BristolUK

I heard a feature on the radio this morning in my groggy state and checked it on line. BBC

Shanghai, population 26m, in its 6th week of lockdown. No 'essential' trips out for exercise, groceries, no commercial deliveries of groceries, electric alarms on doors to alert the authorities if people with covid try to leave their apartments.

And "we" object to mask wearing in certain situations.

Paul_Shepherd

Yes I saw that.... wow... that is one crazy country. I love to travel, but that is one place I have no interest in at all.

spouse of scouse

Also locks on communal entrance/exit doors, and just recently green steel fences being installed around tower blocks. God help the poor souls living there if there's a fire.

dbd33

In the immediate crowd I work with, about 20 people, 3 now have covid. One has no symptoms but the other two are in a grim state, coughing constantly, vomiting during meetings, dead tired. One even announced at a meeting that he was no longer sure if he wanted to live or die.

I'm not keen on getting, or spreading, any of that so I'm carrying on with the mask, like most people around here.

Jingsamichty

Mask wearing would appear to be mostly a thing of the past in the UK now.

Paul_Shepherd

Its been that way for some time now, so I hear from my sister and friends over there.

Jerseygirl

My daughter had Covid 5 weeks ago. Same symptoms, she was in bed for a week, despite having 3 Covid shots. She spoke to an ER Covid doc over the phone because she could not keep food or fluids down. He prescribed meds and said if she did not improve in 48 hrs she should be admitted to hospital. Thankfully she responded to the meds. She tested herself multiple times, each time the test was negative. She is ultra cautious about avoiding Covid, but caught it from her 7 yr old daughter.

Nand

93% of deaths from SarsCov have been in people over 65 years of age. People 49 years of age and under are at almost zero risk of dying from Covid. It is a geriactricide, not a Pandemic for all people.
I hope in future, asdifficult as it is, younger people will do everything they can to protect and support elderly people not to contract CovSars disease.

dbd33

Of that 20 people, 8 now have covid and 2 heavy colds which they deny being covid. Meetings now sound like a lung cancer ward. "Let's all go and sit in an office together!" I said cheerfully, as directed by the HR publication "Return to Office Guidelines for Leaders". The idea did not go over well.

printer

Problem is that in your case sitting at home and working via zoom or whatever is obviously possible. Many many jobs don't have that possibility so its all hands on deck or severe staff shortage of which the latter seems to be the order of the day. We cannot live in a world of "stay at home zoomers" We cannot travel without physical staff seeing us through the airport and on the plane, the plane won't fly without crew. We cannot get our tires fitted via zoom or our haircut or anything else that requires "in person" services. So whilst it is understandable that those who carry out office work can do same from safety of their own home it's not universal and many people have no choice but to actually go into work. One would assume that had you all returned to office then those that are ill would indeed stay at home at least until testing negative.
I'm seeing more and more "hiring" signs locally and i was thinking if anyone wants a career change now is the time to get a new job

BristolUK

So accepting those necessities there is all the more reason for measures to reduce transmission generally, in less necessary matters, and thus reduced chances of passed infection in those more necessary situations.

dbd33

We can and we have. The question now is "is it better?". Obviously some jobs require a physical presence but tyres and haircuts are not good examples. Tyres don't need changing if you work from home, they'll last until they're out of date. We all cut our own hair when the barbers were closed and can continue doing so. There's no need for anyone to go to a shop now and so no need for anyone to work in one. Hospitals and care homes are the clear examples of enterprises needing on site workers.

When there's an "in office" policy people go to work sick. That'll be even more the case with the post covid return to work as the reason for being in an office is now generally understood to be cosmetic; it's less productive but the boss likes the feeling of having a workforce. If there's no one in the office then embarrassing questions about the need for a shiny new phallic tower will be raised. The Return to Office is at the expense of employee health, that'd be fine if only if were more profitable than leaving everyone at home.

Almost Canadian

What work are the mechanics, hairdressers going to do? What about all those businesses that provided services to office workers (coffee shops, sandwich/lunch providers, cleaners), what will their displaced workers do? I accept that many on here simply wait for Government funds to magically arrive in their bank accounts but huge amounts of displaced workers is not good for Government finances.

Calgary is now pretty much back to normal (seen purely from a walking around experience). For months I appeared to be the only one walking through the +15 but now,, the locals' annoying practice of walking 5 abreast so no one could get past them has returned. Fortunately, there doesn't appear to have been an uptick in the people being admitted to hospital either.

dbd33

Jobs change over time, fewer farriers and chimney sweeps work now than in the past. Home services might boom, food delivery, house cleaning, renovations.

Shard

This is correct. No need to force 21st century office workers into towers five days a week just to keep the sandwich shops afloat. A permanent hybrid working model is sure to emerge.