the schools.

Still, you get what you vote for

Just happening now.

It is the easy route for the lunatic left, 100% hindsight, no real ideas other than harking back to Thatcher and their ability to buy their council house. Unfortunately that is the way this works, believe in socialism or get abuse, which goes ignored. unless of course you have an opposite opinion, and then you get warnings.

That appears to be the difference between us . Some of us do have ideas about how to get schools back but it will take planning and have to rely on working with individual schools by LA’s.

Simply put not all schools are the same. Some have lots of room and some are jam packed therefore individual schools need individual plans. Your idea is as simple as all schools must open fully which is. Recipe for disaster.

Simple things could be done to make things better for teachers and schools. Next year will not be a Normal year so normal ways of working should be suspended.

Simply put. No SATS this year. All emphasis on those in final exams years in secondary schools ie year 11 and year 13. Years 7. 8, 9, 10 and 12 on reduced timetable possibly in for 3 days a week staggered then homework set for the other two days.


Primary schools no timetable for years 1 and 2 lets use the European model of socialising children before the formal education begins. This would allow some of the classes to be led by none teaching staff to cover sickness, isolation and free them up to on Concentrate on the elder junior children

All of the above takes pressure off teachers and schools and gives them flexibility to work.

None of this is rocket science but it seems beyond our Tory posters and Tory government . Get it wrong then we will have local lockdowns all over the place Or even worse a national lockdown.

https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-study ... a-54659651 Schools less vulnerable Schools in Germany, on the other hand, aren't leading to major outbreaks at present, with only 31 outbreaks and 150 infections, according to the RKI. Only a small number of cases can be traced back to restaurants, hotels and offices.

https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-study ... a-54659651 Schools less vulnerable Schools in Germany, on the other hand, aren't leading to major outbreaks at present, with only 31 outbreaks and 150 infections, according to the RKI. Only a small number of cases can be traced back to restaurants, hotels and offices.

Most schools only been back for two weeks so any information will only be partial. Possibly one of the key issues is not that children will be affected as evidence does show that they are often asymptomatic.

The issue will be whether they are spreaders of Covid.

3 million children potentially 6 million Adults will be the problem.

A partial reopening to test this out would be a better way to go IMHO

BBC report that

While UK health officials say coronavirus outbreaks in schools are rare, this hasn't been the case in some other countries.

In Germany's capital Berlin, just two weeks after the city's schools reopened, cases of Covid-19 have been reported in at least 41 of the city's 825 schools. According to reports, all age groups have been affected - elementary, secondary and vocational schools.

As a result of the outbreaks, education officials in Berlin say hundreds of pupils and teachers have had to go into quarantine.

Some states in the US have also reported clusters linked to reopened schools, as has Israel.

In France, which is planning to reopen its schools in just over a week after summer holidays, all pupils over the age of 11 will have to wear face masks at all times.

I am not sure what world you live in but there are many viruses that we get and schools have been managing them forever, novoviruses influenza, measles in particular.

All are deadly all happen.

In some places in the world guns kill more kids that viruses in schools, then there is maleria and malnutrition.

My son was already a year behind where he needs to be and now even further back.

We need to get the kids back into school, my sons school has been open all the time anyway, just kore kids in sept. There are lots of risks covid is a current one, it affects people in NHS,Carehome, Shop workers, Factory Workers, Teachers Services.

The key is to manage it to the best of our ability.

All our kids are more important than any of us. What will be will be

Sounds like you are just going down the fittest will survive route or let’s go for herd immunity Approach.

How much is based on your son and how much on the science.

Whilst there is some suggestion the virus is weakening until we know then there is nothing wrong with being cautious.

The way the government has worked is to do no contingency planning until after the event by which time the damage is done.

If we were to go back to the April scenario of infections and deaths would you be wanting a full lockdown.

In my view opening too quickly and then closing down again is worse than a gradual and safe and planned opening up of society.

The suggestion I put forward previously allows for this . It can always be adapted for children with special needs or those who are more in need of services.

Mine and most children would not be inconvenienced with 3 days at school and two days distant learning .

I work in NHS clinical, so I know the score.

The area I am in has little transmission at the moment and I would be happy with part time or week about if needed.

Here neither of those are worth it as covid is at such low levels.

I took my son out a week early in March as I knew local transmission was too high.

The virus isn't weakening but the virus that transmits the most will always win out, usually the one that kills the least wins that game.

Herd immunity is the ONLY way out of this and that will happen either naturally or via vaccines, theraputics etc to relieve the amount of deaths as low as possible.

we know the score now, it isn't as deadly as first thought, 2.2% down to about 0.5%, but it is still more deadly than the flu but ultimately the only answer is to do our best.

so you are agreeing that, despite the lunatic left assertion otherwise, we are all doing our best?

Good, maybe you can tell Durham (self important) Giant that, it is amazing how many experts there are on RLFans recently, nothing like a global pandemic to fuel the fires of hate and jealousy,

We all have our views and from that we create what I would hope is a better view

For some though it is to late....