Increase in Child Hospitalisations in Florida

[ClimbDad]

In February we saw what was happening in the rest of the world and some believed it wouldn’t happen here.

We can see what’s happening in America. Children are being infected at a worrying rate and hospitalised.

Make no mistake, if schools open with normal class sizes, without masks for all, this airborne, respiratory virus will do the same thing here.

Positive thinking won’t protect us. If you genuinely want schools to stay open during flu season, you’ll stop saying, “Don’t be so negative,” and will instead do something practical to protect yourselves, your children and school staff. Masks reduce transmission. Send kids back to school without them, and you will help ensure schools are closed again by November.

This virus is perfectly predictable. Stop expecting it to be kind to us.

www.cnn.com/2020/07/27/health/florida-covid-children-hospitalizations/index.html

I literally know no one who is ‘carrying on regardless’. That kind of thing really winds me up. We still have a multitude of restrictions placed on what we can and how we live our lives. It is not possible to carry on regardless, and every little change people have made will be making a difference, whether you think it’s enough or not.

@MarcelineMissouri

I literally know no one who is ‘carrying on regardless’. That kind of thing really winds me up. We still have a multitude of restrictions placed on what we can and how we live our lives. It is not possible to carry on regardless, and every little change people have made will be making a difference, whether you think it’s enough or not.

Is it not? Many people seem to be carrying on regardless. Posters admitting on here that they give false information when going to pubs or restaurants, as does everyone else, because they don't want to have to isolate, people saying they won't quarantine on return from holiday because they need to go to work, people saying they won't wear muzzles masks because it's an infringement of their rights, having parties, and so on. I think there are a significant number who are back to normal

"Why are you looking for an argument? You go to the nth degree on every thread to anyone who has a different opinion to you!"

As she is allowed. It's a discussion page. Arent you doing the same back to her?

@Orchidsindoors

"Why are you looking for an argument? You go to the nth degree on every thread to anyone who has a different opinion to you!"

As she is allowed. It's a discussion page. Arent you doing the same back to her?

I am not dissecting every sentence,no.

This all happened with the 1st June openings, where everyone was saying it was crazy and too soon to let any children back, out children we Guinea pigs etc, and it turned out to be a bit of a damp squib in the end didn't it? The rate actually continued to fall overall after schools opened.

I know we are talking a bigger scale for September, and winter is going to bring all sorts of challenges anyway, but I think a bit of perspective is needed here.

Jrob you are, you said to her what do you want, keep them at home or something to that effect. People who dont agree with a more managed approach always seem to jump to the "do you want to keep them home forever then". Which is pretty ridiculous. Questioning things is good. I see no harm in having a more managed approach, wear masks, keep social distancing etc.

I’ve seen maybe 2 posters say they had or would give false information to a pub or restaurant. I think that’s disgraceful behaviour. However, I bet in most pubs they would still have to sit apart from other tables and follow whatever rules the pub/restaurant have in place for social distancing. So no, they’re behaving badly but it’s still not back to normal. People may say they’re not quarantining in return from Spain but maybe they’re still working from home, still not seeing their elderly parents etc etc. So contacts are still reduced compared to normal even if they’ve decided they’re still going to our shopping.

My point is that all the little things add up as well. And no government in the world would make decisions assuming a 100% compliance rate from their population. (Except maybe China or North Korea....)

Going to GO shopping that should say.
My message was in reply to @Hearhoovesthinkzebras

@Orchidsindoors

Jrob you are, you said to her what do you want, keep them at home or something to that effect. People who dont agree with a more managed approach always seem to jump to the "do you want to keep them home forever then". Which is pretty ridiculous. Questioning things is good. I see no harm in having a more managed approach, wear masks, keep social distancing etc.

I do agree with a managed approach, like I just said in my last post to her. My point is we need to remember covid is not the only issue to consider with regards to schools and kids. Alot of people are blindsided by covid and only see that issue, we need to look at the bigger picture. That is not me saying covid is not a big worry, just it is not the only worry!

"I am not dissecting every sentence,no."

I think sometimes when posts are long and you dont want to miss commenting on things, it's easier to copy and paste the whole thing, the comment on each comment if you know what I mean. Otherwise things can get lost. I think I'm guilty of that too sometimes, I dont want to be seen to be dissecting every comment, but I can see it looks that way.

