Surely they can’t keep schools open as normal if cases keep going up like today!

[Worriedmum999]

My daughter went back to school last Thursday. She really needed to go as lockdown played havoc with her mental health. She was fine doing her academic work but she is someone who needs the social side of school.

We are a vulnerable family and, with this shitshower of a government, I had no faith that cases wouldn’t rise and I wouldn’t be forced to take her out of school again. But I cannot believe that she has been back 2 days and the jump in cases has been so huge. I honestly expected us to be able to get to half term. Of course deaths are going to rise now. Why wouldn’t we follow the pattern of the other European countries. Add to that the fact that people can’t get tested now and we’re fucked. And I’m so fucking angry and upset about the damage that this is doing.

What are the government going to do? Surely it will be impossible to expect parents to keep sending their children to schools when the death toll is huge again and the ICUs are full.

I don’t know what is coming, but right now the death toll is tiny at two deaths and very low hospitalisation.

We're not "fucked". You're catastrophising. The death rate is tiny.

I hadn't realised our death toll was hue again, I thought it was 2 today, which is tiny compared to what we were seeing in April and May.

I dont know what will happen with schools, I'm terrified by it but also realise my children need some normality after the last 6 months.

hospitalisations and death rate Remain low .

If you look on worldometres cases are going up but deaths aren't.

There is no vaccine ready to go. Unless we completely bin off education for the next two years we just have to live through this.

Ok it we can guarantee to put a entire generation on a lifetime of the dole queue. As a parent of a 2020 GCSE student, brining off education wasnt as a appealing a option as it was for my reception child. She is 6 and cant read or write yet. I cant see how this wont effect her education at least medium term.

For kids in year 9,10,11 this is a big deal. They need to matter or education is just a optional joke.

Younger kids have time to catch up. Older kids are already screwed imo.

The only reasons death rates are low is because younger people are catching it and less likely to be seriously ill. Covid patients who are seriously ill can and do die 28 days after being infected therefore their death is not counted as a Covid-19 death.

Elderly and vulnerable people are very likely to continue to be very careful although shielding has now officially stopped, therefore less likely to contract it in the first place.

It’s such a worry for all those families who are vulnerable

I'm worried about the long term effects of Covid - not death.

There are no statistics for that are they? But it's reported widely that long term effects of Covid are a problem for many of those infected.

Most schools went back late last week (England) so positive tests can’t be related to that. More likely from the people coming home from holidays sitting on planes with the germs being circulated.

I do imagine there will be a spike in cases with schools back though because of all the parents congregating and chatting. It’s so so annoying when so many people desperately want to minimise contact and allow some semblance of normality to continue.

Get some perspective. The death toll is not high, it’s nowhere near huge

Yes cases are rising but that to be expected with youngsters taking no notice of SD

Also schools have only just gone back, three days at most. Therefore if there are cases they caught it from somewhere outside school. As regards the increase in cases I would be interested to see more data is it because it’s high in areas where there is multigenerational families living together, is it because shedloads went to the coast ? Is it because of overcrowding etc when the pubs re opened? And so on as we reduce lockdown

There’s lot of articles out there about how it’s less potent at the moment and there fore there is less impact on the young, Although it does link it to SD and.masks as air droplets have further to travel

Lots of schools permit mask wearing in corridors etc now, and some in the classrooms if students wish.

What exactly would you like the government to do? Magic something out of the air? Lots of people are not following SD guidelines, ( although lots of the elderly, vulnerable and sensible ones amongst us are to protect themselves) and until they do cases will rise

This is with us until there is a vaccine. All you can do is make sure you and your family follow guidelines. If you are not happy with what the schools are doing de regisiter your kids and home school

The cases don't matter, in fact positive cases are a good thing as they bring us closer to herd immunity, the actual deaths are what matters and they are tiny. Get a grip.

I'm more worried about the people without covid who are dying.

I don't understand your sudden terror, what is happening is more or less what was always predicted to happen. Lockdown wasn't about stopping the virus , without a vaccine that wasn't going to happen. It was about two things (if for a moment you ignore the political angle) it was about getting the death rate down by protecting the vulnerable and buying time for the medical contingent by flattening the curve and spreading the cases out. Giving the NHS time to deal with on a more flattened out basis than an overloading at the start.

That's what happened , we know more (although not a lot ) about the virus now than we did 4 months ago, the NHS is prepared as best they can be and the spread out of cases should in theory (because there is a limit to the robustness of prediction) make it manageable.

