Just had a letter via the school to all parents from PHE (are they still a thing? I thought they got disbanded)...
The basic gist is - only test for the 3 symptoms the NHS says to test for (even though 52% of all positive children don't exhibit those symptoms*) because our testing system is so crap that it can't cope with the numbers even of children who HAVE those symptoms.
The final line is this
"It is vital for children and young people’s learning and future opportunities that they are able to return to school and college. It is therefore vitally important that all we work together and do our bit
to make this possible."
Well the government isn't doing its bit, is it? It's not providing safe workplaces for staff or safe environments for ECV children or children of vulnerable parents.
It's not giving any extra money for soap, let alone extra staff to allow SD and smaller class sizes. Its testing system has fallen over and not fit for purpose, and contact tracing, as a result, is crap.
Outbreaks in schools now account for the largest source of infections.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/921561/Weekly_COVID19_Surveillance_Report_week_39_FINAL.pdf
This just feels like another effort to shift blame. I feel like this is blaming the testing problems on parents - do they have any evidence people aren't following the rules already? I doubt it.
*covid.joinzoe.com/post/back-to-school