Yes jrob I agree it's not the only worry, however I think it's a pretty major one in terms of not wanting family members to catch it. Sometimes other worries can be managed or resolved but covid probably cant and it's pretty much out of our hands if a family member gets it.

@Orchidsindoors

Yes jrob I agree it's not the only worry, however I think it's a pretty major one in terms of not wanting family members to catch it. Sometimes other worries can be managed or resolved but covid probably cant and it's pretty much out of our hands if a family member gets it.

I agree, but how do we stop people catching it? There is only so much we can do. We are in a crap situation. I think people being forced out of work due to part time schooling is a bigger worry. Ultimately parents would have to give up work, or children would go to grandparents who are the people we are meant to be protecting. All these things need to be balanced. I can't imagine the worry if you have vulnerable children or family members and agree measures should be taken for these families.

"I agree, but how do we stop people catching it? There is only so much we can do."

No, I think there is a lot more we can do re kids and schools. I think they could stick to social distancing, smaller classes, different timetables etc.. just like they did before the end of the summer hols. I know that means parents of little ones will struggle re work etc, but we need to do something to reduce the chances of them all getting it and passing it on to adults etc. I also think High schools should be treated different to primary and juniors, high school kids can do more work at home etc to reduce the numbers in class. Lessons could be done over teams etc.

"We are in a crap situation. I think people being forced out of work due to part time schooling is a bigger worry. Ultimately parents would have to give up work, or children would go to grandparents who are the people we are meant to be protecting."

Clearly, as you've mentioned you are a primary teacher so your focus is understandably on that, but High schools are different. Bubbles are going to be whole year groups of 150 or more. They are basically saying to hell with it, let's have a covid party. I just dont think theyve thought it through. Little children might have less chance of being affected but older teens are built like adults, sure they are at the same risk of adults.

@ClimbDad I wondered where you'd gone after being chased off the other thread.

@Orchidsindoors

"I agree, but how do we stop people catching it? There is only so much we can do."

No, I think there is a lot more we can do re kids and schools. I think they could stick to social distancing, smaller classes, different timetables etc.. just like they did before the end of the summer hols. I know that means parents of little ones will struggle re work etc, but we need to do something to reduce the chances of them all getting it and passing it on to adults etc. I also think High schools should be treated different to primary and juniors, high school kids can do more work at home etc to reduce the numbers in class. Lessons could be done over teams etc.

"We are in a crap situation. I think people being forced out of work due to part time schooling is a bigger worry. Ultimately parents would have to give up work, or children would go to grandparents who are the people we are meant to be protecting."

Clearly, as you've mentioned you are a primary teacher so your focus is understandably on that, but High schools are different. Bubbles are going to be whole year groups of 150 or more. They are basically saying to hell with it, let's have a covid party. I just dont think theyve thought it through. Little children might have less chance of being affected but older teens are built like adults, sure they are at the same risk of adults.

Tbf both my sons are in year group bubbles of 90 at their primary school. Its 3 form entry with 30 per class. Year groups are having lunch and playtime together as it is the only way manageable for such a large primary. I don't know the answers. It is a mess! I just think there is a bigger picture to look at.

This all happened with the 1st June openings, where everyone was saying it was crazy and too soon to let any children back, out children we Guinea pigs etc, and it turned out to be a bit of a damp squib in the end didn't it? The rate actually continued to fall overall after schools opened

This isn’t actually true, though is it? Rates have actually been rising (I can’t remember the inflection point off the top of my head but think it was early July, roughly 2-3 weeks after most schools opened to years r, 1 & 6) There have been frequent & rising outbreaks in schools since June. You can see them in the PHE Weekly surveillance reports.

"This all happened with the 1st June openings, where everyone was saying it was crazy and too soon to let any children back, out children we Guinea pigs etc, and it turned out to be a bit of a damp squib in the end didn't it? The rate actually continued to fall overall after schools opened"

I think it's a bit disingenuous to compare a situation where a high school has 25% of 1 year group in or primary 2 years groups in half size bubbles (when schools and most pupils were entitled to the same precautions as everyone else at work) with the proposals for september

@ClimbDad totally agree with you

@KingFredsTache

This all happened with the 1st June openings, where everyone was saying it was crazy and too soon to let any children back, out children we Guinea pigs etc, and it turned out to be a bit of a damp squib in the end didn't it? The rate actually continued to fall overall after schools opened.

