Should teachers be extra vigilant to infection in their every day lives to reduce school transmission?

[WhyNotMe40]

As the latest PHE report states that in June there were more staff than students affected by the covid19 coronavirus, there are suggestions that teachers should take measures to reduce bringing the virus into schools.

Voting: do you think teachers should change how they behave out of schools to protect the school?
YABU yes
YANBU no

Also - what activities or behaviours do you think teachers should avoid or do to further this aim?

No; teachers should be as careful and vigilant as anyone else. Imposing extra restrictions or moral obligations on them is setting them up to become scapegoats for future school-based infections, as I’m sure you know OP.

Well, I can’t leave school premises at lunchtime as we are doing lunch duty which leaves us with a 20 minute break. We don’t have a Staffroom anyway so used to room temperature sandwiches!

I will not be implementing EXTRA measures to reduce contact for myself and my children outside of school. I am not going to ask my children to give up the dance club/gym class/football class and swim lessons as I am a teacher and it’s ‘my moral duty’ when their peers can. I have already been prevented from seeing my mum since the start of March as her nursing home was, and still is in lockdown due to us being in an at risk area.

If schools are ‘Covid secure’ then there’s nothing to worry about is there?

[quote QueenofLouisiana]@WhyNotMe40 As a teacher yourself, are you planning to adjust your behaviour? Are you happy to accept a forced lockdown on the whole profession?[/quote]
I'm trying to gauge what the average MNetter thinks.
Personally I am already a stickler to The Rules and am told.i am over cautious, so I'm not going to be adjusting my behaviour there. However as I have previously shielded DM and FIL I will probably not visit them again indoors until I've "quarantined" at Christmas. Not sure what we will do about letting the kids visit their vulnerable grandparents though. It's difficult.

I'd imagine most teachers are already doing what they can to reduce infections, like most people who aren't teachers.

Of course there will be a few who aren't, because there are always some who don't/won't follow the rules. As in any profession.

Problem is, and added restrictions put on teachers will be followed by the former (who were already following the rules so minimal risk) and not by the latter (who weren't).

The same as any other situation you can think of. So really it's a case of is it worth further restricting perfectly rule abiding, low risk teachers to mitigate against those who don't care (and the same will apply to any further restrictions we put on the pupils, or their parents).

I dont think so personally.

Everyone in society shouldbe behaving responsibly to mitigate risk e.g. wearing masks in indoor places, social distancing, maintaining good hand hygiene etc. It’s a collective responsibility and important if we want to keep transmission levels low in order to keep schools open.

School staff should definitely NOT have to go beyond as such little consideration has been given to their safety within the government guidance for schools.

Absolutely not. If the government deem that even though I have to wear a mask in a supermarket it's fine for me to be unmasked in a room with 5 different groups of 30 11-16 year old's each day then I don't see why I should live differently to every other employee in the country.

I literally have no life and resent the implication that an outbreak in a school woukd be down to some reckless behaviour by me.

I think this all came about because some weeks ago Jenny Harries pissed some parents off by implying they weren't policing their teens enough . Clearly whilst she was correct this was seen as teen bashing. Not a good look.

So now they have moved on to victim blaming by suggesting any infected teachers somehow neglected to be hyper vigilant. If I was one of those teachers, I'd be fuming at the intimation.

I won't be changing anything because I literally cannot prevent myself from mixing with people from 3 different schools , going to work and encountering 100s of teenagers and adults daily and doing a shop.
I suppose I could stop DS from being in a football team but that hardly seems fair.

Sorry @WhyNotMe40 I'm confused by your "unreasonable", not sure which way to vote? Maybe I'm being dim. Anyway, I disagree with the idea that school staff should be asked to take extra measures from anyone else in society, unless they get enhanced pay or something (which they won't!).

For those who haven't seen how this idea is being suggested, see this article on the front page of The Times today, which begins:

Teachers have been warned that they are spreading Covid-19 after a leading government scientist said they were far more likely to transmit the virus than children.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/children-must-go-back-to-school-despite-coronavirus-risk-chris-whitty-tells-parents-z2nh7kl77

Maybe they can just abandon their families and stay at the schools.

@guilttripjourno

Maybe they can just abandon their families and stay at the schools.

DH is also a teacher so that means two children at home alone although I’m sure DD and DS would love endless YouTube and crisps.

