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Original poster

Has lockdown really worked? 66 new cases this week in son's school- post lockdown (in lowish infection area)!

137 replies

Annie1919 · 05/12/2020 21:03

We are in tier 2 and school is taking all govt recommended measures yet still had 66 positive test results this week! (throughout every year group). DD's football also cancelled this week due to another positive case (not linked to school and from surrounding borough). Seems to me cases are soaring!?

OP posts:
Original poster
Annie1919 · 05/12/2020 21:46

@FrangipaniBlue

If it gets into a school, there’s nothing to stop it spreading.

DS school (circa 1400 pupils) has had 8 cases since September, so I can't say I agree with this l.

I'd have agreed with you, up until this week! DS's school has had a few well isolated cases, since September up until this week. This week it has just exploded -post lockdown?!
OP posts:
SadSecretSanta · 05/12/2020 21:46

The only thing that made a difference was half term, when schools closed for a week.

NeverForgetYourDreams · 05/12/2020 21:47

Our school has had one case and one year group sent home since September

Waxonwaxoff0 · 05/12/2020 22:09

That seems high! DS's school has only had 2 cases and we are tier 3. It's a primary school though.

3littlewords · 05/12/2020 22:20

66 cases in 1 week!! That's a hell of a lot, have they had mass testing at the school and picked up asymptomatic cases? DS secondary has had less than 8 cases that weve been told about since September in the Liverpool area so was previously a very high level area

Original poster
Annie1919 · 05/12/2020 22:21

@BrieAndChilli

In my kids schools (primary = 200 kid’s) and (secondary = 1000 kids) there have been 4 positive cases since September. The primary school case the idiot parents sent the child into school whilst waiting for the test results! Still didn’t result in a surge in symptoms. Now I know that some kids don’t display symptoms but that would be true for the school in the OP so 66 positive cases does seem like a lot and either the school isn’t following social distancing measures or the community isn’t and there is a lot of mixing. Very stereotypical but we are in a rural county with no diversity. People don’t live near families (most of my friends are like me and family live elsewhere in the country) so it might be a different environment if the OP lives in an inner city with lots of different cultures who may be more likely to live multigenerational etc
We are in surrey!
OP posts:
MarshaBradyo · 05/12/2020 22:24

That is high.
Similar community number at 100. School about 800 but only 2 cases so far. Quite a few tested though for symptoms (negative).

Whereabouts are you? (Rough region). London here, tier 2 too.

MarshaBradyo · 05/12/2020 22:25

X post

Original poster
Annie1919 · 05/12/2020 22:26

@3littlewords

66 cases in 1 week!! That's a hell of a lot, have they had mass testing at the school and picked up asymptomatic cases? DS secondary has had less than 8 cases that weve been told about since September in the Liverpool area so was previously a very high level area
No mass testing that I'm aware of.
OP posts:
Hugosmugo · 05/12/2020 22:26

Wow 66 cases in 1 school is loads! Must just be unlucky?!

I do think the lockdown helped a bit, where I live we got put in to tier 3 but our cases are now 166 per 100K. I hope we move down a tier on the 16th.

Nellodee · 05/12/2020 22:26

66 cases in a week is insane. I know I will get told off for saying "shut the school" but bloody hell, that is a school that needs to be shut. That's not just a normal badly hit school, some kind of super spreading event has occurred there and they really need to get to the bottom of it before letting more students back in after the weekend.

confusednortherner · 05/12/2020 22:30

@Nellodee

66 cases in a week is insane. I know I will get told off for saying "shut the school" but bloody hell, that is a school that needs to be shut. That's not just a normal badly hit school, some kind of super spreading event has occurred there and they really need to get to the bottom of it before letting more students back in after the weekend.
Absolutely!
MarshaBradyo · 05/12/2020 22:31

I’d hope our school would go remote if hit that hard.

Are staff off and what was the week before like?

Appuskidu · 05/12/2020 22:33

Wow-that is a lot of cases.

Three whole year groups were shut at our local secondary this week-we were Tier 1 before lockdown. The thing is, there is no hope for social distancing in schools with 30+ to a class, so it does seem to be really tearing through some schools.

