I'm really scared. Not allowed to wear a mask at work

[LavenderLilacTree]

It's just to vent really as I know there is no way round it.

I am really scared. I am a TA and when all the pupils are back in school we aren't allowed to wear face masks or any PPE. Social distancing is not going to happen.

The government have said only go back to work if it's safe and you can ensure social distancing, well it's not going to be safe for me. Government say to wear face coverings in enclosed spaces but teachers and TAs are not allowed to.

I am scared. I am in my 40s and have 3 children in Yr 8, Yr 7 and Yr 5 . I know it's a 3% chance of dying but to me that's not an insignificant risk. I would never take part in any activity that had a 3% chance of dying.

I just feel like the government doesn't value my life. This is a deadly virus that KILLS, i want to wear a mask. My life matters to me, my husband and my children.

It's scary at work at the moment but we only have 4- 7 kids in. When we have a full school it's going to be impossible to stay 2 meters apart so therefore you feel I should at least be able to wear a mask.

I love my job and the children at school but I don't want to give my life for it. I just think I should be able to have some form of protection. It's like my life doesn't matter.

@Bluntness100 I think you need to check out the lungs threads. Lots of very healthy, very fit younger people who are still ill after more than 8 weeks. They didn't die and on the whole didn't end up in hospital. But they are experiencing gastric, neurological, and respiratory symptoms with no idea of when or if they will get better. Having been through this myself for six weeks and seen my nine year old daughter also going through it, I really wish people would stop minimising it as a cold or even the flu. We have no idea what the long term effects might be, so avoiding catching it at all would be a very good idea.

A friend has it, she’s 21, fit, a dancer, works out. Can’t walk across a room without being breathless.

Well said @Bluntness100!!!

This isn't directed exclusively at you OP and I'm sorry you feel scared but. School staff have come in for a lot of stick in the last few months. I've been quite vocal in defending the profession. However, I'm beginning to feel just a tiny bit frustrated by school staff's response to the fact that schools are (probably) going back. There is, frankly, a lot of whining.

Many, many people have been working all through this.
Many, many jobs are much higher risk than us.

As scary as it is, I think as a profession, school staff need to gather their courage, put on a smile and welcome the children back as best they can.

(And yes, I'm a teacher... of children who bite and spit so I speak for myself as much as anybody else.)

@PineappleDanish True, I'm not dead. And as I said, it's probably the case that the OP doesn't have any health issues, as she would have said. We get slated for comparing it to flu, but in the case of a healthy young adult, the comparison is apt, an unpleasant illness requiring staying in bed for a few days.

It's about taking sensible precautions but not giving into fear. In Africa, there's a much higher risk of that single mosquito giving you malaria, and a more real risk of death. But they live with it, whilst taking precautions (mosquito nets, insect repellent and prophylactics.

COVID-19 is very likely here to stay, with 18 months at least before there's a vaccine. So we have to find a way to live with it whilst taking precautions. My DH has asthma so is vulnerable too, but we'll still send DD1 (11) to school at the start of June. My DH isn't panicking about that, and I already have it anyway.

There will also be people who have mild symptoms. You cannot necessarily predict how severely you will be affected

You can do so fairly accurately.

Below 65
No underlying health conditions.
Not obese.

You can even drill it down to be even more specific, Caucasian, female. Cases in your geographical area. Job Ie carer or nurse etc. Viral load potential Ie do you spend hours with many adults who have it.

Risk, likely 1 in a thousand or much less Ie 1 in a hundred thousand you’ll be very ill. If you don’t fall into any risk category.

Fab post bluntness.

You thinking of running for PM anytime soon?!

@TiredMummyXYZ

Those ONS figure breakdowns are interesting as nearly half involve Secondary and above - maybe that is a driving force as to why it Primary opening as well

Where have you got the no mask rubbish from OP?

I'm back at work in school as is DH. Both in PPE (plastic full face masks etc)

Ha,,,that would cause some hilarity 🤣

It’s true though, the data is now coming out, we can start to fairly contextualise our personal risk and adjust our behaviour accordingly.

We just need to be not selfish, we need to follow the guidelines because if we have no symptoms or think wr have a mild cold or hay fever we may have it, and we will spread it if we do. That’s why you can’t see family or socialise or spread it in your work place.

Not because you are the one at risk, but because of The vulnerable and elderly, who millions of people could spread it to without knowing,

We need to accept the biggest symptom is no symptom. But with no symptoms you’re contagious. That’s the fundamental issue.

Interesting post, Bluntness.
So, can I have my hair cut then? Before I go in to school and mingle with dozens of small, silently germy children?

Not yet no.

Because what part of no symptom is the biggest symptom and you’re contagious is hard to understand, and that we may then spread it to the elderly or vulnerable without knowing,

Sure you’ll likely be fine, but others won’t.

I don't think it's possible to teach properly wearing a mask. I'm a DT teacher so wear a mask sometimes when I'm using the sanders at work for long periods in one day. I'm constantly pulling it up to get a bit of air or when I need to talk to the whole class as they just can't hear me properly otherwise. I am a bit weary about being so exposed in a classroom though. I might make a fabric one and see how that is, although I do realise they offer very little protection.

