@loulouljh
IT is a safeguarding issue. Can you not see that? How many times have you walked past people and not recognized them! So how is a teacher supposed to match the child with the parent especially as we are so near to the beginning of the term and teachers won't know parents that well! It would be very easy for someone else to take your child.
Scientists are not advising this. Yes of course there no doubt is someone somewhere saying if you wear a mask outside at school pick up it will lower the risk. , But really. Outside. The risk of transmission is negligible otherwise unlimited time outside would not be allowed during this lockdown.
The request (and it is merely that) to wear masks outside at pick up is purely to schools look as if they are doing something and to appease the paranoid parents (who are here in their droves). That it is.
Scientists are advising this and you are unable to prove otherwise:
www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-should-parents-have-wear-masks-school-site
Parents and face masks
The request does not appear to have been made by the Department for Education, which has been contacted for comment as to whether it supports the primary school requests (no response as yet).
However, some heads report being asked by local authorities or local public health bodies to make the request. This seems to be based on the fact that some school sites do not easily enable social distancing in the playground or on the school premises.
The majority of heads, though, seem to have taken the decision themselves.
Coronavirus precautions
Some report the need to take every precaution available to ensure that schools can continue to operate.
Others point to the fact that parents congregate in large groups and fail to social distance, so face masks become a necessary extra layer of protection.
And some believe that the presence of masks makes the parents feel that extra bit of security in sending their children to school.
But is there any scientific basis for doing it?
Science and face masks
Yes, says Professor Paul Digard, chair of virology and head of the infection and immunity division at the University of Edinburgh.
“Face masks will still make a positive difference when worn, even outside in well-ventilated areas,” he says. “The reason: virus-containing droplets from the respiratory tract of an infected person come in a range of sizes and, large or small, they probably all carry a risk of transmitting the disease.
“Ventilation helps disperse the droplets that form aerosols that float around, but doesn’t do so much for blocking the spread of larger droplets that behave ballistically – think of someone sneezing in front of you without covering their face.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re indoors or outdoors, you’re going to get sprayed. A mask on the sneezer (cougher or even speaker) will stop this very effectively, reducing the risk of transmission.”