I get the frustration I absolutely do , because of a testing screw up my asd ds1 missed his first day at school(there is a massive back story why that day in particular was important). I was bloody furious and cursed the government in every language I could find. So believe me I understand the frustration because it was entirely down to systemic incompetence.

But this is more or less expected. There was always going to be a rise both when people started returning after the borders opened (so to speak) after holidays etc , combined with schools returning , offices reopened and the temperature is turning. It doesn't mean we are fucked it means that we are bloody reminded that the virus isn't gone. Heads in the sand nor running around like headless chickens will help this situation. Common sense and cool heads are required. Not histrionic panicking.

The schools closed and we went into lockdown because this was a new virus, no one knew the effects of it or the likely outcome. For all the experts knew millions of people could be wiped out, but that didn't happen. Hospitals have come up with treatments that are working against the affects of the virus, vulnerable people are being protected as much as possible, and masks and social distancing are slowing the spread. This is all good news as far as i am concerned, we can live with this for as long as we have to.

First of all, at this point death is not the real issue, but it is emerging that the long term effects of covid can be horrendous and yes, young people are not immune to it.

@Chloemol
"What exactly would you like the government to do?"

For starters:

• listen to scientists
• be able to comprehend what they say (this is way too much to ask, I know)
• communicate clearly
• make masks compulsory everywhere in enclosed spaces
• stop faffing about with 3 word slogans
• stop using the meaningless bubble word
• have a strategy that involves real life possibilities and not unicorns

And I'm not even started yet...

@JKRowlingIsMyQueen
You do know that herd immunity HAS NEVER BEEN ACHIEVED NATURALLY in human history, right? Weel, obv you don't.
Just do the numbers. In 6 months we have 350k tested cases. Let's assume that there are 10fold as many actual cases. (ranomly picked for demonstration purposes) Even with the hypothetical 3.5m/6 months it would take 9.5 years to get everyone infected.

IF THERE'S LASTING IMMUNITY!!! If there is not, then this will be a rolling shitshow.

There would be a simple solution

1. get secondary school kids to online learning = more space
2. get primary kids back into the extra space with real and proper SD AND MASKS all the time
3. Have a small % of secondary kids back who really need it. Schools should be able to tell from prev attainment on who these are

1. Get the GP system involved in testing, tracking, tracing.

1. Start re-framing the narrative to reflect what's happening: This is not forever! These measures are temporary and you have to stick to them. Instead of the flippant "just the flu, don't panic" or the over dramatic "we'll all die". And stop having bloody mental issues over every single little thing. Resilience and adaptability are key traits now more than ever. We should be showing these to our kids and that we will persevere and not show them the example that something comes up and we should be running for shelter because we "can't cope"!

Of course deaths are going to rise now
Have no idea what you are talking about, we literally had 2 deaths yesterday out of a population of approx 70 million.

@ZombieFan

Of course deaths are going to rise now Have no idea what you are talking about, we literally had 2 deaths yesterday out of a population of approx 70 million.

Deaths are counted whenever the admins get around to entering information. Those 2 deaths might have occured in the past appr. 2-3 weeks at any time. And there is a lag between dying and reporting - a min of day, but mostly a week or so (if I remember correctly).

But it is good to know that early/mid August we only had 2 deaths.

oh, and before someone can be included in the number the relatives have to give consent.
I will check up on this - wonder if this is still the case.

Death rate is tiny and ICU's were NEVER full ever.

Stop dramatising, stop wanting a second wave, just stop and get some critical thinking going.

It is FAR less risky now than it was 6 months ago when everyone was carrying on as normal without all this bollox of masks, SD etc ...

Calm the fuck down.

@TheSunIsStillShining some excellent education ideas here! (secondary teacher). We have our lockdown plans ready to go to online learning again and Oak is funded for the academic year I believe.

CathTurnbull
Covid patients who are seriously ill can and do die 28 days after being infected therefore their death is not counted as a Covid-19 death.

I don’t think this is correct. If Covid is a cause of death on the death certificate it is reported as a Covid death no matter how long after a test it occurs.

Source (from healthmatters.blog.gov.uk):
Deaths that occur after 60 days will also be added to this figure if COVID-19 appears on the death certificate. This will provide a more complete measure of the burden of the disease over time.

