US Doctor On Opening Schools

[mac12]

Dr James Hildreth, CEO of an American hospital and public health adviser to the mayor of Nashville, has a clear message about the opening of schools.

6 minute video well worth everyone's time.

Rare to hear someone telling it how it is. Thanks for sharing.

Unfortunately with it being airborne this way it is inevitable it will spread in schools, even social distancing wouldn't help much. But the schools will go back regardless, they won't be able to remain closed until a vaccine is available.

😬

Worrying stuff.

Wow. That is worrying 😳

Damn, he pulled no punches, did he?

Flipping eck. That was worrying.

I don't really understand how this isn't bigger news?

I am a wearing a mask at school - full stop!
I will be taking my own wipes to wipe stuff down.

I’m planning to send my kids back with masks but it feels like a futile gesture & won’t do anything to protect teachers unless there’s widespread wearing of masks. I just don’t understand why DFE guidance is so behind the curve on this issue.

So clearly and gently spoken. Gosh I wish every person in the whole of the world could hear this.

I’d started to bury my head in the sand in order to get my kids back for September. Hearing this has made my decision very hard again.

I mean - my decision shouldn’t be hard. They just shouldn’t be going back.

But it’s also no that simple.

Yes and how many people on here are slamming down teaching staff who dare to say they want PPE and safer measures??

It is interesting how this isn’t being reported more widely though isn’t it? Especially as he is a Harvard trained epidemiologist. Makes you wonder what else we’re not being told...

Can anyone summarise? I can't play the video where I am.

@mac12 - I think there will be plenty of pupils wearing masks at my school. We have a number of medics who have been very active on school class WhatsApps.

Everyone was wearing them on A Level results and the same is expected on GCSE results day

What a brilliant clip.

I think there will be plenty of pupils wearing masks at my school

But think how many won’t. If 10 in the class do ... and they won’t be protected or necessarily the ones the rest of the class and teachers need protecting from.

@Beebityboo

Unfortunately with it being airborne this way it is inevitable it will spread in schools, even social distancing wouldn't help much. But the schools will go back regardless, they won't be able to remain closed until a vaccine is available.

You just heard a doctor and public health expert say this,

“It is now beyond dispute children can be infected, will be infected, some of them will get sick,and unfortunately as we know some of them will also die. And keep in mind, another point I’ve mentioned before, in past pandemics those people who recover from coronaviruses have long-term consequences that go well past the time that they recover. We don't know this will happen in children, but we can predict that it will based on seeing other pandemics, so that's something we need to think about.”

And you don’t think it’s worth taking more precautions to protect children? Masks? Smaller class sizes? Online learning?

Nothing? Just gamble with the health of children, school staff and families?

I think active encouragement will be required for some along the lines of ‘why do you think it is okay that you have to wear a mask in the shop or cinema but not at school’? Why do you wear masks on train or school bus but not at school? Does the school have a special invisible wall that prevents virus transmission?

@ClimbDad, you've misunderstood my comment. I am desperately hoping for everything you've mentioned as well as contemplating home schooling mine as I'm disabled and vulnerable. My comment was just my feeling resigned, it seems like this inept government will go forwards with the current plan regardless of the evidence .

Staff- At the moment masks aren’t allowed in schools are they?

Do we think kids will be allowed to wear masks in primary and secondary schools now as well if they and their families are happy to do so? I really can’t understand why the government schools guidance isn’t encouraging this if the government wants everyone back. Surely it’s negligent not to be encouraging this in view of findings like this?

My daughter is already asking this. She has to wear a mask for a 10 minute pop into a shop - where numbers are already controlled - but not for hours and hours in school classroom with 30 plus adult-sized peers? I mean, what can you say that doesn't sound like a platitude or an outright lie? Can Whitty or Williamson or Boris or someone please explain the science of current policy?

As someone who’s worked in poorly funded stage secondary schools for more than 12yrs, I can tell you that this plan the government has won’t work. Everyone who’s familiar with secondary schools is saying it won’t work. Primaries are a different matter; I think with careful planning, distancing and masks they may be able to do what is being asked of them, but in secondaries we are talking “bubbles” of 300+ kids in some cases with no staggered start or finish times and no distancing. The virus will run riot very quickly.

And yet over on a thread about what kind of schooling parents want, the vast majority are saying “let’s just go back to normal now, stop being snowflakes!” and 100% buying into this (corrupt as fuck) governments narrative. The government should have been investing money, time, expertise and energy into creating a suitable blended learning situation for this academic year.