I don't think so. My priority is my family and home life. I'll be protecting them not my work place.

I don’t think teachers should be asked to do anything which the general public has not been asked to do. At the moment the current guidelines are not been widely and clearly advertised so many people aren’t following the current guidelines.

If it us indeed true that teachers are the superspreaders ( don't tell Hancock, he told everyone it was safe to go to work!)then the guidelines from the DfE need to be do much more explicit about adult interactions , such as meetings and duties, and about things like cover.

They're far more likely to catch it in school-facing 30 children for several hours a day with little protection than almost anything they are likely to do outside.

If you say they shouldn't do anything outside, then I'd say parents should be told that for children too.

I am a teacher with Crohn's disease. I am always careful. I have always had sanitiser gel on my landyard. I worked on the rota and with my bubble. During this holiday I have been in my house, shopping for my elderly shielding MIL and I did get to see my mum for the first time since Christmas. I am not alone in being like this. My colleagues have been sharing their tidying house stories or their camping trips. I'm not sure why I am to blame for school outbreaks or what else I can do to keep myself and my class safe.

This is genius on behalf of the government. They've provided themselves with another stick to beat the teachers with AND a get-out clause for themselves. So even though their plans have been an out and out shambles it'll be the teachers fault when there's another outbreak.

Teachers are really getting it in the neck from this rubbish Government.... people aren’t stupid. We can all see that this is to deflect from the mess Johnson is presiding over.
It’s so sad. I feel terrible for Teachers.

No, I don't think teachers should do things differently to anyone else just because they're a teacher, but Yes, I do think they should ensure that they follow the guidance, maintain SD, avoid crowded places, etc - i.e. the things that everyone SHOULD be doing. You can't have special rules for teachers, but by the same token, teachers shouldn't be breaking the guidance/rules just because it suits them and they know others who do it.

The new report referenced in this article (www.google.com/amp/s/www.tes.com/news/30-school-covid-outbreaks-be-vigilant-teachers-told%3famp) is just the set up for being able to blame teachers for any future outbreaks in schools. This would avoid the Government having to revise the lie they are trying to feed to the public that schools are completely safe.

Pretty soon, we'll start hearing that teachers have been told by their school/local authority/the media that they need to minimise interactions outside of school, avoid supermarkets and restaurants, etc. In fact, I know some schools have already made those suggestions in their risk assessments.

@Witchcraftandhokum

This is genius on behalf of the government. They've provided themselves with another stick to beat the teachers with AND a get-out clause for themselves. So even though their plans have been an out and out shambles it'll be the teachers fault when there's another outbreak.

Exactly.

Add into it that children are likely to be asymptomatic, and you need symptoms to get a test.... Well, is anyone surprised that more (adult) staff were affected than students?

@Witchend

They're far more likely to catch it in school-facing 30 children for several hours a day with little protection than almost anything they are likely to do outside.

If you say they shouldn't do anything outside, then I'd say parents should be told that for children too.

Unfortunately, the Government disagrees with you and is strongly suggesting that the teachers who have become unwell have done so because of their behaviour out of school. It's illogical but that doesn't really matter anymore.

Not unless all families of school age children should also restrict their interactions

This is funny.
Nearly as funny as when the y6's told us in June ALL about their sleepovers, daily meetups,parties etc. Or how they all met at the park or each other's houses after school ,despite us trying to keep their bubbles as separate as possible.

Fun! Fun! Fun!

If you say they shouldn't do anything outside, then I'd say parents should be told that for children too.

If parents want their schools to stay open, then parents too need to adhere to the guidance rules - no more, no less, just like teachers should.

Schools are an integral part of the community. If covid is at very low levels in the community (because people are following the rules) then the risk of covid spreading through schools within that community is much lower.

They're far more likely to catch it in school-facing 30 children for several hours a day with little protection than almost anything they are likely to do outside.

This ^

Unless you are one of those 6 yr olds that thinks their teacher is actually put away in the stockroom at the end of each day, and doesn't exist as a person at all, YAB ridiculous.
All of us should be doing what we can to protect one another. We should all be doing our best to follow ever changing Gvmnt guidelines. IME, teachers have always been a bit keener on washing hands regularly and so forth, as they are aware small dc (nor teens) aren't always the most hygienic of folk.

Out of interest, what measures are you suggesting ?