When will our children get HEPA filters in their classrooms? I am so tired of my children constantly being ill and missing school!

[Annemcc32]

I can't believe we are still waiting for HEPA filters in classrooms, they were talking about this in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and STILL they have done nothing! What exactly are they waiting for at this point? There's tons of evidence that they work to remove viruses from the air.
My kids have had Covid 4 times so far and were both very ill. How can they defend doing nothing to prevent staff and children? They have a duty of care to provide a safe environment.
The MOST annoying thing is that clean air IS provided in the Houses of Parliament, many private schools and even the DfE!!
Other countries have already done this now and it reduces transmission of airborne viruses to offer a layer of protection and reduce illness/absence.
I noticed that one council has committed to it just recently (Herefordshire I think). Why is this not being sorted out ASAP before the kids go back in September?
Why are we so bad at protecting our kids?
Not to mention that IF bird flu takes off (no pun intended) this would help. Where did public health go? The UKHSA seem to have taken a sabbatical for the last four years.

So it's not a priority to protect your child from a virus proven to cause brain and vascular damage, immune dysregulation and chronic illness (I could go on) ?

Neurodivergence is also a particular risk factor for adverse responses to this level 3 biohazard that requires full PPE in lab settings!

The ignorance on here in this thread is astounding.

Shocking lack of knowledge. The gov actually provided CO2 monitors to every school - enough for every classroom. These help monitor if there is sufficient ventilation. Anything over 800pm is insufficient and requires windows to be opened or failing that the use of HEPA filters. I bet most parents are unaware and don't realise schools aren't using them. Many other countries implemented this years before UK. As an example in US you can log on to see your schools CO2 readings, in France it's been written into law for public buildings. Pre covid it was proven better ventilation improved learning outcomes as well as health, and these studies have been replicated with the same conclusions since. But as usual most of the UK seems to want to wallow in unhealthy environments and complain about those wanting to improve the situation. Look at the blood scandal for starters - cheaper choices are harmful. When the wider public finally wake up and realise the damage that's been done to their health there'll be little come back as you'll just be pointed back to gov guidance that states use the CO2 monitors and HEPA filters that you're all currently ignoring.

If you understood how airborne viruses (and that's not just covid) circulate in a room you would understand that using both open windows to refresh air and HEPAS to clean it are the best combination.

If it’s good enough for Davos and our politicians, it should be good for our kids too.

And as an added extra, when the new attendance fines come into play from September and parents are sending sick kids in even more, and kids are sick more and parents are fined more, you may just want better ventilation and HEPAS to help reduce the constant sharing of germs. And NO, your immune system isn't a muscle and you don't need to keep getting ill to improve it!

Exactly!

Unfortunately OP as you can see from the comments, folks just don't care. Or they don't think it's their responsibility. I fully agree that HEPA should be standard in all classrooms (and hospitals, all public buildings tbh) and let's be truthful, we all know they work. We all know the science proves it, and we all know our leaders know they work because they kitted out parliament, lords, palaces etc. it's the same with respirators, we can all go around pretending it's a mystery how the rich and famous don't catch COVID multiple times a year, but we all know that staff (off screen for TV and film for example) wear masks constantly and HEPA are fully present.
But pretending takes less effort than caring. Pretending the COVID aware are stupid or silly is less effort than facing the fact that they are endangering their kids. Pretending the COVID aware are over-reacting is less effort than petitioning the government, or even the school governors. Plus add in the brain damage they have from previous COVID infections, everything is harder with "brain fog" or vascular damage, or fatigue. Taking years off your life is less effort than fighting for clean air.

Brutal. But got to agree.

If there’s an attendance crisis (I haven’t seen figures for this, only stories about it which are not the same thing), how can you separate out increased illness vs school avoidance and post-COVID psychological issues, or even shit parents who don’t want to ask their child to go to school more than once “because it makes the parents upset to have to be unkind” (both happen in every school)?

Got to agree with this too. Kids in the future are going to want to know why you let them get so sick.

HEPA filters do not remove gases or voc’s.

I wonder what the kids will think in the future about not being prioritised or protected.

