To pull my kids out of school?

[justanothernameonthewall]

I'm getting seriously worried that our government is putting the economic state of our countries above the health of the public.

Both my DC, myself and Dh have underlying health conditions. None are major but all have been cited as making you a higher risk for a serious coronavirus infection. DC are also both over 10 which seems to be the cut off age for children getting mild infections. There is a mortality rate of .2% for children over 10 with coronavirus, which is higher with ongoing conditions. We keep ourselves fit and healthy (lots of sport, healthy eating, rest) but can't get away from the fact that we have these.

Thing is, I am self employed in a childcare setting, if I pull my kids out of school I would also need to close my business and run the risk of being branded dramatic, scaremongering, etc by other parents. We stay in quite an insular community and there is a lot of ppl with the view that this is all a fuss about nothing, it's just the flu, etc. You get the idea!

I might add that my DH works for the NHS and is very informed about this outbreak and taking it very seriously. I don't want to go into any more detail as it would be very outing.

So, what should I do? Pull the kids out of school and protect them (and myself and DH who will have to continue to work and has to try to stay away from potential infection sources), possibly ruining my business and making money very, very tight? Or carry on as normal and hope that the gov starts taking more serious action now!

Sorry, thought I had posted this in the coronavirus section. Can you move it, Mumsnet?

I don’t know the answer but I understand your concern.
I have a 16 year old daughter with serious heart and lung conditions. I’m really worried

If you report your own post it can be moved.

I've pulled mine out. We wont be able to pay our bills. I'm self employed. I don't care.

To be fair, mine have a cough and cold so school don't want them and we are self isolating them but I don't think I'll send them back when the 7 days are up.

Me and both my dc have lung conditions, I told them that today is probably their last day in school, only problem is the oldest one is doing gcse's and I dont want to jeopardize that so am worried.

There has only been one death in the 10 to 20 year old bracket I think, so I would try not to worry about your kids too much. That said, given the way things are going, I don’t think it will be regarded as unreasonable to self-isolate in this way in a couple of weeks time anyway, and I’m sure many people will. Personally I would wait until the outbreak has got going a bit more (currently risk of infection on daily basis is still low) but then yes, I think it’s sensible. If you have insurance to cover your earnings as a self employed person then perhaps check with your insurance co as to when this would kick in?

We’ve pulled ours out.

But if your DH is still working in the NHS there may not be much point as he is likely to be exposed and bring it home

Dont be so ridiculous. you do realise that your dh is still going out to work every day and could very well get infected. And what would be the point of you making huge decisions regarding your business and childrens education?
And I say this as someone whose dh has a health condition.

Yanbu. They've stopped testing anyone who isn't hospitalised, so you won't even know if someone in your area/school has it until you catch it.

And many schools have inadequate handwashing facilities and no time for kids to use them except lunchtime (plus many kids are filthy little sods) so it'll spread like wildfire as soon as it's in school.

Of course the massive arseclown Johnson will put the economy above people. He is a Tory. It’s literally their ‘thing’.
I have dc with serious respiratory problems and did some proper soul searching before sending her in today.
Will not be going in on Monday (by which time it could well be too late)
Strangely I did not find Johnson’s ‘wash your hands and wait to die’ speach hugely reassuring.

DH works in a "clean" environment. You don't get much more infection control than where he works as his patients are incredibly vulnerable. He's also taking precautions to avoid contamination in the larger setting. I'm much less worried him at work than the kids at school.

I do have insurance for my business but they won't be paying out for coronavirus loss of earnings, they've made that clear.

Sorry to the rest of you also with DC with underlying health conditions. I don't think anyone else can appreciate the level of worry it gives you.

I think I might wait and see how things play out over the weekend. We are in an area where there has been community spread of the virus, so the chances of catching it aren't really that low. Social distancing has be re iterated by the WHO because it works!!!!

Captain, loving arse clown for Johnson 😂 He's the bimbling cockbag here!!

YANBU.

My kids secondary school have said if a parent/carer has to self isolate due to an underlying health condition they will authorise the pupil being absent under code Y.

YANBU. I'm considering it too. There's very little facilities for my kids at their secondary school to wash hands on arrival and before lunch. Given this is the main thrust of the government's advice () I'm increasingly concerned. dd has asthma and my immune system is weakened.

We've moved this over to our Corona virus topic now.

I understand your concern (I am at high risk) but I think the risk of catching it is still very low at the moment. I would wait-and-see what happens in the next week or two. It's an individual decision but you have to balance the actually low risks currently of getting the disease with the much more real risk of you losing your income and also your children's education. You may find schools and lots of childcare settings start to close in the near future so you will be up to do so without the same impact on your business.

You do realise that this virus will become endemic - this outbreak will last for at least 6 months, with a peak 3-4 months from now, and with further, possibly worse outbreaks down the line?

Do you propose home schooling for the next 2 years as this works its way round the whole population?

Those countries which are going into extreme lockdown will have rebound surges the moment they try to relax. The only way forward is to allow the virus to circulate, slowly, amongst the parts of the population that are least likely to be harmed by it. That's everyone under 50 / 60.

Don't believe the figures clearly thousands infected.

That's everyone under 50 / 60.

Quite a lot of people under 50/60 are at risk too due to underlying conditions which they may or may not know about. There may be rebound surges in countries that lock down but they may also be able to slow the disease considerably so that only a small proportion of the population will have been infected by the time there is a vaccine.

I think the whole social distancing is to give researchers enough time to create a vaccine. That's the only realistic way of getting on top of this.

I'm under no illusions that when I decide to pull my DC out of school, it's not going to be for a short period. However, I don't want to be sitting in a year's time thinking what if I'd gone with my gut. What if we'd all acted sooner?

I do realise this isn't going anywhere fast. But our priority surely must be to #Flattenthecurve.

Act like you're infectious was one piece of NHS advice I think is clearer.

We know we will probably catch it eventually. By Socially withdrawing now and for a few months we hope to NOT be part of the peak, where many tens of thousands will not be able to be treated at all.