It feels like people on MN are willing schools to close

[Marcellemouse]

Lots of threads being really negative about schools reopening. These have been largely started by teachers, the latest one being about a gagging order on the BBC. My 2 and every other DC I know are thriving on schools opening again. DS actually stands a chance of doing well and getting back on track with GCSES. DC are happy and animated again. Their teachers have been fantastic, I'm massively impressed. Friends of mine who are secondary teachers are positive and happy to be back teaching in school instead of home learning. I just get a different vibe in RL than on MN about schools. What's the reality?

I think that's the thing, and why the indoor crowded environment is a problem.

How much line online teaching would you have to do? I guess it depends if you are primary or secondary.

We would only offer pre recorded videos, because that's what would suit most of our families more of the time. I'd record them in the evening so they could be accessed at the parents convenience at any point the next day. Why would you want a lesson at a given time of day if you knew that most other parents were working on their laptops and couldn't be available then?

New study from India - the largest contact tracing study so far

“Furthermore, children and young adults were found to be potentially much more important to transmitting the virus — especially within households — than previous studies have identified”

“Children and young adults were much more likely to contract coronavirus from people their own age, the study found. Across all age groups, people had a greater chance of catching the coronavirus from someone their own age. The overall probability of catching coronavirus ranged from 4.7% for low-risk contacts up to 10.7% for high-risk contacts.”

So I guess there’s the potential for them to catch it in school from their peers and then take it home to their family.

www.princeton.edu/news/2020/09/30/largest-covid-19-contact-tracing-study-date-finds-children-key-spread-evidence

Shit noble.

Shit, shit, shit. (I'm guessing, as a teacher, you're feeling the same). My one sliver of hope was that DD2 wouldn't be giving me a massive viral load when crawling all over me in the middle of the night.

Why aren't they letting schools who could have full time school for all years socially distanced with a few extra TAs do it FFS?!!?!!?

The researchers found that 71% of infected individuals did not infect any of their contacts, while a mere 8% of infected individuals accounted for 60% of new infections.

Super spreader still prevalent

Some definitions would be useful, wonder if there is a longer report

The researchers found that the chances of a person with coronavirus, regardless of their age, passing it on to a close contact ranged from 2.6% in the community to 9% in the household.

Community defined as-

noble top marks on selectiveness there

By linking to to the report, Time, that means I don’t need to copy and paste the whole thing for you.

Do most people actually worry about their DC catching Coronavirus? Unless you or your DC are vulnerable I don't see what the problem is and why all this fear regarding school. The majority of school age parents and teachers are probably under 55.

We do live and record it.

@Marcellemouse

Do most people actually worry about their DC catching Coronavirus? Unless you or your DC are vulnerable I don't see what the problem is and why all this fear regarding school. The majority of school age parents and teachers are probably under 55.

What about those of us under 50 who are vulnerable or extremely vulnerable? Or care for vulnerable people. What about us????!!

I'm also bound by being outed.
Not many people where I work yet the vital importance of fresh air and keeping rooms ventilated... The mail did a huge piece on Merkel instructing Germany... Keep your windows open! It's free, it's easy and it's so effective..
I'm fed up with people shutting windows all around me complaining of the cold and not wearing proper clothes.

The majority of school age parents and teachers are probably under 55.

What about those of us who aren’t? Don’t we matter?

Thinking about just my school, a quarter of the maths teachers are clinically vulnerable for various reasons, one was shielding I think.

One's dad already died of covid.

But yeah, nothing to worry about.

One's dad already died of covid.

That's so sad noble.

How many times do the medics have to tell us that yes, it's mostly older people dying from it, but they are seeing deaths and long term chronic illness in younger groups. The ONLY strategy if you want to be sure to remain fit enough to look after your kids is suppression. Which is why it's so wrong the way schools have been sent back when all they need is money and a bit of thought and planning to be safer.

I know a couple of people with long covid - both of whom younger than 55 with no underlying conditions.

