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Covid

Coronovirus IS transmitted in schools

786 replies

mosquitofeast · 10/08/2020 00:29

And lots of teachers have died

I am just clarifying this, as I don't know how many times I have read on Mumsnet that this has never happened. I don't know where this misinformation is coming from, but its rubbish

It was transmitted several hundred times in my school (secondary)before lock down. Hundreds of children and dozens of staff were affected. Some have been seriously ill and have been left with long term health problems, such as low lung capacity and loss of hearing.

I am a teacher and I was infected at school. I did not use public transport, or go into any shops or other businesses for the whole of March, and I was living alone. The only time I was in any contact with anyone else was in school

A school near us (also secondary) had to close a week before school closures were announced, as so many teachers were infected.

Thankfully, no staff or student in our school died, although several students have lost parents, and many have lost grandparents. One of my sixthformers has withdrawn her university application as her mum has lost a lung and a leg and now can't run her home and care for her younger children on her own.

However, according to the union, around 200 school staff have dies to date, so we have just been lucky so far.

So please don't repost this fake news that "no one has ever caught covid in a school" - because |I have watched it happen in front of my eyes, and experienced it myself.

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WorraLiberty · 10/08/2020 00:36

I am a teacher and I was infected at school. I did not use public transport, or go into any shops or other businesses for the whole of March, and I was living alone. The only time I was in any contact with anyone else was in school

You know you can catch it from surfaces?

It was transmitted several hundred times in my school (secondary)before lock down. Hundreds of children and dozens of staff were affected. Some have been seriously ill and have been left with long term health problems, such as low lung capacity and loss of hearing.

How were the 100s of children affected? Do you mean they caught Covid-19?

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LemonadeAndDaisyChains · 10/08/2020 00:36

And lots of teachers have died

Do you have sources/links for that?
Not disbelieving, as I think I had it end of last year and was really ill with it (breathlessness, seriously WTF is that constant cough, nearly called an ambulance due to breathlessness) but obviously as wasn't a thing Nov nobody will have picked up on it as unheard of.)
Whatever it was I had I caught off my secondary school child - if it was that he got mild just a bit "hard to breathe" one day but on going to bed woke up absolutely fine the next day.
Me, not so much.

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mosquitofeast · 10/08/2020 00:41

You know you can catch it from surfaces?

and I didn't come into any surfaces anywhere, other than those that had been in my house for months, or at school

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mosquitofeast · 10/08/2020 00:42

And lots of teachers have died

Do you have sources/links for that?

the figure of just over 200 comes from the NEU

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LooseleafTea · 10/08/2020 00:43

I am extremely sorry to read this and it sounds just awful for those affected so badly. Your post makes much more sense as I’m not a scientist but really don’t understand how children could be immune from catching and also inadvertently spreading the virus- It felt to me that there is such a need to undo the damage to people’s feeling of safety that we are now Possibly fed misinformation.
(I read in the Times yesterday that A scientist on the governments advisory board sage has been saying there is very little evidence that the virus is transmitted in schools)

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Justajot · 10/08/2020 00:43

I've been amazed by the argument that there hasn't been much spread of covid in schools since March (i.e. in bubbles of key worker children and restricted reopening), so children don't transmit covid and therefore full reopening is fine. Our school had bubbles of 10, each with 2 adults. It was nothing like the 30+ in a class that they are heading back to.

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mosquitofeast · 10/08/2020 00:44

(I read in the Times yesterday that A scientist on the governments advisory board sage has been saying there is very little evidence that the virus is transmitted in schools)

I really wish I could sit down and speak to these people

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WorraLiberty · 10/08/2020 00:45

and I didn't come into any surfaces anywhere, other than those that had been in my house for months, or at school

Oh come on now don't be silly.

Even if you're one of those that wears rubber gloves to pick you post up from your doormat and Dettols letters to within an inch of their lives, you could still have caught it from a surface somewhere.

How were the 100s of children affected? Do you mean they caught Covid-19?