Not hard to understand at all. Just not seeing why there's a need to protect the wider community via hairdressers, but not teachers.

@Bluntness100 you really don't want to discuss the long term effects or the chronic nature of this. Why not?

I do think that staff working in schools who are really scared or anxious about catching the virus, have started to refer to the children as "germy little spreaders" and are angry about working are not going to be working productively.

As a TA Op, perhaps think about resigning and looking for work elsewhere. Overly anxious teachers who are skulking about in a mask, trying to avoid interacting much and gripped by fear are going to be fairly useless in the classroom.

It's just if not more important children aren't frightened by this virus and return to socialising, being apart from their parents, getting used to a school routine and feeling secure in the school setting as anything.
I can't help think that children will pick up on your levels of anxiety and your aversion to your job.

It’s not I don’t want to discuss it, it’s simply we don’t have any reliable data on it, so I’m only talking about what we do know factually. The rest is anecdotal or speculation.

I'm getting a bit sick of posters saying, Well if schools are opening, why can't I go to my parents house and hug them, why can't I visit my hairdresser or something similarly disingenuous.

why can't I visit my hairdresser or something similarly disingenuous.

Why? Tell me why it's not safe for hairdressers to work, but it is for teachers?
(and for the record, I have been going into school and will do on June 1st)

I'm surprised by some of the dismissive responses on here! TAs work very hard and are not highly paid. They will be coming into close contact with many children from many different households and likely exposed to the virus. It's not unreasonable for the OP to be scared and thinking of risk to herself and her family. Can't there be a more supportive response to someone who will be educating children and effectively providing childcare so orhers can go back to work? Or would a supportive response just be admitting the fact that this is a grossly unfair situation and making it fair for TAs would impact others more than they want to be impacted?

the truth one assumes is that school is a controlled environment contact tracing is easy to do and children do seem to spread it less (Im sure Patrick Vallance said yesterday the impact of school in spread was there but small)

The other point is household transmission from children is small - they rarely bring it in. All the healthy young people getting it didnt get it from their child being at school. The long term chronic effects on some of those who get it is separate I think from schools if you control the number of parents in the environment.

Removing parents at drop off, small classes and staggered times will help with all of this.

Schools arent the problem - transport/care homes/pubs etc are.

I think current data is suggesting, subject to change, the mortality rate is 0.5-1% and more likely nearer 0.5%, flu is 0.1%. Regarding the breakdown of percentages risk according to age groups, I read the other day the 22,972 confirmed reported deaths so far in hospitals in England of people who tested positive for Covid-19, 12,060 (52%) have been people aged 80 and over while 8,905 (39%) were 60-79.
A further 1,832 (8%) were aged 40-59, with 163 (1%) aged 20-39 and 12 (0.05%) aged 0-19, according to NHS England. Of course, weight, ethnicity and underlying conditions are other variables. A slim, white woman age 39 with no underlying conditions has an incredibly low risk of dying.

OP I feel the same. I am a TA, early 40s, but with moderate asthma (therefore vulnerable, not shielding).

I have left the house only once since lockdown began.

At the start of lockdown there were fewer than 400 new cases a day. I did not feel safe then. Today there are more than 4,000. (I appreciate this figure is coming down daily, but not especially quickly).

I fully expect we will not be allowed to wear masks, and gloves are pointless. Social distancing won't work and actually is pointless if any significant time is spent in one room.

www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them?fbclid=IwAR05zKD6rik9vz7TsGWxIMSwIyzgY5b0993Zp_L8fcDBFqR-bnkO91fxt4E

I am also worried about how we will manage with smaller classes. TAs will need to take small classes, but who will look after the 1-1s they normally have? I expect it will the the TAs who will have to have their 1-1 AND a group of 14 others.

I know it comes across all doom and gloom, but these are our knee jerk reactions, and we need to express our concerns so we can understand what will actually be happening. Hopefully, it won't be as bad as we are imagining.

I am clinging onto the fact that the unions are fighting very hard to ensure safety for ALL before returning.

(Btw OP, I remember that they said the figure was expected to be 3% at the start of all this, but it appears it will be much less).

@Guylan Actually, the comparison with flu doesn't really work, because there is a flu jab. Okay, it's not perfect, as it only protects against the strain that's present at that given time, but it does limit the risk to vulnerable people.

There's (obviously) no vaccine against COVID-19 as yet, hence the reason why there have been so many deaths and hospitalisations, and so many of us are struggling at home.

Or vulnerable like my DH is, with asthma. He's not shielded, though, so it's up to us to risk assess, and schools appear to be low risk. DD1 is in year 6, so she is able to walk to and from school or we can pick her up without going into the playground.

It's not unreasonable for the OP to be scared and thinking of risk to herself and her family.

It is VERY unreasonable that the OP reckons there is a 3% death rate. Because there isn't. So she isn't thinking of risk in a realistic way, is she?

@Mittens030869, I appreciate the 0.1% mortality rate for flu is because there is a vaccine but of course it still stands the mortality rate is 0.1% for flu currently because people can be vaccinated.

I also appreciate if someone is vulnerable in the family then the child going to school is more of a concern as the science still isn’t there yet to say whether children are less likely to transmit than an adult.