To ask when you think all schools will shut

[Helpmechangemymindsetplease]

Due to the corona virus.

Have been talking to a relative and am more worried than I was. Have three dc, one of whom gets ill at the drop of a hat.

Facts emerging from Italy are not great, so why aren’t we in complete shut down now? What is the government waiting for?

I'm thinking of pulling my daughter out of Brownies just because its non essential and it exposes us all to way more germs than are necessary. Happy for both kids to carry on football, swimming etc though for as long as they stay open. Not sure about schools. I would rather they stay open for as long as possible and children who are sick, or likely to get sick, or who would very much need to not get sick stay home and the majority muddle along. Keeping parents who are NHS workers, and everyone else, free to work. Classes could be bundled together as numbers would be lower and whole schools only shut if there was a localised outbreak. This could go on for months. It needs to be a sustainable solution.

I reckon they'll try and leave them open for as long as possible and maybe have an early closing for Easter.

However, (I know it's not a school) my University has just confirmed that all May exams will not be following the traditional examination hall format. No further details have been given yet, but I could see school exams also being modified to a different format.

But surely the issue with closing schools is that (in a huge number of cases) grandparents provide childcare, but the elderly are also far more vulnerable and so we're potentially sending little disease carriers into their homes. A lot of older people (or their children!) will underestimate their vulnerability in order to carry on as normal.

I should say my comment about schools really only applies to primary school kids who will need looking after if schools shut. I think secondary schools would be different. Maybe some sort of flexi approach where they attend 1 or 2 days week and work from home the rest of the time thereby managing teacher's being off and limiting contact.

www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/does-closing-schools-slow-spread-novel-coronavirus

Interesting article

Close Schools/Colleges down for an appropriate amount of time amidst COVID19. - Petitions
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/300403

Just got this email through. Not confirming anything but more preparing for it. I'm in Scotland

I think the people who are for schools closing are stay at home mums?

I work full time. I have been in my job for 6 months so I am worried about my job security if the schools were to shut.

I think the people who are for schools closing are stay at home mums?

No, We should all isolate ourselves to prevent the virus from spreading! Yes, it will be costly but surely it's worth saving lives.

I assume the government will have fresh data this morning from public health England and that will influence the decision?

I think it's more a case of when then if.. If I was to guess I would say they would try desperately to hold on until the Easter half term, which is only 2 or 3 weeks away..

How will closing schools help? Considering it doesn't seem to be impacting children?

I think the people who are for schools closing are stay at home mums

I'm a sahm and don't think they should close the schools.

Schools closing in Italy have not slowed down the spread.

Ireland shutting all schools

@ukgift2016 read the article (posted upthread already) www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/does-closing-schools-slow-spread-novel-coronavirus . They should so clearly close the schools, and now rather than in three weeks' time when it'll be too late and health services will be overwhelmed.

I think the people who are for schools closing are stay at home mums

I’m at home but I don’t think they should do it just because I can deal with it

Didkdt they acted too late. And it probably is slowing down the spread in Italy, we just can't see it because there's always going to be a lag before you see the effects of containment, as those already exposed come down with the disease.

It will be a couple of weeks before confinement shows any results in Italy.

DD's college have received information this morning from Public Health England.

I think they will be closing in the next couple of weeks.

How will closing schools help? Considering it doesn't seem to be impacting children?

It does impact children. It’s just not impacting them as hard as adults. They are still getting it and spreading it around

Schools in Ireland are now closed until March 29th

How will closing schools help? Considering it doesn't seem to be impacting children

Because children will still catch it and they are closely contained in large groups where they are more likely to spread it between themselves and will then pass it on to their families who will pass it on and on it goes...

Yes we do need to close schools and do it now to slow down the spread of it.

Our hospitals simply will not cope with large numbers of very sick patients. We do not have enough beds, we do not have enough staff and we do not have enough ventilators.

People will die who could be saved because there will not be an ICT bed or ventilator available for them.

You mum or dad could die because schools did not close early enough to slow the spread sufficiently to enable hospitals to cope.

Ireland have just shut all schools and colleges so it might happen here soon.

We have fewer acute care beds per capita than Italy and they are having to choose who lives and who dies because they cannot save everyone. That is the harsh reality of what will happen.

Schools closing in Italy have not slowed down the spread.

The situation in Italy is different - had the closed the schools earlier it may have slowed down the spread. It’s very difficult to get the timing right.

I hope they have thought about plans to protect workers if this goes ahead. You cannot fire someone for being off work during this period.