[quote Ponoka7]@LyndaLaHughes, in which countries was there a spike from schools? Every report that I read said that spikes came from factories and the schools wete then closed because of another lock down. But the school pupils and Staff tested negative.
OP, I'm in the shielding category but haven't been because without me providing childcare, my DD would lose her house. I've been seriously ill. I've had to sign forms in hospital to say who I wanted informing if I died overnight. Then my mobility was poor and I was housebound. I don't want to live like that, it wasn't a life. So I'll take my chances, just like when I have travelling to parts of Africa and during the Aids crisis in the 80's. My age group, 50+ have been here before. Cancer, HIV, infections, flu, heart/lung disease childbirth etc etc could have killed us. The health breakthroughs started in the late 90's. Polio was about when I was a child.
I say this on every thread, but malaria kills more people, tetanus does, no-one stops living for them, they take precautions. I've been in hospital a lot, worked in health care and end of life. Until this, most of us ignored our risk of death. Looking at it statistically, for those under 65, or 75 if in good health, the risk is tiny.
I've had it, it was similar to a chest infection, but nowhere near as bad as I've had in the past. It was like a bad flu for my DD. My Nigerian friend didn't know she had it, she took part in a study and that's how she's found out that she's had it. A lot of her African friends have had it, all mildly and most have risk factors.[/quote]
Israel for one. Also South Korea are reporting issues with schools themselves other than that related to the warehouse issues previously reported. Plus there is much emerging evidence disproving the believe that children don't spread it. It was in my school in March- as confirmed by antibody tests and the children were dropping like flies. The number of staff and children with symptoms was very high and so no one can tell me it doesn't spread in schools- it 100% did. So many children were coughing relentlessly with high temperatures. One staff member was hospitalised with a similar illness in February which we now believe was Covid as well but too early for a test. Two staff members still have no sense of taste of smell now. Others have lost it but have had it back now. So on a personal level I am not concerned- but I am concerned for others who are at risk or those children going home to their vulnerable family members. We already know of a number of children who have lost older relatives to this as did some staff members. So yes I will worry about this as the conditions in which we are being asked to return are no different to those when we closed. In fact, they are possibly worse in some sense, as parents had already removed their children either through self isolation for sickness or fear. Albeit it case numbers are lower now which is the one saving grace but that doesn't help if one case gets in. That is what we can compare to, not the past few months with social distancing and small numbers of children in school.