Coronovirus IS transmitted in schools

[mosquitofeast]

And lots of teachers have died

I am just clarifying this, as I don't know how many times I have read on Mumsnet that this has never happened. I don't know where this misinformation is coming from, but its rubbish

It was transmitted several hundred times in my school (secondary)before lock down. Hundreds of children and dozens of staff were affected. Some have been seriously ill and have been left with long term health problems, such as low lung capacity and loss of hearing.

I am a teacher and I was infected at school. I did not use public transport, or go into any shops or other businesses for the whole of March, and I was living alone. The only time I was in any contact with anyone else was in school

A school near us (also secondary) had to close a week before school closures were announced, as so many teachers were infected.

Thankfully, no staff or student in our school died, although several students have lost parents, and many have lost grandparents. One of my sixthformers has withdrawn her university application as her mum has lost a lung and a leg and now can't run her home and care for her younger children on her own.

However, according to the union, around 200 school staff have dies to date, so we have just been lucky so far.

So please don't repost this fake news that "no one has ever caught covid in a school" - because |I have watched it happen in front of my eyes, and experienced it myself.

[ResIpsaLoquiturInterAlia]

With a seemingly lost and incompetence make it up as they go along political leadership (see the Covid fatalities data to confirm governmental performance) l would imagine it is our own collective and united responsibility to play the game nicely so that few are negatively impacted. We already loss too many lives and now we need to save both lives and livelihoods. We can only do that be being respectful civic duty minded and Covid smart and proactive.

Otherwise the cost in my area of central London is currently approximately £15-20k per year (with annual increases of course) per child at a good fee paying primary school. That's excluding uniform outfitters and enrichment activities equipment etc. Of course for that you can expect good interactive remote teacher lead live digital schooling. Most schools will even throw in a "free" tech kit and caboodle for good measure. Naturally such schools only tend to cater for business owners and not (poor) higher earners professional corporate employees as you need to ensure you qualify for the oversubscribed wait list and pass the "smell test" to ensure you are the suitable type to perpetuate prestige and academic attainment. I need my best in area state sponsored paid for primary to open please! We already got Covid and soon Brexshit and yes I pay and have paid higher rate over the top taxes for years!

[Newjez]

Schools are the perfect environment to transmit viruses.

Grandparents often provide afternoon care for children. Grandparents are vulnerable.

We're coming into winter when viruses are easily transmitted.

We haven't eradicated the virus. We are still sitting on 500 - 1000 cases a day.

Let's open all the schools. What could possibly go wrong?

[MaleficentsCrow]

So what do you want OP? Schools to close for the foreseeable future, no child in the British isles to receive a education till everyone feels safe and secure or a global virus in a population of billions suddenly dissapears?

Teachers not to work, but us other key workers to carry on at the coal face taking an absolute hammering? All the other key workers are expendable but not teachers, who if we close schools aren't required so perhaps their wages could be diverted to other key services?

To be fair thinking about this latter point, sack all the teachers, close the schools, use the education budget for other public services. Run some sort of zoom education for homeschooling and have childcare settings for key workers where they can join in on the zoom meetings. Fuck we'd save millions.

[oiboi]

Why can't teachers wear PPE? At my kids school the parents had been informed that the teachers would be wearing it if they wanted to. I have no idea if they did as kids were dispensed via a slot and I didn't actually see a teacher.

[Alex50]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53718066

OP were you tested for coronvirus? As there wasn’t much testing back in March, were the students tested?

[SlipperSwan]

Same here. I know school staff and parents who ended up in hospital with it, all from the same class so the children were taking it home with them.

[Lianarose]

@WombOfOnesOwn

200 teachers sounds like a lot!

But it isn't. In fact, teachers have been quite shielded.

Of course, there are 500,000 teachers in the UK, a nation of 60 million people. That means eight-tenths of a percent of the UK population is teachers.

In the UK so far, 45,000 people have died of COVID complications.

Eight-tenths of one percent of this figure would be about 400.

Teachers have died at HALF the rate of the UK population in general. Do you expect teachers should simply be regarded as golden, irreplaceable heroes that must be put on a pedestal and never regarded in the same way as the rest of the population?

