Lockdown in England from next week **title edited by MNHQ**

[Velvetpeel]

The Times is reporting that we are headed for a month long lockdown until Dec 1st.
No details yet...
Why do they always announce things on the drip feed - makes it all even more stressful

Yes the children need to be in school.

But it leaves me feeling like we've been forgotten. Literally the only things we have been told will make us safe are hand washing, extra cleaning, not mixing bubbles (of 60 in primary to 200 in secondary) and to try and keep 2m away from the kids while keeping the windows open as much as we can.

No masks that are now essential everywhere else. Not even for teacher in primary...actively discouraged.

No limiting of numbers like shops and businesses are expected to. Full classes.

Just a blanket 'younger kids don't get it as much or so badly so no worries' message

@walksen speaking as someone who had the virus in March with the symptoms you describe. I've just had a chest x ray. No change seen. It's unpleasant but I'm sure it will be ok.

Can someone post evidence from a reputable source that schools are a key driver of Covid infections - everyone is saying it but where is the empirical evidence?

What’s the point if schools remain open?

24 hours to hand in notice!

Judging by what most are saying in the school WhatsApp...as long as the schools remain open, not many will be bothering with any of the other restrictions.

The police going to arrest us for having a coffee after dropping dcs friends back home from school, where they just spent all day together?

They can’t possibly police it, and most parents seem to be of the opinion that if they are going to get it, it will be from school, so why bother with anything else?

Where is the evidence that schools are not key drivers in infections?

Primary school cases.

secondary school cases

OK, let's get one thing clear: WHATEVER WE DO, THE VIRUS WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD, UNTIL MOST PEOPLE IN SOCIETY HAVE CAUGHT IT. Just like every other respiratory virus. Of course it's spreading; that's what viruses do. It's not anybody's fault, though that is how people have been encouraged to think. We cannot stop it. All these lockdowns might do is make the spread a bit slower (though I have seen suggestions that the opposite is true), while ensuring maximum misery and destruction to society.

WE NEED TO BE THROWING ALL THE RESOURCES CURRENTLY GOING TOWARDS LOCKDOWNS AND RESTRICTIONS AND FURLOUGH TOWARDS THE HEALTH SERVICE. NOW.

I knew this would happen. We'll still be in this situation in two years - mark my words.

And cases are rising "exponentially" because testing has increased exponentially! Most of these people are not ill!!! Many of us are probably harbouring antibodies for other viruses, but we'd never know it, because we're not being tested for them.

Covid-19: the killer virus that you have to be told you have (to paraphrase a YouTube commenter).

lovelemoncurd

Thanks for the reassurance; it is just such a weird symptom and I've found no way to cool it down. Also stuck isolating at home alone which is a bit shit.

Would be weird if they weren't key drivers with that obvious increase in cases over the term.

Get well soon @walksen

www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-steep-rise-covid-among-secondary-school-students

@walksen get on the Slack Covid group. They are a really supportive community. Sorry haven't got a link but they should be easy to locate.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/930818/Weekly_Flu_and_COVID-19_report_w44_FINAL.PDF

This is PHE report that shows the breakdown by settings - currently care homes and education the main issue. This photo shows age brackets. 11-16 year olds have the biggest increase.

OK, let's get one thing clear: WHATEVER WE DO, THE VIRUS WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD, UNTIL MOST PEOPLE IN SOCIETY HAVE CAUGHT IT.

Could you go a little bit further and shout tell us how most people having had it will stop the spread?

Ohthegoats - how does this show schools are a driver, it just shows cases going up?? Doesn’t show that it’s higher than the general population nor does it show that children infect more people?

Also, the flu vaccine is NOT a panacea: it's effectiveness is about 40%. We can probably expect the same for this one, which, I'll add, is being rushed into existence like none before it. Typically, vaccines take about ten years to develop, from what I can gather, so who knows if this one will even be fit for purpose...

So the PHE data shows the comparative difference - thank you.

That data seems to support keeping kids up to year 6 at school. Which are the ones that cannot entertain themselves at home with WFH parents.

I’m just so sick of this drip feeding by the Gov. It’s completely unprofessional.

B***ds

" let's get one thing clear"

Honestly I don't know why some people think they are being so rational and logical and others not.

You have managed to contradict yourself in your own post for a start. First you say it is spreading and will continue to do so then you make the ridiculous claim it is only rising exponentially because testing is. This might have been true in July August but hasn't been the case since sept.

And how do you expect to increase capacity of the health system. You can't train staff overnight nor hire them from other countries. Hell half the nightingales were unused due to lack of staff. Right now it seems the best that will happen is to use them for non covid cases to offset the reduction in capacity due to infection control.

How do people not understand that the whole reason schools can stay open is because we sacrifice other freedoms?? Does your rampant desire to go to the gym or the pub or dorothy bloody perkins outweigh the educational, emotional and mental positives of your children still being able to go to school??

@hetanom which countries haven’t opened up schools?

Many in Latin America.