To Think We Should Still Be Wearing Masks

[TheShellBeach]

Especially seeing the news coming out of China, and the lies they seem to be telling about the Covid situation there.

I never stopped wearing a mask when shopping anyway, even though we were told it was no longer necessary.

Yes, I know that most people have now been vaccinated.

And the government is not vaccinating children against COVID is it?

I just have completely imagined the vaccine being opened to children’s hen.

People like you are the scary aspect of COVID - spreading nonsense and instilling fear with fake facts.

We were fobbed off with lies by the government, firstly that children don't catch COVID, then that they don't spread it, and then that it's only mild in children.

Show me a source where the government ever claimed children don’t get COVID or spread it.

Also, COVID is mild for most people. Shutting down schools and lives and destroying mental health and putting the vulnerable at risk is one hell of a sacrifice for a mostly mild illness

Some of us called it at the time, here in MN, only to be called cunts and granny killers

I could see the messaging was very effective. People were off the scale re any suggestion re what was happening with behavioural stuff.

@LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet what makes you think my son misses out on socialising? He gets plenty of outdoor playtime, I never said it was alone.

My fear is not irrational, it is informed by science. Sadly the vast majority of the population is completely oblivious to the dangers of COVID but I'm keeping informed to keep my family safe. I don't wish long COVID on anyone, we have it in our family, so come back to me and say it's irrational?

Children can get long COVID too as @Thismonkeysgonetodevon is unfortunately experiencing.

For adult deaths I haven't looked at UK stats but it's the case in Canada www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/covid-deaths-analysis-1.6699040

For child (under 9) deaths in England twitter.com/1goodtern/status/1606017621438173204?t=GZB1n_-1k3xDABsU7p9Hqg&s=19

@Jourdain11 the only thing necessary for clean air filters is a plug socket. Even Victorian era schools have been retrofitted with those. There is absolutely no excuse for HEPA filters not to be standard in all classrooms and as I've pointed out they can be built for 80 GBP, far less than the cost of substitute teachers when the staff continually are off sick.

@LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet you cite mental health as a problem with lockdowns. I'd like to see UK data but in the US school suicides were lower during lockdown and increased when in person school resumed. twitter.com/tylerblack32/status/1607498327649837056?t=U5Ufurg3dBhWXKrWE-iDvw&s=19

Anyway we don't need lockdowns, we need layers of mitigations including HEPA filters, ventilation, masking, isolation when sick. We have the solutions but sadly as we can see on this thread many would rather continue our current approach of ignoring the facts, constant sickness and reinfection, A&E crumbling under pressure, mass long term sickness, than take a few proactive measures.

I pity our children for the future of ill health we are creating for them.

@LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet the vaccine is unavailable to children under 11. Unless they are CEV. We don't even have the option of paying for it like with chicken pox vaccine.

When will you feel safe for your child to have indoor socialising @ThaiDye ?

@secretllama as I mentioned previously, when there is HEPA filtration as standard, and good ventilation. In the meantime he socialises outdoors.

I don't feel the need to expose my child to a novel virus which we keep learning more about its nasty long term impacts.

But what if that doesn't happen? Sorry that should've been my question.

No. You do not get to say that we don’t care about our children’s health. Not you, who has the privilege of being able to choose to keep your one toddler away from indoor mixing as that’s what you think is right. Those of us who lived with children from before the start of the pandemic, who have different circumstances and different options available, we can make different choices to you and still care about the health of our children.

I work with CMI data daily and know about the detail of the excess deaths, this is not me minimising the effects of the pandemic in the long or short term on different types of health.

What will you do when your child wants to have a playdate with their friends in their house? A sleepover?

Having one toddler is very different to having three children of differing ages and differing needs. You do you, nobody is stopping you. But you cannot extrapolate your choices onto the rest of us. My children are very healthy, thank you very much for your concern. We don't need "layers of mitigation". We need them to have a normal life.

Oh, and I too did my best parenting when my PFB was a toddler. Come back when your child starts having opinions of their own

@BiasedBinding

The majority of people in this thread are minimising COVID, saying its a mild illness, just a cold, that I'm crazy for protecting my child, masks are damaging, they'll never wear a mask again etc. They are choosing to ignore the facts, the scientific evidence. And their children, and others, will be harmed as a result.

