What a mess

With the new lockdown provisions preventing us from having family and friends in our homes, the rules seem to suggest it is okay to go and visit a pub with up to five other people.

How does that make sense?
Additionally, up until late on Monday, the day before the new lockdown conditions started that would prevent grandparents providing childcare while parents worked, the Government made a u-turn saying that they had listened to the concerns of parents and grandparents could now provide childcare.

For the last week the parents of my grandchildren had tied themselves in knots trying to rearrange shift patterns, beg and borrow favours from their colleagues to ensure that they could continue to work.
And exactly who were these parents that they had listened to?

Were they parents only just returning to work after being furloughed or working from home since March and as such only just encountering the problems of balancing work and childcare? 

The parents of my grandchildren are front line essential workers working for the Police and NHS. 

They have never missed a day being in work and are now in the position of having no annual leave left until next April because it has all been used to cover childcare and are having to take unpaid leave if they want to take any well deserved time off for a break before the inevitable onslaught of new Covid cases. 

One of the most recent slogans being banded about was “ Don’t kill your granny!” 
Yet it now seems fine to return this higher risk group of pensioners to the frontline school gates to undertake the school run.

It would have made far more sense to have made sure that schools, as a whole, reinstated their breakfast and after school clubs that many have suspended.
This would be of great benefit to parents and limited more contact between people. 

Barbara, via sthelensstar.co.uk