Matt Hancock finally starts telling the truth

[jomartin281271]

This is an extract from an interview Matt Hancock gave on Radio 1 this morning, when he was reacting to the sharp increase in reported cases.

The health secretary stressed how serious coronavirus can be for young people, even though they are less likely to die or get seriously ill.
"Long Covid is really serious. And people can be in a bad way for months and months and months," he says.
"The second really important message is that younger people spread the disease, even if they don't have symptoms.
"Don't kill your gran by catching coronavirus and then passing it on. And you can pass it on before you've had any symptoms at all."

And now that schools have opened the number of cases has rocketed and children are unwittingly bringing the virus back into their homes, possibly infecting older members of their family. Isn't it about time we had some joined up thinking from this government. It's only a week ago that Gavin Williamson and Boris Johnson were telling us that young people were almost immune.

I don’t think most young people listen to Matt Hancock anymore, so many mixed messages from the government, everyone just wants to get on with their lives, until deaths and sickness start to rise people won’t take any notice.

So what do i saw to my young dd, aged almost 21?
more importantly would she listen?

See I don't understand why if parents want to HE they can (without being taken off roll, but follow their own syllabus so teachers don't have work overload). That way pupil numbers would be down so social distancing could be improved, and would likely reduce the spread / numbers.
I don't get why it has to be all or nothing. Just common sense surely?

^Protecting the vulnerable would be joined up thinking. So if vulnerable families can and want to home educate, let them.

looking at ways used by other countries to follow the science and distance. So, use halls, disused office buildings etc. for improved social distancing in schools.

2 weeks on 2 weeks off schooling may be

blended learning^

Yy I agree with this.
Imagine how far along this process we could have been if the Govt and the silly pressure groups hadn't ignored all the science until this point. They could have spent the summer putting funding and infrastructure in place to support this.

@Boredbumhead well I want my DS at school. Being at home all the time has been awful for him as an only child.

I don't see why parents can't be given the choice though.

Rates have spiked not because schools have gone back. Most schools have only been back a few days. And Government and education leaders have proved that we can not provide an adequate education with out children being in school.

Rates have spiked because people went on holiday, packed beaches, pubs and have not followed the social distance rules. The age group is between 20 and 45 that are having spike in infection

[quote supersonicginandtonic]@herecomesthsun you can take the choice. You can de-register your children from school and home school until you feel safe to send them back. Then you apply for a school place for this to happen.[/quote]
@herecomesthsun

Speak to your head. They are often less Draconian than angry posters on Mumsnet!

They want to help, not bully.

No one should deregister immediately, start the conversation. Everyone's circs are different, everyone's school is different.

@Clutterbugsmum

Rates have spiked not because schools have gone back. Most schools have only been back a few days. And Government and education leaders have proved that we can not provide an adequate education with out children being in school.

Rates have spiked because people went on holiday, packed beaches, pubs and have not followed the social distance rules. The age group is between 20 and 45 that are having spike in infection

Hancock specifically said 17-21 today.

@supersonicginandtonic

But how is it fair that the teachers have to teach the children in school and provide remote learning. They'd basically have to be doing two jobs, i doubt the majority have the time. You already have 3 choices, Send your children to school Keep them off and pay the fine Or deregister and home school.

Erm,

1 we would be entirely happy to provide ALL the remote learning, Point us in the direction of the buggering curriculum

1. with coordination between schools a lot of provision for remote learning could have been set up in the summer. This may have happening with Oak Academy, I don't know, but all of everyone's energy seemed to go into dragooning everyone back to schools and offices with very little balance about how this was going to be safe and consideration that people might want alternatives that are safer. Pillocks.

1. actually very happy to pay a fine, but its not clear how much the fine will be (£60 a day, a week, altogether? x 2 for both parents?) and also at some point you might lose the place so fucking awful for the child if that happens. This is a pandemic folks, we don't want to be homeschooling till they're 18, just till we see where we are going this winter and can come to a safe arrangement.