Baaaahhhhh · 05/12/2020 22:43

Annie1919 Woking? I noticed an area of Woking has shot up in the last few days. Wondered what was going on. Everywhere else round and about going down. Something must have triggered it.

mac12 · 05/12/2020 22:46

My son’s school had a cluster of cases, staff & pupils. Our local authority recommended testing all staff even if no symptoms & opened up testing for pupils with a wide range of symptoms (not just the big three) & encouraged parents to test kids even if slightest symptoms. After it hit 30+ cases they had to shut entire school for a fire break. Some of the affected adults got properly ill.
Kids present with different symptoms & often v mild - when you test, you find those cases & hopefully isolate before they spread to people who are more severely impacted.
It’s a primary school BTW.

Inmyownlittlecorner · 05/12/2020 22:47

My friends primary school has year 5 out & there were 15 positive tests in one class including the teacher. Most common symptoms have so far been a raised temperature, extreme fatigue & an upset tummy.
My whole reception class were out because of 1 positive test in a teacher but the week before we had about 10 children off or sent home with stomach aches &/or diarrhoea.

timeforanewstart · 05/12/2020 22:48

How is the school still open with 66 cases across year groups

Original poster
Annie1919 · 05/12/2020 22:52

@MarshaBradyo

I’d hope our school would go remote if hit that hard.

Are staff off and what was the week before like?

The previous week is when it started to rise - 11 cases in a week. Lots of smaller bubbles and some year groups (as directed by PHE) were closed. Then this week KABOOM! 66 new cases. We are not in an inner city area and community rates are not high. I also really feel that this has been handled as well as it could be by the school- They made masks mandatory in communal areas since September. Unfortunately, I feel this could happen in any secondary school.
OP posts:
RuleWithAWoodenFoot · 05/12/2020 23:09

I think it could happen in any school to be honest. There is no covid secure, just covid lucky or covid unlucky.

RuleWithAWoodenFoot · 05/12/2020 23:11

I'm in a primary school in an inner city Tier 2 area with a third of children off at the moment. Kids aren't really being tested, they just isolate, so no idea how many cases there really are.

Original poster
Annie1919 · 05/12/2020 23:16

@WhyNotMe40

The thing is that most people with Covid don't spread it. Even to the people they live with. But a minority of people spread it to LOTS. Superspreaders. And teenagers / young adults are more likely to be superspreaders, especially when in superspreader ideal conditions (indoors, crowded, poor ventilation, no masks - i.e. classrooms). So you can have many cases in a school seeded by the community, but no super spreader. But get one or two super spreaders, the kaboom! In a school it can really let go...
Yes, this makes complete sense! This would explain what has happened in DS's school.
OP posts:
Smallsteps88 · 05/12/2020 23:17

Any idea why primary has seen such a big decrease during lockdown but secondary not

I reckon it’s the going to and from school that’s the problem. Primary school, DC are walked/driven/supervised by parent/childminder etc. Secondary school most go without an adult, they are crammed in on buses, walking shoulder to shoulder with friends, not wearing masks, snogging behind the bike shed Wink sharing cigarettes and vapes, sharing phones.

MrsMiaWallis · 05/12/2020 23:19

That's a lot of cases and hopefully unusual. We've had zero cases and local large state comp (2000 pupils) had 2 in September and none since.

WhyNotMe40 · 05/12/2020 23:29

@Smallsteps88

Any idea why primary has seen such a big decrease during lockdown but secondary not

I reckon it’s the going to and from school that’s the problem. Primary school, DC are walked/driven/supervised by parent/childminder etc. Secondary school most go without an adult, they are crammed in on buses, walking shoulder to shoulder with friends, not wearing masks, snogging behind the bike shed Wink sharing cigarettes and vapes, sharing phones.

And nothing to do with the fact that secondary schools have sets for English, maths and sometimes other subjects at KS4, and then different option subjects at KS4 (so lots of mixing within a year group), not to mention the complete social mixing at break times within a year group "bubble" of 300 odd students?? No it must be the public transport (masked up) or the walking to school (outiside), and nothing to do with the indoor long exposure no masks mixing?