What do people who work from home do with their entitled sick days? Now the government have made it such that employees can legitimately get paid for so many sick days it's not like they can't "go to the office" since it's next to their bedroom.
My uncle was a civil servant way back and they used to get so many days paid sick a year and if he hadn't been ill he would take them off anyway as paid holiday. My father was disgusted at that idea.

I don't know but I suppose it's the same as vacation days, people save those up until HR says they have to take them and then they work while they're taking them; that hasn't changed with working from home. Personally I've never had any of either. This is a question really for someone who has a government job, former lancastrian or Danny B would be better placed to comment.

I do find it hard to fathom how someone could be too sick to work if it didn't entail leaving the house. I haven't heard of an example, the only cases of people losing work days since covid that I know of involved injury and being physically at the hospital. In that circumstance one wouldn't expect the person to do more than answer emails and txts.

From my local newspaper carrying a Washington Post report.

AstraZeneca and Oxford making version of coronavirus vaccine that targets omicron

That's a bit strange isn't it? I mean, if it's just like having a cold and we can all go to work or out partying and nothing more involved why do it? I don't suppose it could be because there's actually more to it?

Well, yes there is more to it .....$$$$$$$$.

I expect there is more to it but it's not strange for a drug company to develop drugs. If they could cure the common cold, they would. That's their business.

That's not wrong. The electric car, the Hitachi Magic Wand, ska records, all world improving inventions created with profit in mind. Even inventing oxycontin for profit wasn't wrong and should have been a good thing.

Didn't say 'wrong', said 'MORE'! 😄

🐠🐾 🕊 🐾 ðŸ

That notion also bugs me. I've been self employed for 26 + years. An attitude like that is not something I can fathom in my world. Reminds me of federal government people who have a year or so to go before they retire and get their pension and here in Ottawa they go on french language training, stretch it out to retirement time and then retire never having put the french training into practice.

It's strange to announce a drug that targets "just a cold" though. I mean why no announcement previously about a drug that targets a real cold?

Here we are 2021, we can treat a multitude of serious sometimes life changing diseases including new viruses but we still fail to successfully cure the common cold, or if you are male, life threatening flu.

Quebec have bought in restrictions more 'restictive' than Ontario. (for example, maximum of 6 people to gather in Quebec > 10 in Ontario
https://www.quebec.ca/en/health/heal...sures-in-force
https://cdn-contenu.quebec.ca/cdn-co...ur-anglais.pdf

https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1...nse-to-omicron


Updated 'Omicron' Travel restrictions / advice in place: https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/heal...th-notices/226
https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/tr...ons/exemptions

back-to-school plan information apparently due in next few days. Something tells me that they'll either extend the break by a week or two, or go to remote learning. Does not leave much time for those who go back on the 3rd. Plus given the BS that has come before, with saying "schools will be open" then less than 24 hours later saying "oh, schools closed", I won't believe it until the 3rd actually rolls round.

Just tested positive myself. Very minor symptoms - fatigue, minor cough - certainly nothing I'd have taken so much as a day off work for in any other circumstance. However, rules be rules and I'm self-isolating for 10 days. It's put a real spanner in our New Year plans but in the big scheme of things that's a trifle.

I've had 2 jabs and got the booster just a week ago, although to be fair we have certainly been fairly actively socialising until now. No-one else in the family/social group has tested positive (yet). I'm reminded of the time in Calgary in 2008/9 when my wife alone got swine flu which totally wrecked her for about 3 weeks yet none of the rest of the household got it.

On the plus side, if most people who are testing positive have as minor symptoms as me then this Omicron would seem to be little more than an inconvenience. I'm fully for taking all measures necessary to prevent the NHS being overwhelmed but I've yet to see evidence that there is a corresponding increase on hospitalisations from the fully vaccinated population.