Is it really likely the schools will close?

[sqirrelfriends]

I've seen a few comments on other threads about schools and other childcare settings closing indefinitely to prevent the spread of Covid 19. Do you really think it's likely to happen?

My ex is a chair of governors and a friend works at the local council. Both have said that school closures here are imminent. Ex thinks they'll probably add a week either side of Easter hols.

Can someone please explain the point of closing schools? As I understand it, children are not in danger from this virus. Wouldn't it be more sensible for those children who are high risk to be kept at home and for those with symptoms to stay at home until they are clear (I was in a shop today and there was a parents there with a coughing child - possibly not CV, but spreading germs around anyway). Those at high risk are old people in in old people's homes and hospitals - are we planning to close those? If schools are closed and people continue to mingle and get together as usual then school closures are totally pointless. It's almost as if there is a demand to do something, just so people feel that something is being done - in fact it's up to individuals to be responsible and take some individual responsibility. Closing universities for instance so that thousands of uni students are on the move getting home on public transport and taking all their germs with them seems to me to be entirely counterproductive. Am I missing something?

We just had an e mail from the high school my older 2 dc go to and it basically says that they are setting up plans to put into place should the government implements school closures.

We've had this as well. Pupils are being tested for the virus.

Kids spread it!

Kids - and schools - are absolutely fucking revolting. They are filthy, they are crammed in together and they touch, touch, touch, giving books out, resources, and so on.

Our head said this morning in briefing that he's getting (at least) daily updates from the DfE, and that he thinks it's now a case of 'when' rather than 'if'. This is not a guy known for closing the school lightly. We've been advised to refresh our knowledge of the closure procedures and make sure our contact detail are all up to date.

Extrapolating from the rate of spread and when Italy closed its schools I think we should close at the end of next week or possibly the week after if the rate slows slightly, but I think they'll try to hold off until the 27th (which is a week before Easter here).

The UAE and Japan shut ALL schools at least a week ago and look how many new cases they’ve had compared to other countries www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

I honestly don't know what we will do, if our school closes. I really, really don't.

There's just the two of us at home, me and DS, who is 10. I HAVE to go to work. If I don't work, I don't get paid.
We're already desperately short staffed (ongoing). I'm a domiciliary/home carer, and we can't just leave people without care. It's bad enough that I've run out hand gel and can't get any, anywhere.

And we don't have WiFi at home, never mind a printer (pp mentioned those without a printer).

We're healthy enough, thankfully. It's not so much the virus itself that's worrying me sick. It's everything else.

Yes it's likely. The university my daughter goes to (Kings in London) have officially cancelled all exams and will be implementing an alternative method of assessment during the exam period. If it doesn't close sooner (students have been asked to make sure they have access to certain online platforms) then the year is over as of Easter in 2 weeks time.

Great TES article here about schools closing - mainly for educational staff but also for parents who want to know how schools are prepping:

TES Article

@Rebellenny
What effect does coronavirus have on pregnant women?
Pregnant women do not appear to be more susceptible to the consequences of coronavirus than the general population. As this is a new virus, how it may affect you is not yet clear. It is expected the large majority of pregnant women will experience only mild or moderate cold/flu like symptoms.

More severe symptoms such as pneumonia appear to be more common in older people, those with weakened immune systems or long-term conditions. There are no reported deaths of pregnant women from coronavirus at the moment.

If you are pregnant you are more vulnerable to getting infections than a woman who is not pregnant. If you have an underlying heart or lung condition, such as asthma, you may be more unwell if you have coronavirus.

What effect will coronavirus have on my baby if I am diagnosed with the infection?
As this is a very new virus we are just beginning to learn about it. There is no evidence to suggest an increased risk of miscarriage. There is also no evidence that the virus can pass to your developing baby while you are pregnant (this is called vertical transmission). It is therefore considered unlikely that if you have the virus it will cause abnormalities in your baby.

Some babies born to women with symptoms of coronavirus in China have been born prematurely. It is unclear whether coronavirus caused this or the doctors made the decision for the baby to be born early because the woman was unwell. As we learn about the risk of pre-term birth and coronavirus infection, we will update this information.

www.rcog.org.uk/en/guidelines-research-services/guidelines/coronavirus-pregnancy/covid-19-virus-infection-and-pregnancy/

Advice today was of someone is diagnosed we close. I’m hoping that extends to a parent of a child etc.

My DHs company have implemented a strict WFH policy once cases reach 500, which will be tomorrow.

@Rebellenny It's not true that no babies have been born to people with coronavirus. There was a paper on 10 babies born to infected mothers in China. As I remember, some babies needed extra post-natal care, but had good outcomes in the end.

Care homes are closed to visitors when they have norovirus in the home so I would think they would close access to visitors if the schools close

Those at high risk are old people in in old people's homes and hospitals - are we planning to close those?

Why would they close old people's homes?! It's a ridiculous idea because these vulnerable people have to live somewhere - they can't all go and live with their families, for starters they won't all have a family.

@LillianGish There is evidence from other pandemics that closing schools helps to slow the spread. Schools are the sort of places where illness spreads quickly for all sorts of reasons.

Children get infected and then take the disease home to their families, most children have grandparents who will be at risk.

The less people who get ill at once, the less pressure on hospitals at once, the more medical help the serious and critical cases can get and the better their chances of survival.

It's also about having enough healthy teachers to look after the children safely!

@TheResurrectionist
To answer your question, OP: I sincerely hope not.

Well yes it would be inconvenient at best. But to 'brazen it out' or 'let is wash over us' is naive not to say foolish.

The virus is here: we will not be able to prevent its inevitable spread within the population. What we CAN do, if not already too late, is to prevent its acceleration to the point where the NHS cannot cope with sick patients. Remember the NHS is already on its poor knees, and has I think a third of the critical care beds that Italy does - in fact, we are the poor neighbour of critical care in Europe.

So, closing schools and colleges, banning large events NOW is a strategy to 'flatten the curve' prevent the acceleration so that the inevitable patients will be in lower numbers than an exponential growth curve.

This government is newly appointed. They have nothing to lose by taking urgent action. But I'm horrified that they seem to be thinking of the economic cost more than the human one.

I think they’ll close soon

We won't be staying at home if the dc's are off. We'll just head off on bike rides so we can avoid people.
No trampoline parks or bowling though.

I wish they would make a decision to close my children's school. My two fall into the vulnerable category, one has both asthma and congenital heart disease. Why wait until there's a case if they're so sure it's coming!

The person who said how will children who depend on FSM eat? There is a 6-week summer holiday which is survivable!

@Rebellenny sorry if I was a bit short in my reply. Obviously there is not much evidence, but I think the initial reports for children born to affected mothers are relatively positive.

I'm lucky enough that my work patterns are very flexible. I fully anticipate that if schools close I'll be hosting a number of children on a daily basis and I'm fine with that. Lots of the parents at DS's school are health care professionals and frankly I'd rather that I looked after their children and they used their skills with those who need them most.

mockneyreject I suspect that you'll find other parents will offer to help especially given your role - you can't be easily spared.

If the schools close I don't think we're in CF territory if people ask for help with with childcare its a case of everyone trying to deal with it