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Nicedayforawedding · 10/08/2020 00:48

My friend is a primary teacher and they only had three keyworker kids in her class but she caught Coronavirus from school. Most of the staff tested positive and they had to close the school.

She was shocked how easily this bug spreads. I am very concerned about September.

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HerRoyalNotness · 10/08/2020 00:48

I found this but from May

www.google.com/amp/s/schoolsweek.co.uk/ons-figures-reveal-65-covid-related-deaths-in-education/amp/. 65 deaths at that time of education related professionals.

If it can be transmitted while shopping, on transport, talking to your mates etc then of course It will be transmitted in schools. One of the Georgia schools that opened and had photos of the crowded corridors posted has 9 confirmed cases now in school.

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Nicedayforawedding · 10/08/2020 00:50

Prolonged exposure to the virus in a poorly ventilated room seems to be the thing that is worst.

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TheUnquestionedAnswer · 10/08/2020 00:51

Don't forget that back in Jan-Mar people had the virus and were not tested. The figures are probably higher than that. I work in a school and a lot of pupils were off and I know of whole families who then went on to self isolate.

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mosquitofeast · 10/08/2020 00:52

@WorraLiberty

and I didn't come into any surfaces anywhere, other than those that had been in my house for months, or at school

Oh come on now don't be silly.

Even if you're one of those that wears rubber gloves to pick you post up from your doormat and Dettols letters to within an inch of their lives, you could still have caught it from a surface somewhere.

How were the 100s of children affected? Do you mean they caught Covid-19?

I am not being silly. I didn't touch any surface at all. I was trying to protect myself, and not risk carrying the virus into school. I touched absolutely nothing, not post, not anything other than at school.

And nor did my closest colleague, who was also exceptionally careful not to go out, or touch anything, at all, other than at school, and she caught it too
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HerRoyalNotness · 10/08/2020 00:52

@mosquitofeast

(I read in the Times yesterday that A scientist on the governments advisory board sage has been saying there is very little evidence that the virus is transmitted in schools)

I really wish I could sit down and speak to these people

This is where a working track and trace system would be handy in providing evidence of where the disease has been transmitted.
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WorraLiberty · 10/08/2020 00:54

I am not being silly. I didn't touch any surface at all. I was trying to protect myself, and not risk carrying the virus into school. I touched absolutely nothing, not post, not anything other than at school.

And nor did my closest colleague, who was also exceptionally careful not to go out, or touch anything, at all, other than at school, and she caught it too

Oh, ok.

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Tinty · 10/08/2020 00:56

and I didn't come into any surfaces anywhere, other than those that had been in my house for months, or at school

And none of the other teachers you worked with or shared a staff room with, went into any shops or anywhere else for the whole of March even though lockdown didn’t start until the 23rd of March?

You didn’t use a kettle in the staff room or a toilet whilst at school all day?

So in fact, you could easily have caught it from another teacher whose partner worked as a nurse or doctor. Do you think all the hospital staff should stay at home so they don’t catch it? Or all the supermarket staff should stay at home? Oh no of course they could carry on working through the whole of lockdown so you get your supermarket delivery, but teachers can’t work because they might catch Covid?

Obviously whilst all the children were stuck at home in lockdown all the cases dwindled to 0, because children are the only ones who spread it, right?

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LemonadeAndDaisyChains · 10/08/2020 00:56

Prolonged exposure to the virus in a poorly ventilated room seems to be the thing that is worst
Agree, if you're at home and inside, if it's a small home. if your child brings the virus back from school what can you do?
Back to my point - can't completely distance from your school aged child. However much you're at home and never really go anywhere yourself.

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Nicedayforawedding · 10/08/2020 01:00

Perhaps instead of being so flippant about it you should consider the fact that may people are scared of dying because they have underlying health conditions or family members who are very ill. Ffs.

