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.

Carers in care homes aren't and most of them don't have PPE . Teachers are not a special case.

Ah, so you're happy about people being put at additional risk because they aren't special? Care workers should be a special case. Teachers should be a special case. Anyone who works close to people who don't understand social distancing, don't deal very well with their own bodily fluids etc, should be a special case. Just because it isn't currently working in one profession, doesn't mean it's fine for another profession to take additional risks.

The difference is, if and when care workers come on here and say "We are working in terrible conditions", which they do, then they are given lots of support. I absolutely support them. I think it is a fucking disgrace the way people were discharged from hospital. When this is over, I will quite happily march in protest against how the elderly were treated. I will demand investigation and fight for an inquest. I won't say, "Teachers had to work without PPE too, so shut up."

You don’t have a 3% chance of dying, it’s much lower than that, this is why they don’t shout about recovery rates because these false figures start coming out. Most people don’t even hit the statistics because they are a bit poorly and recover without ever hitting the radar. A tiny minority need medical intervention of those a minority die. Please don’t over stress the risk because fear has been created to promote compliance. It is actually possible to work along side an infected person and not pass the virus even without ppe, even if you do catch it chances are you won’t be all that ill. Having had it, I’d choose it again over flu or the common cold which personally I find far more uncomfortable.

Actually, the visors are a great idea - maybe the local high school dt departments could make them? Lots of them have been making them for the nhs.

Maybe we could make these as well?

Its so sad for children all this, face masks, visors, distancing. Poor little kids.

OP, I think you have every right to be concerned.

A TA in my local school died. She was in her 50s.

Also, teachers don't only have to deal with children. There are other adults, teaching and admin staff, parents, cleaners, site teams, deliveries. As with other workplaces, it's totally reasonable to expect that conditions are safe.

And since when did we believe the Govt/advisors when they tell us something is safe? Dr Harries said mass outdoor gatherings were safe.

I'd like to see more data on childrens and schools first.

This virus could be with us for years to come, we have to learn to cope with it and minimise risk of spread. Eliminating spread is not possible currently and may not be until we get a vaccine (IF we get a vaccine).

The current evidence shows that primary age children are not superspreaders: adc.bmj.com/content/early/2020/05/05/archdischild-2020-319474

This is a genuine question for those who work in schools - what do you think should happen to schools if the situation does not change for 18 months? How do you see the future of education?

randomer emotional blackmail.

You have more chance of dying by tripping over a pupil and banging your head than by catching covid

Would you care to qualify that, please?

I'm a nursery nurse. We have no 'official' info yet but it's looking like we won't be wearing face coverings. No PPE.

It's worth remembering that a mask protects other people, not so much the person wearing it. Young children won't be wearing masks so if they have the virus they could still pass it to a member of staff who is wearing a mask.

So what’s your solution?

This is an economic decision in the short term. Primary school becomes childcare only - for children who have two working parents and only on the days when both parents work. Strictly 9 - 3, packed lunch only. 6 children in a group to one adult. Anyone who can keep their children at home because one parent doesn't work, does. They can go to the park for interaction with other children, but adults stay apart.

Summer holidays childcare remains - some teachers volunteer (and are paid for that), but sports club coaches and normal holiday club bods run stuff in schools as much as they can. Stay with the same children again. Paid for by the government to keep parents in work.

Gives 2 more months worth of information/research that can be used to inform September schooling.

This would require a competent and strong government, working hard on explaining reasoning for decisions, and emphasising the importance of studying data/information - and we haven't got one.

This shower of shite is going to walk us into a second spike of deaths, probably at just around the time schools go back. So we'll be closing again, or expected to work through it with minimal staff and minimal children. By the summer, some teachers will be on their knees with exhaustion, some will be dead.. but you know, the economy.

Honestly as a TA you will have got more germs than anyone else in society. Kids are grotty.
They really don’t get sick from this and you’re luckier if you get a light dose from one of them than a full dose from an ill adult in Tesco.

but the chances of catching and dying from coronavirus is a completely different statistic to the case fatality rate of coronavirus.

The case fatality rate of coronavirus is a blanket one (and is looking to be around 0.5-0.75% of cases) but that doesnt account for age and health. This is still predominantly hitting the over 70s.

There are no good solutions though. We cannot keep in a holding pattern forever, there may never be a vaccine or a drug option so there is no point holding out hope for that. Unless we want to completely destroy normal life we are going to have to balance out the risks and move forward.

So the question isnt IF we move forward with this it is WHEN. I have to say I think the Government are rushing this in England, 3 years on June 1st with a hope to get all back by the end of June is madness. Its rushing and far to quick.

Starting to look at a slower approach from June (potentially on a regional basis) where R looks to be 0.5 (the lower end of the scale) makes sense.

This breaks down the occupation of the deaths that have occured due to Coronavirus

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/causesofdeath/datasets/coronaviruscovid19relateddeathsbyoccupationenglandandwales

Its sobering because it shows that the two biggest danger areas are transport workers (if male) and carers (if female)

A tiny minority need medical intervention of those a minority die

Last I saw on the numbers who need some kind of medical intervention was around 20%. That’s not a minority.

and carers (if female)

So, teachers. Particularly of EY children.

endofthelinefinally

We are told that children are unlikely to be spreaders, but it must be a worry.

And yet the evidence at the moment is inconclusive either way.

And you dont have a 4'percent risk of dying. 4 percent of the cases (serious ones) that are confirmed In Hospital in your age bracket that are women, may be what you are referring to, but Im not sure where you got that statistic from . It is not 4 percent of the population in that age bracket..how could it be when only a small proportion of 40 year olds have even been infected yet. We dont know what the death rate is in the general population, cos half the cases arent even logged..
I mean, the deaths are logged, sadly, but the pool of cases is as yet unknown that those deaths represent a percentage of.

It worth noting that other countries have put major systems in place to protect pupils and staff.

Yet this government is (once you have read the information) saying that it can all be ignored in schools.

hey really don’t get sick from this and you’re luckier if you get a light dose from one of them than a full dose from an ill adult in Tesco

Teachers are stuck in poorly ventilated rooms. One child is sick. Sick child breathes in and out and particles of virus float about. Teacher who is standing there for 7 hours will get a big dose regardless.

That data is hard to navigate. How many teachers or teaching staff have contracted the disease at work?

Teachers in this data set would come under professional groups, not carers.

Carers tend to be called that.

No one here has any knowledge of OP's circumstances or risk factors, nor has any business mocking her for, quite reasonably, being anxious about the government's comprehensively ill thought out plan for reopening schools.

And anyone who thinks they're deriving a sense of proportion from the twisted ideas of libertarian troll Andrew Lilico is in for a horrible disappointment.

Daffodil - I'm sure you can work it out. You're VERY strong on teacher/covid posts.

Daffodil101

The data would pretty much be irrelevant as minimal staff and pupils have been in schools.

And external data would be of little use as the government has decided that all preventative measures are not required in schools.