4 deregister? fuck that no why should I

@Boredbumhead

So why are we sending them all back to school then, in schools of 1,000 plus?

What choice do we have - do you want today's children to have a poor education?

I'm not an angry poster at all. My sister has chosen to not send her disabled daughter back. She is happy to pay the fine as this is her choice. I fully support her decision. I'm just saying the options are there.

The 'joined up thinking' would be that those on here who were stupid enough to have voted Tory, should never have voted fucking Tory.

@Clutterbugsmum

Rates have spiked not because schools have gone back. Most schools have only been back a few days. And Government and education leaders have proved that we can not provide an adequate education with out children being in school.

Rates have spiked because people went on holiday, packed beaches, pubs and have not followed the social distance rules. The age group is between 20 and 45 that are having spike in infection

Exactly, schools have only been back 2-3 days - nowhere near enough time for them to have caused the increases.

@supersonicginandtonic

I'm not an angry poster at all. My sister has chosen to not send her disabled daughter back. She is happy to pay the fine as this is her choice. I fully support her decision. I'm just saying the options are there.

Apologies the same words get said quite angrily at times.

@oldmapie

See I don't understand why if parents want to HE they can (without being taken off roll, but follow their own syllabus so teachers don't have work overload). That way pupil numbers would be down so social distancing could be improved, and would likely reduce the spread / numbers. I don't get why it has to be all or nothing. Just common sense surely?

The problem would be how to look for and look after those children who are not being HE but are just not being taken to school due to neglect or parent's chaotic lives (addiction and severe MH). There needs to be a welfare safety net for these children and telling parents that schools is optional really opens up the risk that these children will be failed by society.

@Letseatgrandma

That’s interesting after months of the government implying that children don’t get it or spread it.

I don't think they said teens didn't get it or spread it - It's been common knowledge throughout that teens are similar to adults. It's primary school kids they've been talking about.

Blended learning is a non starter. They threatened us with it in Scotland and the outrage from parents provoked a swift and sharp u turn from the education secretary.

Blended learning is hopeless for working parents and in my view should be avoided completely.

The age group is between 20 and 45 that are having spike in infection

?
Not Just the young then

I'm so tired of going round the loop!

• full time school clear an infection risk
• no school clearly not great for many kids who struggle to work at home
• blended school with half classes clearly the best option but parents not happy due to work

Blended school is best compromise for kids and country imo. But worst for working parents definitely.

Anyway, we are where we are, rising cases, schools full-time, let's just hope for the best??

@Tomatoesneedtoripen

The age group is between 20 and 45 that are having spike in infection

?
Not Just the young then

Hancock said 17-21 in his interview

@oldmapie

See I don't understand why if parents want to HE they can (without being taken off roll, but follow their own syllabus so teachers don't have work overload). That way pupil numbers would be down so social distancing could be improved, and would likely reduce the spread / numbers. I don't get why it has to be all or nothing. Just common sense surely?

Because it's a legal requirement to follow the NC if you are registered at a state school.

More scaremongering - lots of viruses can take a long time to go. I was knocked out by a virus 2 years ago and I had a recurrent cough for months .... yes, yp can pass on to older people so up to older people to decide whether to see GC..

This chart, from the Public Health England weekly surveillance report (pdf) published at the end of last week, sheds light on what is actually happening. The chart on the left, illustrating cumulative infection rates, by age, since the pandemic started, shows that, broadly, infections have hit young adults just as much as older adults. But the chart on the right, showing infection rates in the second half of August (weeks 34 and 35 - the fortnight ending 30 August), proves that the age group with the highest rate of infections at the moment are 20 to 29-year-olds.

Blended learning is hopeless for working parents and in my view should be avoided completely.

As expressed here, we are not getting what is best for kids or for virus control, we are getting what is best for working parents.

Because it's a legal requirement to follow the NC if you are registered at a state school.

Only some, as academies and free schools don't have to follow it.