And the government is complicit in this sadly. As a taxpayer I'm furious that they are basically acting like COVID is over (except God forbid the Chinese bring it in, like the UK isn't already a cesspit of COVID).

I am offering solutions to make sure everyone's children can be healthier, not just from COVID but all airborne illness. And these solutions should also apply in all indoor public contexts, including our workplaces. By keeping ourselves free of infection we also protect our children.

I'm not sure you're right about the HEPA cost. I don't think the £80 ones are effective in a school classroom with 30 kids and 2 adults, at least not a single one. I'm not saying it's pointless, but if something like this is done, it is better that it's done properly rather than merely as Covid theatre.

The issue with isolation is that it's very disruptive. I cannot take a week off work every time one of my kids has a cold - I think my manager would lose sympathy extremely quickly!

About masks and testing, it's just £££ and efficacy isn't really proven in any case. If testing, how often? If only when symptomatic, what symptoms? With masks, it seems that the fabric and disposable ones do little. If people need to protect themselves, wearing a proper, medical-grade one is a good idea and I don't think anyone should mock those who choose to do that.

FFS I had a massive reply typed out and it didn’t post! No matter. Will try and replicate.

@ThaiDye if you are actively not taking your sim to places that he would enjoy then yea you are depriving him. Many of us have had children with COVID, and they were absolutely fine. It’s incredibly rare for a child with no underlying conditions to sue from COVID. As someone who has worked with children I will tell you that parents always pass down their anxieties to their children so I implore you to calm down before your son becomes a nervous wreck of a human. Because your fear he gets a mild illness is totally irrational.

You still haven’t given me sources about your 2022 claims. Given you got it SO WRONG about HIV/AIDS I’m guessing g maybe you just have poor analytical skills?

You are absolutely wrong and a quick google would tell you how wrong you are.

Mental health issues in children has surged enormously since COVID. A massive 81% Increase of referrals in children aged 5+

www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj.o430

It may be well and good for you when you just have a toddler and your only health worries right now are catching bugs. But those who have older children really don’t think the risk of a mild illness is worth knackering their mental health.

Smacks massively of “I’m alright Jack”

I sincerely hope you don’t pass your health anxiety into your son (you will). Again it’s easy for you when he’s a toddler you can control but I’d feel desperately sorry for a child whose mum won’t take him to his friend party when he’s 4 if the soft play doesn’t have ventilation. I’d go as far to say that’s a safeguarding issue

That poster didn’t watch her child struggle through isolation from school and the ineffectiveness of home education. She is thinking “These are my circumstances now and everybody else should dance to what suits ME and my toddler right now”.

Being healthy doesn’t mean never catching bugs. When it comes to children you need to look at health holistically and mental health is so prevalent and important for children who aren’t toddlers that other people are putting THAT aspect of their children’s health first

If I'm so wrong please tell me where a child under 12 can get the COVID vaccine. The NHS website states very clearly it's for over 12s. Access to those between 5-12 was removed suddenly in 2022.

How can you be sure they haven’t been exposed to it already?

Do you go into public places etc

It seems extreme to make him live this way given the chances he’s had it asymptomatically anyway

www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-for-children/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-for-children-aged-5-to-15/

It wasn’t ‘removed suddenly’ - it just didn’t give automatic entitlement if a child turned 5 after 1st September 2022.

I think you are so enclosed in your world with you toddler that you think your toddler not being eligible means no one is.

Also waiting on these 2022 stats.

Also please note this from the NHS:

COVID-19 is usually mild in most children, but it can make some children unwell

Nothing to fear.

And there is nothing wrong with people being unwell even children. It’s part of the fabric of life and dodging ever getting an illness is not healthy.

@LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet what gives you the right to go around labelling people with your "diagnosis" of their mental health.

I do not have health anxiety. My son leads a normal life. I lead a normal life. We are trying to avoid catching a virus that causes known long term impacts in EVERYONE who catches it, even if the acute phase is just a small cold. I am keeping myself informed of the science to make the best choices.

Also see my previous post regarding vaccines, I meant to tag you. Where can a child under 12 get the vaccine please?