It's WILDLY ridiculous for teachers to whine that they're somehow being imposed upon when a quick look at the numbers reveals they're in no way being more impacted than anyone else.

Thank fuck someone else beat me to this. Absolute hysterical scare-mongering irresponsible thread. Also I can’t find the 200 figure anywhere, only the 26 one which makes the risks even lower.

I do hope you’ve not been to a supermarket or had food delivered these past months because those workers are also at risk? Oh wait...

If you’re a teacher you must be aware of the vital role for education in our society and the impacts on children being out of school this long. these are real and happening as opposed to your imaginary ‘balancing risks’ to teachers. I’ve been as supportive as possible up until now but these sorts of threads are rapidly eroding my sympathy. You need help to manage your anxiety and stop frightening everyone.

[tillythepony]

But when you go into a supermarket the workers have huge screens up, have the option of wearing a mask/gloves, everyone around them now is wearing a mask, that definitely seems to be safer than in a poorly ventilated workplace with up to 2000 others wearing no protection. My gp and dentist still seem to be seeing no one face to face and in hospitals they tend to have protection. I'm not a teacher but I do think they have a right to feel nervous about going back.

[walksen]

Honestly , the government has moved heaven to get ppe for NHS and care workers etc including specially chartered RAF flights and millions to companies with no track record to produce ppe that will never be used as they are not suitable.

Education they won't spend a penny. Teachers are the only profession where covid measures and protections have actually been reduced as the pandemic has gone on. Then they produce a study made when all those protections were in place saying school is safe for kids and only adults are affected anyway.

Let's face it teachers are expendable. No doubt they have calculated that overall the public won't care if a few hundred teachers croak as long as their kids at back at school. In a few months they will offer a few glib comments like they regret every death, the science has changed, there will be time to learn from mistakes when the pandemic is over etc.

[Lianarose]

Also while I’m here and angry, I do wonder if this frenzied speculation and attempts to stop schools reopening would happen if it meant teachers were at risk of redundancy and losing their homes like so many of us are?

[Lianarose]

‘Teachers are expendable’? No ones saying that. We are saying we can’t go on like this. Where is the link to the mythical 200 figure? We have 26 confirmed deaths from the period schools were open fully and virus circulating. Out of 500k teachers I think that’s a teensy risk yes.

What would you like to say to the people feeling genuinely at the end of what they can cope with and fearful for their health if schools don’t go back? Suck it up? We have for the greater good for months now. I for one can’t do it anymore.

[CostaCosta]

I don't understand why people are so unsympathetic to those working in schools. All other sectors can have ppe, we can't. We can't social distance. I wish the gov would let people opt in or out of school for the first term

[Lianarose]

Actually idk why I’m bothering. I’ll just slope off and have my nervous breakdown don’t mind me.

[allthingsred]

These are scary times op. But at some point we have to get a new normal & that is opening schools.
Unless the government are going to ensure every home had excellent WiFi every child has a home learning device & every teacher is still giving live lessons I don't see how schools can stay shut.
My children cannot go on as they were before lock down.
With their teachers just giving them BBC bitesize links & telling them to watch news round once a week.
I was appalled on their behalf at the so called 'teaching' that was happening.
I also don't see why teachers are the only ones that should get to stay at home unless your saying that they should be more protected than any other key worker?

[Allnamesaregone]

Ridiculous scaremongering.

This is from the ONS
“ The majority of deaths involving COVID-19 have been among people aged 65 years and over (46,020 out of 51,505).”

There have been 6 deaths in under 14s, around 650 deaths in 15-44 age bracket, and around 5000 deaths in 45-64 age bracket.

[herecomesthsun]

@lydia7986

Of course it can spread in schools. No one is denying that.

The argument is simply that the overall net damage to society that would be caused by children continuing to miss out on structured education will be far greater in the long run, given that most children experience only a mild illness, if they have symptoms at all.

I understand some teachers are worried, but really, if you’re in reasonably good health, the chances are you won’t be severely ill either if you do catch it.

For obvious reasons, we hear far more about the severe cases than about the tonnes of people who were only mildly ill. This is skewing our perceptions of what it’s like for most people.

I had it in early Spring (subsequently confirmed by antibody test). At the time, my illness was so mild that I was convinced it couldn’t be Covid - I just had felt very tired for five days, with a temperature on the first day. After a week, I was completely better and I continue to be in completely normal health. And, by the way, I’m (just) over 60...