Absolutely agree. HEPAs are 100% required. A list of illness and the number of kids who have it in England:
Asthma: 1.1 million kids.
Congenital Heart Disease: 50,000 kids.
Cancer: 1,800 kids diagnosed each year.
Epilepsy: 112,000 kids.
Diabetes: 29,000 kids.
Cystic Fibrosis: 4,200 kids.
Autism: Part of the 700,000 individuals diagnosed.
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND): 1.49 million children in England

All of these are at significant risk of Covid!

We've had HEPAs in our house for over a decade, due to health issues. The ableism and comments about immunity (and just give the kids fruit and veg) speaks volumes about the state of UK education. Let's be clear, some kids are born with compromised health, some kids acquire it throughout life. Ignorance is a life choice, Covid causes multi system damage. HEPAs clean the air removes covid, viruses and pollution. Be smart and not stupid!

How to show you have no idea what you are talking about.
Where have I said HEPA removes gases? The HEPA cleans the air of particals and viruses. It's a well established fact. They are used to do exactly that.
If you are getting confused with my mention of CO2 monitors this is to do with the exhaled CO2 that people breathe out, which will contain airborne viruses from a sick person that the HEPAS will clean from the air.
You don't need to believe me, you can read the gov guidance to schools on using them!

@mumatlast14 i skimmed your message to be fair…it read like you said HEPAs were needed to remove CO2 apologies. But I do know what I’m talking about and they don’t and nor do they remove volatile organic compounds. I don’t need to read any government school guidance I work in the pharmaceutical industry where HEPA Filters and HVAC systems are used. I’m a microbiologist, I know what they filter…

In which case you know that HEPA filters filter out particles from aerosolised viruses like Covid and Measles. And they make schools safer for asthma sufferers too.

Then I suggest you do some more learning and you will see that they clean airborne viruses from the air. Proven study most recently carried out by Addenbrook Hosp where they used them successfully in covid wards.

Yes it will filter them but all I’m saying is it’s not an absolute answer and other behaviours and procedures need to be implemented too.

Gov guidance for schools also points to this website.
How many parents on here know that their kids schools are following the guidance and using the kit provided.
https://www.coschools.org.uk/facts

No! Child need to build strong immune systems by exposure to lots of germs.

That wasn't the question though, was it? If parents want to fund it, the schools will bite your arm off!

But whilst schools are struggling to afford even the most basic essentials, you cannot expect schools to fund a desirable.

The undeniable fact is that the vast majority of parents value their own comfort and lifestyle far more than that of their children. Masks are a nuisance, so let's pretend they don't work. HEPA in schools requires advocacy and lobbying Heads, which takes effort and singles us out as "troublemakers" and Covid loons.
But hey! Did someone mention fundraising for Cancer with a sponsored run? We're in!!
Short-term gain for long-term pain.
They will rue their denial eventually.

Covid is not like other viruses. It sadly has the ability to constantly re-infect us as we can not build up immunity to it, hence the very non seasonal patterns. It is also extremely infectious and airborne. We take clean water for granted, but we need to put clean air in place. Hepa filters are the only real non invasive and harmless option to bring down (not irradicate) infection rates. As others have said, the Govt know this, which is why they have spent a lot of our money on installing them for their own use. Doesn't that make you angry? I support the 3,000 UK children who developed PIMS-TS after Covid infection. Many now living with health repercussions, they want clean air in schools. I work alongside Long Covid Kids and Clinically Vulnerable families, they want it too. Why do you think they want it? It is because they are living with the repercussions of not having it Our children are our future, we must look to the future and not just hope it will all go away. I speak as a mother and a teacher.

Actually, most schools are so ideologically opposed to the idea of "clean indoor air" that, far from biting off the hand of a parent offering to fundraise or provide HEPAs, they will actually refuse. And not graciously, either.

There is a MASSIVE amount of ignorance in education about indoor air quality, illness, attendance and academic results.

And most parents seem keen to maintain the status quo.

Wow. It’s so fucking mad that people don’t want the kids to have clean air to breathe.
(clean from pollutants/pathogens/co2)
There is so much science that high levels of CO2 are detrimental to concentration levels before you even think about health.
Plus how many people completely miss the point of the immune system not being a muscle. You do not build it up by contracting pathogen after pathogen. That’s a poor misunderstanding of the hygiene hypothesis and not at all how the immune system functions.
Facepalm.