Salford has five new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing to total to 917, up from 912 the previous day.
Elsewhere in Greater Manchester, cases in Manchester now total 1,524 (up from 1,512), followed by Wigan with 1,151 (up from 1,146), Stockport 1,040 (up from 1,037), Oldham 1,053 (up from 1,043), Bolton 999 (up from 993), Trafford 791 (up from 787), Rochdale 760 (up from 758), Bury 725 (up from 717), and Tameside 683 (up from 674).
Salford Royal Hospital has announced no new virus-related deaths.
Meanwhile, Salford City UNISON surveyed its members who work in schools as teaching assistants, caretakers, nursery workers etc and found that 98% of them do not believe 1st June is a safe extended opening date.
The union has launched a petition calling on Salford City Council to declare that schools cannot safely extend opening, beyond vulnerable children and the children of key workers, on June 1st.
The Council has already written to parents and carers stating that it is 'highly unlikely' that the Government's timetable for opening schools "may not be followed" (see here)...but UNISON wants the Council to resist the further extension of school opening on 1st June.
"We applaud the sacrifice and commitment they [school members] have displayed during the lockdown, in order to ensure support for vulnerable children and the children of key workers" states UNISON "They understand as parents and workers the challenges posed by restricting opening, as do their trade unions.
"Officers at Salford City Council have informed us that their message to settings, as we approach the 1st June, is that they should prioritise vulnerable children and the children of key workers, and only bring back other children and young people if it is deemed safe to do so" it adds "We have no issue with the first part of this guidance. We want vulnerable children and the children of key workers to be able to attend school/nursery and our members in schools, nurseries and other parts of the Council are working hard to make this happen.
"Our issue, is with the second part" it insists "Based on the views of our members, we do not believe that it is in the interests of the public including those children and staff already in attendance - to further extend opening on June 1st.
"We recognise that the Council is expecting all schools to complete a risk assessment and that this will need to be signed off by senior Council officers, but there are risks that schools and other settings cannot overcome because they are beyond their control" it explains.
The union lists some of the issues, including 'The lack of clear knowledge about the impact of Covid-19 on children; The lack of clear knowledge on the extent to which children can spread the virus without displaying symptoms; The absence of testing for asymptomatic staff and children; The lack of contact tracing; How we tackle the disproportionate impact on particular members of our community, including those from black and other ethnic minority backgrounds'.
"Salford's plans must be guided by the welfare of the people, not an arbitrary date" it adds "We therefore call upon Salford City Council to publicly state that plans for the further opening of schools and nurseries will be guided by safety, not an arbitrary date. This means declaring that settings should not extend opening beyond provision for vulnerable and key worker children on 1st June, or any other date, before it is safe to do so."
To read more and sign the petition click here
UNSION also has a Safety First For Schools online event 'to ensure there is no return to Salford schools until it is safe to do so', with Salford and Eccles MP Rebecca Long Bailey who is also Shadow Education Secretary, on Wednesday 27th May at 7pm for details click here
Meanwhile, a booklet being placed in shops and businesses around Salford Precinct titled How To Keep Yourself and Others Well, giving more or less common sense advice on disease and how to deal with it, is actually a product of the controversial Church of Scientology and has a link on its back cover for 'more information'...
Click on the link and it offers "tools you can apply to help relieve the mental anguish associated with isolation and overwhelm"...with a 'free online course', Solutions for a Dangerous Environment complete with 'your personal online course supervisor'.
The video trailer for the course accuses governments and the media - 'merchants of chaos' - of 'sensationalising it, making it worse than it is'. Scientology, it adds, will show 'several things you can do to lessen the threat and increase your command over your environment'...'it's not as dangerous as it's being made to seem'...'the world of threats and danger is an imaginary one created with lies...' etc. Hmmmm...
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