Teachers and teaching assistants have been working hard to keep children safe in schools. We certainly have. But we still have to work with fellow staff members, share staff rooms, intervention areas, toilet facilities, hallways, and sort out nativity filming as a team. We wear masks/shields in shared areas when it's sensible, but it's not always sensible. We don't want to be sick either! And we get quite cross when we see all our carefully bubbled children immediately head to the large playpark near the school after school ... with everyone. And see the playparks near the school actually heaving with children from across the local schools at the weekends, too. You have no idea where the outbreak started, frankly ... the teacher that got it may well have gotten it from a family of a child who doesn't give two hoots about the bubbles outside of school hours. We have many who fall into this category.
True, the outbreak could have been started by a child. And yes it must be annoying to see your bubbles of kids mixing in the play park! Although it’s ironic this outbreak initially spread amongst teachers who had attended a meeting in the same room, unmasked.
I appreciate teachers are working hard. But please remember most parents are working hard too. NHS staff for example, who worked through the initial pandemic without PPE, still need to work now and don’t get a 2-week Christmas holiday let alone a 4-week one! Coping with sudden school closures, trying to find childcare at short notice in order to keep working... can you see why parents get irritated? The staff meeting could have been held via zoom and the infected staff member wouldn’t have infected their colleagues. I don’t blame the teachers but I blame the head for the sloppy attitude towards social distancing!
I’d like to see stricter rules imposed on schools by the government, eg all teaching staff tested for covid twice weekly (or ideally vaccinated), staggered lunch breaks (with deep cleaning and ventilation of staff rooms in between bubbles), all cross-bubble meetings conducted electronically, masks and the 2m rule enforced. It’s not fireproof but will dramatically reduce risk to both teachers and pupils.
You’re unlikely to pick up covid from a toilet or hallway unless you don’t wash your hands. Also unlikely to pick it up from an asymptomatic child as they don’t shed the virus in the way symptomatic people do.