Coronavirus outbreaks in England spreading mostly in schools

[herecomesthsun]

Link here

I know it is what many of us have been predicting for some months, so an all too familiar topic.

However, I thought some of you, maybe especially teachers or those from vulnerable families, might be interested in having the article flaaged up.

[herecomesthsun]

@PlonkItDownNOW

Many parents of teenagers are in their fifties, as are many teachers. If hospitals become full, the fatality rate will increase and we could see many deaths in this age category. I love my job, but i don’t love it enough to have to watch my colleagues die if they don’t have to. There has to be a point at which we decide this is too risky.

Being in your fifties does not make your risk of death high. It is still minimal.

It is significant enough for the government to have considered isolating the over 50s

It is more significant for the clinically vulnerable.

[PlonkItDownNOW]

I actually work in a job where I can WFH AND choose my own hours. The only way I could make home schooling work would be caring for my child between when he wakes up at 7 and when he goes to bed at 7; I would then work til 1am Monday-Friday and then at the weekend too to cover more hours.

Having flexibility does not mean it is sustainable.

[PlonkItDownNOW]

It is significant enough for the government to have considered isolating the over 50s

Which they never did precisely because the risk is low so it's completely irrelevant.

You only need to look at the numbers to see that the risk is low, I'm not just pulling wild opinions out of thin air here.

[HipTightOnions]

My daughter school teachers have been provided with visors, masks and gloves. But every pick up I notice the staff don’t all wear them! I just don’t understand this?

I simply don’t understand how it is possible to speak clearly and loudly enough to teach from the front of the class while wearing a mask. I could in principle choose to wear a mask outside but this feels a bit pointless when I am spending 5 hours maskless in full classrooms.

[HipTightOnions]

We do need to think separately about older and younger children. None of the pupils I teach needs childcare.

[IloveJKRowling]

Schools are more likely to close (bubbles or whole schools) without masks.

I don't understand why people who don't want to be homeschooling again aren't advocating for masks because, given levels in the community now, they're the best chance for schools staying open.

[ceeveebee]

There were about 60,000 positive cases in England last week
Based on the information that our local paper publishes it seems that schools don’t tend to have a lot of cases ie they close the bubble after the first positive so there may only be say 1000 cases linked to these 300 outbreaks.
So where are the other 59,000 cases from?

[PlonkItDownNOW]

We do need to think separately about older and younger children. None of the pupils I teach needs childcare.

They may not but the mental health of teenagers would suffer significantly if they were to be at home with no mixing with peers until Easter.

[PlonkItDownNOW]

I haven't got a problem with masks.

[Longwhiskers14]

@GreyishDays

I don’t know about this. Bear in mind this is just a very small local paper. They’ve said it’s schools rather than universities. They’re basing this on the number clusters (pic). Surely the clusters at universities have more cases in. We need to know the number of cases not the number of clusters.

That's what I was going to say. The numbers in schools are relatively low compared to what's going on at unis.

[loulouljh]

Schools should not close!!! The percentage of tests due to Covid currently versus other things is still tiny!!!! Parents have to work. Kids need to be educated in schools.

[Eng123]

@StatisticalSense
You seem to hate working parents unless they are minimum wage slaves working part time. That's the very thing I want my children to avoid, primarily by getting an education!

[HipTightOnions]

They may not but the mental health of teenagers would suffer significantly if they were to be at home with no mixing with peers until Easter

I don’t think it has to be all or nothing.

[loulouljh]

As above being in your 50s, unless you are overweight (in which case fix it) or have an underlying condition does not condemn you to a certain death! For goodness sake. Have a sense of proportion.

If people are genuinely scared (and take a look at the ONS data released today and challenge yourself as to why you are actually scared) then they need to remove themselves from the situation. So stay at home. Keep your kids at home. But leave the rest of us to save the economy and our sanity and live our lives!!!!

[PinkFondantFancy]

[quote StatisticalSense]@PinkFondantFancy
There isn't if both parents are insistent on working 9-5 Monday to Friday but if one works 6-2 and the other 2-10 or some work is done at weekends it is possible and exactly what a lot of families who work in lower paid jobs have had to do for years in order to avoid paying for childcare.[/quote]
I'm currently working 6am - 10pm 5 days a week (with gaps to feed children) to just about stay on top of my work at the moment plus several hours at the weekend. When would you suggest that I do the other 8 hours a day under your model?