@Parkrunmum

Well you could say that and you're perfectly entitled to feel that way. I don't think it's quite as simple as that.

@ineedaholidaynow you keep giving me examples of Covid secure places but I could give you examples of places that are not.

It's like a middle class bubble on here of office workers wfh and teachers.

I can think off the top of my head of friends and family working in minimum wage jobs in factories and such like, they're not Covid secure. You can say Covid secure as many times it doesn't make it true.

My dad works on a production line (Japanese-owned) and is tested weekly.

My DSM works in a furnace room and is expected to SD.

My DB is a FLT driver. His workplace has to be Covid-secure by law and this does mean 2m distancing and PPE.

DSis 1 works Inna packing factory. SD in place.

DSis 2 worked in a supermarket all summer. Screens in place, SD and now customers in face coverings.

Shall I go on? It is possible to be a teacher and not exist in a middle-class bubble.

I forgot DH who also works in a factory with SD and rule of six in place.

In fact no one in my family is able to WFH.

Yes. That’s all the teachers want - the social distancing these settings all have. I’m not a teacher but I am a parent and I’d prefer my children and their teachers to have this too.

@notevenat20

And as for my second sentence - fig 20 of the PHE surveillance report. The grey bar is the single biggest bar

The issue is that all children go to school. So it's not surprising that there will be lots of cases in schools. The question is whether they catch it in school.

The dara referred to shows outbreaks. The criteria for outbreak is stated as:

“An outbreak is defined as two or more test-confirmed cases of COVID-19 among individuals as- sociated with a specific non-residential setting with illness onset dates within 14 days, and one of:
(1) Identified direct exposure between at least 2 of the test-confirmed cases in that setting (for example under one metre face to face, or spending more than 15 minutes within 2 metres) dur- ing the infectious period of one of the cases
(2) When there is no sustained local community transmission - absence of an alternative source of infection outside the setting for the initially identified cases
In week 38, there were 248 confirmed COVID-19 clusters or outbreaks in educational settings.”

So yes. Transmission

Do most people actually worry about their DC catching Coronavirus? Unless you or your DC are vulnerable I don't see what the problem is and why all this fear regarding school. The majority of school age parents and teachers are probably under 55.

I worry about this. I know too many previously healthy people, including kids, who are now long term sick and/or with lifelong complications as a result of Covid. You will see big insurance companies are now getting edgy about Long Covid & its impact on morbidity & longevity going forward (see Swiss Re today) - be interested to see when this starts to impact financial products like mortgages & life insurance. And nobody can tell you what the long term health impact of infection will be. Many countries around the world are taking much more cautious approach with kids - blended learning, small class sizes, masks etc. My kids can’t give consent to taking part in this reckless experiment of opening schools as normal In a pandemic so I do worry every day that I am having to trust Johnson, Hancock, Whitty, Harries - ie the people who brought us the disastrous handling of the first wave - that they know what they’re doing & have our best interests at heart. I find no solace in this. Yes I am worried & am amazed that more parents are not.

Sorry for lack of paragraphs, am sure it didn’t look like that when I typed it!!

Do most people actually worry about their DC catching Coronavirus? Unless you or your DC are vulnerable I don't see what the problem is and why all this fear regarding school. The majority of school age parents and teachers are probably under 55.

What about the ones who aren't under 55 or those who are vulnerable ? There are of course quite a few of them. Don't their lives matter?

Now I know that schools aren't allowed to see test results when kid's have been sent home with suspected Covid - I think schools should be closed ASAP.

We have loads of kids at our school coughing. I can't get my head round this.

Mac 12 I'm worried too.
I don't think we can see what's going on in the classroom until we hit proper cold winter weather.
I've been on a ward with dd pre covid and they were scrabbling to get breathing monitors.

I'm worried about the dc having any illness, in this utter mess.

Dust as me followed by 'I'm fine it's not covid'