I know we are talking a bigger scale for September, and winter is going to bring all sorts of challenges anyway, but I think a bit of perspective is needed here.

Over 105 schools had cases of covid in school forcing school or bubble to close. So there has been cases in schools. And i am sure this has resulted in a teacher dying in the uk. Yes there have been uneffected schools too. But this is small class sizes and strict social distancing. Its not unreasonable to wonder what will happen when class sizes are full and therefore social distancing cant happen

**The fact that less than 1% needed seen in hospital shows that for 99+% it was mild
^^Is that the same mild that has left adults with heart and lung damage and neurological conditions? All mild meant was "not admitted to hospital".

This! I'm a 'mild' case. Four months later, I'm still not better. I may not ever get better. Not overweight, no underlying health problems and previously active and healthy. I'm 39 with two young kids. What the hell do I do now? The medical profession don't know how to treat me, nothing has worked. This has impacted every area of my life and my (previously fine) mental health is suffering now. It's a living nightmare.

This isn’t actually true, though is it? Rates have actually been rising (I can’t remember the inflection point off the top of my head but think it was early July, roughly 2-3 weeks after most schools opened to years r, 1 & 6) There have been frequent & rising outbreaks in schools since June. You can see them in the PHE Weekly surveillance reports.

Early July was not 2-3 weeks after schools opened on 1st June, also that time was when widespread testing started up again, so you would expect to see a rise in confirmed cases surely? The death rate has certainly gone down. I haven't seen any stories of big outbreaks in schools, certainly not any reported in the same way as the factory outbreaks. There doesn't seem to be much evidence to suggest that opening schools on 1st June caused any sort of significant change overall?

Obviously, as I said, the plans for Sept are different and much bigger scale, and I'm not saying its all going to be OK, I think it's going to be chaos because it also coincides with winter, and all the other bugs, temps, coughs etc that everyone gets. But I was just more commenting on the panic that was around leading up to June 1st.

Many schools including my area didn’t open to other years until June 15 because of the time needed to put plans in place.

@ClimbDad

You’re right to make people aware of this. I’m not sure what the answer is other than I think children must be back in school come September somehow. Those who are dismissive of what you post are probably the same people who said: “don’t worry, there are only a few cases here and it’s all just in China/northern Italy... We’ll be fine.”

The details about the cases in schools are in PHE weekly reports - I believe schools are second only to care homes for outbreaks since June.

@MrsSSG

**The fact that less than 1% needed seen in hospital shows that for 99+% it was mild ^^Is that the same mild that has left adults with heart and lung damage and neurological conditions? All mild meant was "not admitted to hospital".

This! I'm a 'mild' case. Four months later, I'm still not better. I may not ever get better. Not overweight, no underlying health problems and previously active and healthy. I'm 39 with two young kids. What the hell do I do now? The medical profession don't know how to treat me, nothing has worked. This has impacted every area of my life and my (previously fine) mental health is suffering now. It's a living nightmare.

That is really unfortunate and I am so sorry to hear that. I really do hope you feel better soon, it must be so hard with kids. This does not mean it will happen to children though. We are months into this now and it has not been reported.

The fact is, if people are fuming that 300 children have been hospitalised for covid, it is hypocritical if they dont do the same for other contagious viruses. My son is 4. Hes been rushed off by ambulance twice. Once for RSV which put him in PICU for a week and once gor bronchiolitis with low oxygen levels. He has also been in hospital for a bad case of scarlet fever. He got these viruses at school/nursery/in the community. Were people angry on my behalf for him being hospitalised for these viruses? No, because we accept in life that a small amount of children will need to be hospitalised for viruses. We dont even think about it, because it is a fact of of life Apparenently we cannot accept this risk for covid though, even though it happens at far lower rates for kids compared to other illnesses. I understand the risk with covid is with passing it to adults, but this thread was about the risk to kids. If you think it is unnaceptable that 300 kids have been in hospital, out of 30,000, maybe you need to look at the hospital rates for other viruses and shout about them too!