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.

Ps though to add to my comment above, I take on board with a CoVid under 50 the death rate is lower than older age groups.

HeyBlaby thanks, and interesting as it seems to contradict the general government guidelines on face coverings published today. Or is it because they’re assuming a distinction between basic cloth masks recommended in the general guidelines and actual high-grade PPE? Although given the lack of clarity in recent government guidelines, an accompanying lack of joined-up thinking is perhaps unsurprising.

The articles I’ve read re: cloth coverings present them as a way of minimising transmission, I think the consensus seems to be by 30%, rather than being best-practice, medical-grade barriers as the term PPE connotes. But I’m assuming the choice of terms i.e. ‘face-covering’ rather than ‘PPE’ carry meaning, and given the current government’s lack of attention to detail that may not be the case!

No, I’m comparing stuff like pneumonia which nearly killed me twice. Could happen to anyone. This is after I had the jab. People die of flu after the jab.

Have you spoken to your GP about this? I have a friend who’s also had pneumonia twice, she has no other health conditions, she’s even a distance runner, she has been put on the shielded list.

Someone said the other day that if they can't control the spread of nits in schools, how can they ever control the spread of Covid-19?

Which other country with our level of infections is opening up schools?

I mean at the least it is an experiment because no one else has done it. I think countries who have (eg Denmark), have lower infections and deaths.

Do the govt have enough tests to monitor transmission in the community after introduction of this policy? Or are they going to just wait for the spike in hospital admissions?

If they are bent on opening schools - isn’t it better to do a pilot scheme and survey people, make tests available etc? I’m sure the will be people who are keen to be volunteers as some people want to end the lockdown.

If this works then gradually expand and monitor.

Guylan - we face risk of disease and death every day.

If the risk actually was 3 in a 100 like OP says, that would be a much higher stake than we’re used to but it’s nowhere near that.

@Keepdistance, PPE is as much to protect the patient as our selves. And yes we do wear the full gear on negative patients, when performing an aerosol generating procedure.

My Mum is a SEN coordinator and they provide her nothing, I would voice your concerns to your employer , maybe even sign to a union, ie unison or unite for potential future support and make sure you know your rights aswell s how to distance, goodluck x

@LilacTree1, I know the risk is not 3 in 100 as OP says. However, my point remains it’s higher than seasonal flu.

Agree with pops about clear visors being a good idea in this setting- for staff and pupils.

The fact we face risk of death and disease every day doesn’t mean we should be blasé about new or additional risks @LilacTree1.

There is a middle ground between petrified and reckless.

Seeking ways to avoid, mitigate, reduce, manage and prioritise risk is intelligent. Wanting to take sensible precautions in the face of an emerging threat is a sign of sanity.

How can you possibly teach with a mask covering your face? Especially things like phonics with younger children surely they need to see how the mouth moves when we make sounds.

I worked in retail but on maternity leave now and we weren't provided with any PPE, and we were discouraged from wearing masks even though we were with the public constantly. I know other supermarkets allowed it but for some reason we weren't. Yes,it's scary and I wouldn't want to work in school but a lot of people are in the same boat and have been since this while nightmare started.

Schools won’t be full though. They are talking about much smaller classes and pupilsgoing last time?

I would be more concerned about someone working with a kids in a school who can’t do the most basic of maths and statistics tbh!

3% chance of death ffs 😂

Go do some research or watch the news

ONS figures reported in Schools Week show that 65 adults working in schools have already died from Covid with primary school, nurseries and SEN settings recognised as being particularly at risk. And that’s before schools are opened to the masses. Proposals for classrooms of 15 children still expose staff to greater numbers of people and thus increase the infection risk. Other countries are using masks to help make it safer as well as only having group sizes of around 8. School staff in England (not Wales or Scotland) are being sent back with no PPE, potentially larger group sizes and just a few weeks notice to sort all of this out. School staff are well within their rights to be concerned and if they want to wear a mask they should be ‘allowed’ to do so.

@Givenupno 😂

A face covering will do nothing to protect you, washing your hands every half and hour/hour in between lessons will be much more effective.

I hope you don't help them with maths!

Just resign if you are that bothered. You can give in your notice now and then, depending on if you have to give a month or three months notice, you might only have to do a week in school

'You know, lots of people have been working all along, to benefit you.'

Very pertinent point.

Others have made the point about your statistical assumptions better than I.

'Everyday' masks/face coverings are all about protecting others by reducing transmission risk if you are unwittingly infected. They possibly have some protective effect for you, but it's not at the level considered 'effective'. Which is why they do not replace social distancing.

OP, I can see how you feel returning to work is risky (albeit it really, really, really does not equate to a 3% risk of death, for reasons others have explained). But none (or very, very few) of us are going to be able to eliminate all risk of this in the months and possibly years to come. We engage in behaviours with much higher risks of adverse outcomes than this, all the time, but this is the risk that a) is in our faces constantly and b) appears more immediate than those. Rights and wrongs of different types of masks aside - if you're not going to cope in the classroom environment - and it's your right to feel you won't - you need to resign and look for another job.

No one has said teachers can't wear masks. If they do, that's illegal.
No it isn't. There is no such law. In fact many schools have banned face coverings - niqabs. And quite legally. A mask is just another form of face covering. Coronavirus hasn't changed the law on this.

I really don't want my kids taught by people wearing masks. I understand the fear teachers may have but if they think the personal risk is too high for them maybe they should do a different job. What will be the repercussions of children growing up in an environment with everyone's face covered and no one able to smile at them etc.

Having caught COVID 19 at the start of March from a teacher who caught it from teenagers at school, I then gave it to my partner and two children. We spent the first six weeks of lockdown being ill, particularly my 9 year old daughter and I. Although we didn't die, it has been a very unpleasant and at times frightening experience and it pisses me off when I read all the sneering posts minimising the OPs very valid concerns. Yes, for some it is a short lived virus but it becoming increasingly clear that for many it is a protracted virus that affects multiple systems and may have lasting effects. Doctors are learning about this virus all the time, and having experienced it I can assure you that I would do everything I could to avoid having it again. And yes, both my children were ill and my generally very healthy daughter was very ill for six whole weeks. So my experience contradicts the asymptomatic children narrative.

@spinaaker what a stupid and precious thing to say!!! Your poor little darlings not seeing the teacher smile at them??? So bloody what

Kids can get used to it!

@godhelpusall glad you are all doing well now, how bloody scary for you!