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WorraLiberty · 10/08/2020 01:00

So in fact, you could easily have caught it from another teacher whose partner worked as a nurse or doctor. Do you think all the hospital staff should stay at home so they don’t catch it? Or all the supermarket staff should stay at home? Oh no of course they could carry on working through the whole of lockdown so you get your supermarket delivery, but teachers can’t work because they might catch Covid?

Yep and the emergency services should stay at home.

Ditto refuse collectors, so we'd be running alive with rats and flies, not having our rubbish collected for the last 5 months.

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Nicedayforawedding · 10/08/2020 01:03

My point is that it’s a highly contagious illness. I’m not Einstein and I don’t think you’re that thick that you need a source for everything but by a process of deduction I can tell you that there will be a host of outbreaks if you stick large numbers of children in classrooms together.

But I guess we should suck it up.

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Nicedayforawedding · 10/08/2020 01:04

Nurses and doctors wear PPE. Same with all the other examples. Teachers cannot wear PPE.

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TaxTheRatFarms · 10/08/2020 01:05

Thanks for this thread. My fit, healthy Ds came down with a virus in the last week of school, was bed bound for a week and suffered side effects until June.

For the benefit of the deniers, he hadn’t been anywhere except school ( he doesn’t tend to do the weekly shop or hang out in the pub, what with only being 10 and all). A few of his classmates and a few parents were also ill that week or the next week. He got a diagnosis of Covid and (thankfully) mild Kawasaki syndrome and we’re waiting to see if he has to go for tests to check heart and lung function as he still has an elevated heart rate and occasional sudden onset shortness of breath.

I don’t say any of this to scaremonger, but because it’s something people need to be aware of.

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mosquitofeast · 10/08/2020 01:07

@Tinty

*and I didn't come into any surfaces anywhere, other than those that had been in my house for months, or at school*

And none of the other teachers you worked with or shared a staff room with, went into any shops or anywhere else for the whole of March even though lockdown didn’t start until the 23rd of March?

You didn’t use a kettle in the staff room or a toilet whilst at school all day?

So in fact, you could easily have caught it from another teacher whose partner worked as a nurse or doctor. Do you think all the hospital staff should stay at home so they don’t catch it? Or all the supermarket staff should stay at home? Oh no of course they could carry on working through the whole of lockdown so you get your supermarket delivery, but teachers can’t work because they might catch Covid?

Obviously whilst all the children were stuck at home in lockdown all the cases dwindled to 0, because children are the only ones who spread it, right?

Firstly, I never said I didn't catch it from staff, I said I know I caught it in school.

Secondly, I don't think you understand how hard we tried to keep transmission down in March in schools. Certainly staff fridges, kettles, microwaves and staff rooms were banned in local schools, we were encouraged not to use the toilet, and to clean it with anti viral wipes before and after if we did use it. We did not sit close to other staff, we normally stayed in our own classrooms and talked by email, or across the corridors. However, we did still have meetings and assemblies, and duties, or of course lessons. We also stopped using safety specs or head phones, as well as wiping down all areas with anti viral dettol, etc. distributing hand gel to whole year groups. It still spread like wild fire
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Nicedayforawedding · 10/08/2020 01:08

Sorry to hear of your son’s illness, I hope he makes a full recovery.

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mosquitofeast · 10/08/2020 01:09

@TaxTheRatFarms

Thanks for this thread. My fit, healthy Ds came down with a virus in the last week of school, was bed bound for a week and suffered side effects until June.

For the benefit of the deniers, he hadn’t been anywhere except school ( he doesn’t tend to do the weekly shop or hang out in the pub, what with only being 10 and all). A few of his classmates and a few parents were also ill that week or the next week. He got a diagnosis of Covid and (thankfully) mild Kawasaki syndrome and we’re waiting to see if he has to go for tests to check heart and lung function as he still has an elevated heart rate and occasional sudden onset shortness of breath.

I don’t say any of this to scaremonger, but because it’s something people need to be aware of.

sorry to hear of this. I hope he makes a full recovery x
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