Your first point is valid though. Compared to pre-lockdown, when different age groups were similarly exposed, a greater proportion of cases now consist of young people who are less likely to need hospitalisation and are less likely to die. Elderly people are more likely to take more stringent precautions and of course the care homes are no longer being forced to take potentially infected cases, as well as having the correct PPE.

@TheSunIsStillShining

First of all, at this point death is not the real issue, but it is emerging that the long term effects of covid can be horrendous and yes, young people are not immune to it.

@Chloemol
"What exactly would you like the government to do?"

For starters:

• listen to scientists
• be able to comprehend what they say (this is way too much to ask, I know)
• communicate clearly
• make masks compulsory everywhere in enclosed spaces
• stop faffing about with 3 word slogans
• stop using the meaningless bubble word
• have a strategy that involves real life possibilities and not unicorns

And I'm not even started yet...

@JKRowlingIsMyQueen
You do know that herd immunity HAS NEVER BEEN ACHIEVED NATURALLY in human history, right? Weel, obv you don't.
Just do the numbers. In 6 months we have 350k tested cases. Let's assume that there are 10fold as many actual cases. (ranomly picked for demonstration purposes) Even with the hypothetical 3.5m/6 months it would take 9.5 years to get everyone infected.

IF THERE'S LASTING IMMUNITY!!! If there is not, then this will be a rolling shitshow.

There would be a simple solution

1. get secondary school kids to online learning = more space
2. get primary kids back into the extra space with real and proper SD AND MASKS all the time
3. Have a small % of secondary kids back who really need it. Schools should be able to tell from prev attainment on who these are

1. Get the GP system involved in testing, tracking, tracing.

1. Start re-framing the narrative to reflect what's happening: This is not forever! These measures are temporary and you have to stick to them. Instead of the flippant "just the flu, don't panic" or the over dramatic "we'll all die". And stop having bloody mental issues over every single little thing. Resilience and adaptability are key traits now more than ever. We should be showing these to our kids and that we will persevere and not show them the example that something comes up and we should be running for shelter because we "can't cope"!

Agree with most of this.

They've just thrown kids back in with barely any measures in place. They could've at least tried.

@pontypridd

I'm worried about the long term effects of Covid - not death.

There are no statistics for that are they? But it's reported widely that long term effects of Covid are a problem for many of those infected.

Agree. Everyone is going on about death but there is a lot of evidence that many “recovered” COVID patients have lingering symptoms and lung scarring.

It’s not just a matter of well as long as you don’t die you’re fine.

If you are vulnerable you do not have to send your child back. Check the full Government Guidance on the reopening of Schools, under sub heading Attendance. It clearly states the school have to offer remote education to pupils whose parents or indeed themselves, are following clinical advice to shield.

My kids have not gone back and the school after checking this now are implementing education from home for them.

@Chloemol

Get some perspective. The death toll is not high, it’s nowhere near huge

Yes cases are rising but that to be expected with youngsters taking no notice of SD

Also schools have only just gone back, three days at most. Therefore if there are cases they caught it from somewhere outside school. As regards the increase in cases I would be interested to see more data is it because it’s high in areas where there is multigenerational families living together, is it because shedloads went to the coast ? Is it because of overcrowding etc when the pubs re opened? And so on as we reduce lockdown

There’s lot of articles out there about how it’s less potent at the moment and there fore there is less impact on the young, Although it does link it to SD and.masks as air droplets have further to travel

Lots of schools permit mask wearing in corridors etc now, and some in the classrooms if students wish.

What exactly would you like the government to do? Magic something out of the air? Lots of people are not following SD guidelines, ( although lots of the elderly, vulnerable and sensible ones amongst us are to protect themselves) and until they do cases will rise

This is with us until there is a vaccine. All you can do is make sure you and your family follow guidelines. If you are not happy with what the schools are doing de regisiter your kids and home school

De register? No she does not need too, try being a bit more sympathetic towards people.

Start re-framing the narrative to reflect what's happening: This is not forever! These measures are temporary and you have to stick to them. Instead of the flippant "just the flu, don't panic" or the over dramatic "we'll all die". And stop having bloody mental issues over every single little thing. Resilience and adaptability are key traits now more than ever. We should be showing these to our kids and that we will persevere and not show them the example that something comes up and we should be running for shelter because we "can't cope"!

Very wise. Though for those who truly can't cope and need medical support for their mental health problem there should be medical care and social support. Someone's I'm not sure some people claiming they're falling to pieces over Covid really feel ill enough to visit the GP about it in RL. But for those who really do need help, lack of resilience is not a failing.