The damage to society by the clinically vulnerable being exposed to this would be great. Take us out of the equation please, as they are doing in Wales, and I would agree.

[missfliss]

Married to a teacher in a SEND school who has been teaching in school and from home throughout.

Parent of a child with significant SEND who has been attending school throughout ( except one fortnight when we self isolated).

I work full time and have been able to do so safely from home throughout.

We are bloody lucky. We still have incomes, my child's mental health hasn't suffered and my husband has been able to complete his NQT year.

I totally empathise with teachers - I really do. It is absolutely correct to acknowledge that the risks of transmission are high in schools. We are also very lucky as the nature of SEND schools means smaller classes generally.

Can we all just acknowledge that this is a shit situation with no 'good' outcome? There is no workable solution and it's fine for all of us to acknowledge that.
All there is, is the least shit path from shit options.

For the many hundreds of thousands of children whose mental health is at stake, for the parents who can no longer home school and hold down their jobs in a fragile economy schools must open.

It's still shit for teachers, sorry 😐

[walksen]

Actually it is 65. It is the NEU that quote the 200 figure but that is not what I am taking my about

seeing as only 10% of the population have had covid so far it is likely that at least a few multiples of that 65 deaths is likely over the next few terms.

No one has explicitly said it no but how many posters say well the risk is tiny whilst they enjoy covid secure workplaces and workplace protections removed from teachers. Surely everyone is aware is aware that without ppe or SD some teachers will "sadly" die but overall think the mental health of kids is more important? Perhaps they justify by saying risk is part of life, they will die with covid not of it etc.

The government won't even mandate testing staff and kids proactively because testing symptomatic people is "more effective", when what they should say is most effective use of limited capacity since it would clearly be better to remove covid cases from school asap. If there is an asymptomatic case in school know one will know until an adult gets it and develops symptoms.

I struggle to understand how on one hand I door gathering of households can be banned as it has been shown to drive infections but then at the same time a group of 30 plus people/teenagers in a room is safe.

What about the type 1 diabetic kids within bubbles of 250?

[sonicbook]

@Lianarose I don't know why you're so angry. Teachers have every right to be concerned.

They are being put into situations that are absolutely perfect for spread of any virus without ANY of the protection offered to almost all other professions/ jobs.

I don't see how that's okay tbh.

[Bananabread8]

@Userzzz this is what I said not long ago on another thread that OP was on. It’s very unfair to start threads like this. I can only imagine what it will be like a week before school starts. I don’t understand what some people want so CV can make you loose your hearing now?. Honesty I feel that some people are expecting the kids to continue to stay off indefinitely and when challenged they said they don’t.

[Bananabread8]

@missfliss

Married to a teacher in a SEND school who has been teaching in school and from home throughout.

Parent of a child with significant SEND who has been attending school throughout ( except one fortnight when we self isolated).

I work full time and have been able to do so safely from home throughout.

We are bloody lucky. We still have incomes, my child's mental health hasn't suffered and my husband has been able to complete his NQT year.

I totally empathise with teachers - I really do. It is absolutely correct to acknowledge that the risks of transmission are high in schools. We are also very lucky as the nature of SEND schools means smaller classes generally.

Can we all just acknowledge that this is a shit situation with no 'good' outcome? There is no workable solution and it's fine for all of us to acknowledge that.
All there is, is the least shit path from shit options.

For the many hundreds of thousands of children whose mental health is at stake, for the parents who can no longer home school and hold down their jobs in a fragile economy schools must open.

It's still shit for teachers, sorry 😐

This is one of the fairest posts that has viewed the matter from both sides!

[sonicbook]

No teachers aren't expecting the kids to stay off indefinitely they are expecting safety precautions to be put in place the same way they are in every other workplace.

[frumpety]

Who is saying teachers are not allowed to wear PPE ?

[Bananabread8]

@walksen parents do Care. But there will be a lot of parents under pressure to go back to work. So if you are a teacher it will seem as though nobody is in support of you and wanting PPE. It could be months or years until a successful vaccine is found. Would you like the parents to support you and keep their kids at home until one is found?