Monday 26 October 2009

Papering over the cracks once more

Shaking off this cold is proving harder than I'd anticipated. I've had it for about twelve days so far and its in its last stages but I still have the sniffles at times and my throat becomes sore after I've been talking in the classroom for a few hours. Could be worse though. A work email today revealed that there have been more H1N1 deaths in Korea but this time not elderly sick people who were in the vulnerable bracket. This time its reportedly students of similar age to the ones I teach that have passed away. Though the number of deaths through H1N1 is only 20 out of a nation of over forty million people, some fifty nine schools across the country have been closed indefinitely. We have been told that H1N1 vaccinations will reach school populations within 2-3 weeks. We shall see.

It's noticeable that classroom numbers have been down again recently. In light of these recent developments the 'Mask policy' has been reintroduced/reinforced. All teachers are now 'expected to wear masks throughout the duration of the work day'. If my reading of the email is correct, and it may not be, then that means I must have the mask on at all times. Is this manageable? I tried today to have mine on intermittently during some classes and I was getting a major headache. To keep it on for over six hours is just not going to happen. I presume that here will be times that I can take off the mask. It's hard to imagine it making any difference. This is flu season and people just have to get through it.

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