Even if it could be achieved 6 - 2, the chances of my 99% male colleagues with a stay at home partner caring for their children understanding that I can't do meetings or progress work after 2pm each day is nil. It's not that kind of job.

[Ihatemyseleffordoingthis]

@Longwhiskers14 - not sure that is accurate - I think it is both - certainly here in NW our city region I'm aware most schools have at least one class at hoe isolating

"But parents won't countenance any part time option. " Won't they? I'm not aware that we have ever been consulted.

Secondary school aged children, at least those not considered vulnerable or SEN might well be able to cope with P/t options.

Or, you know there could be some more imaginative thinking put into play around protections for working mothers of primary aged children, as it is usually mothers who end up picking up the childcare, and who are already dealing with the impact of class isolations

[MRex]

Scaremongering by abusing data to deliberately give false impressions isn't helpful to anyone and unfortunately that article fits in the "unhelpful" category. We already covered the education figures on the data thread in great detail. Primary schools have very much smaller populations than secondary schools or universities. The actual figures equate to 1% primary schools, 6% secondary schools, 3% SEN schools and 32% of further education/ universities having outbreaks. Which indicates that primary schools have less outbreaks than the general population and covid is spreading rapidly amongst late teen/ early 20s, which started happening before universities went back and is more clearly linked with social factors.

Questions need to be asked about how to keep students and teachers safe in the 14-25 age groups given that cases are high and rising with those age groups. The same issues aren't relevant to the younger age groups based on current evidence.

[Maryann1975]

so far I am grateful for the 5 weeks of education my children have had
This completely.
And if schools close again, I will be taking full advantage of any key worker provision. I didn’t last time, we just managed at home (I work in Early years), but everyone’s mental health struggled because one child did not cope at all. School were shit, even though they knew she was vulnerable. No contact at all for 7 weeks.
I don’t think I am the only key worker parent who would do this, it happened in June when schools opened for more dc in different year groups, key worker children also increased as parents decided the stress of keeping their child at home while they worked was too much.

I’m also curious as to why schools are being blamed for the rise. Out of 9 schools in out town, only one bubble has been sent home and apart from the original positive case, no more were recorded.

[PlonkItDownNOW]

As above being in your 50s, unless you are overweight (in which case fix it

Even being overweight and BAME, your risk is slightly increased but still minimal.

I keep saying it, but far and away the biggest risk factor is age. And by age I don't mean 50. I mean 70+.

[StatisticalSense]

@PinkFondantFancy
I have long said that employers expecting such hours should employ a more reasonable number of staff or accept that a lot of work won't get done. It is not the governments job to support employers demanding unreasonable levels of work and employers need to be reminded of the working time directive that bans them from asking for more than 48 hours a work a week.

[KihoBebiluPute]

Isn't it supposed to be about proportionate management of risk?

No one expects schools to be covid-free, but as the vast majority of kids are very low risk and the long term harms done by keeping schools shut or on restricted activities are so great, it is not worth damaging our children - it's too big a price to pay.

Keeping the schools open and relatively close to "normal" could be fine if everyone else is careful. Your child might bring home the virus and infect the rest of the family yes, so make sure you wear a mask whenever you can to protect others, and keep up social distancing, and don't mix with large groups, and use the Track&Trace app, and hopefully the consequences of that virus being brought home will be manageable and limited.

Its if people say "the kids are mixing so why bother" and have parties, and go visit Grandma at the weekend, and don't wear masks because "there's no point" then it all gets out of control and unmanageable.

The grownups following all the restrictions is supposed to be the price we pay to protect the children from the harm of losing out on their childhoods and educations.

[PlonkItDownNOW]

employers need to be reminded of the working time directive that bans them from asking for more than 48 hours a work a week

Sorry but even doing 35 hours per week is an enormous ask when juggling childcare and homeschooling, whether your employer is flexible or not.

[Marcellemouse]

@herecomesthesun what is your agenda?
It's obvious you desperately want schools to shut because it suits YOUR personal circumstances.

[PlonkItDownNOW]

go visit Grandma at the weekend

Which is completely allowed, so why you're huffing and puffing about it I don't know.

[Waah]

How are reception children supposed to learn phonics when their teachers faces are covered by a mask? Genuine question?