Schools - what are you expecting?

[DBML]

I’m a teacher and throughout November and December our school was hit badly by Covid. We had all year groups off, at least 50 confirmed cases in pupils. Tens of staff off confirmed. One member of staff passed Covid on to a parent who then passed away. One learner passed Covid to her mother who passed away. We had 2 children seriously ill in hospital, luckily now recovered. Horrendous is not a word I use lightly, but it became frightening and eventually unsustainable.

Because some groups were in and others out, remote learning was patchy and difficult to manage. I caught Covid after having a year 7 in my class who tested positive and I was ill for about 7 - 10 days, so quite mild luckily. But I couldn’t breath easily and had panic attacks. Was unable to sleep laying down and was convinced that I had no air. It was awful.

‘Us for them’ is campaigning for us to go back to this again. No safety measures in place...just a full reopening and having been there, I cannot understand why?

I know many posters here want school’s ‘reopened’ again too and as quickly as possible. I was wondering whether rather than just say ‘schools must open’ someone could explain.

I get that home learning is not ideal; can be inconsistent and that working from home is challenging when children are there. I get that parents are worried about their children’s and their own mental health...I get it, because I am trying to work full time and am a parent too. But, having seen how bad schools can get, I also accept that tolerating this situation until cases are right down is necessary.

I don’t want to die. I don’t want my husband to die. I don’t want my son to get seriously sick. I don’t want my pupils to get sick or to lose parents. I don’t want to return to school without anything there to keep us safe. We were not safe.

I was wondering what those who want schools to just open are expecting? Are you expecting children not to catch it? Not to pass it about? Are you willing for some teachers, parents and pupils to die because it will only be a very small percentage and a price worth paying? Are you happy to put up with the endless isolations and then reduced quality of online learning?

And if you just want ‘normality’ do you realise that’s just not possible?

Genuinely interested in the reasoning and not just the statement ‘schools need to open’.

I thought it was pretty university known now that immunity last about 5 months after an infection.

So entirely likely that people have had it twice.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

I thought it was pretty university known now that immunity last about 5 months after an infection.

So entirely likely that people have had it twice.

There is ‘some evidence’ to suggest that immunity may last for x, y or z ( depending which study you read) There is also ‘some evidence’ to suggest that some people will continue to test positive for prolonged periods. In my trust, HCPs who are positive are not retested before 90 days.

So whilst there is ‘some evidence’ there are no universally accepted facts.

I am no expert, but I thought one of the reasons that Spanish flu because less deadly was because it mutated. Viruses mutate very quickly.
The vaccine that is given every year for'flu' is different and is tweaked to respond to the strains most likely to affect the UK. This is done by looking at what strains are globally circulating.
I think in future Covid 19 and it's future mutations will become part of the annual vaccination programme for all people who benefit from having it.
We haven't got any cures for any coronavirus as far as I know.

Bingo - You're spot on. We have never managed to prevent humans from catching, incubating, or passing coronaviruses to other human beings. All a vaccine does is limit the severity of the infection, and turn someone who has coronavirus into a carrier or an asymptomatic carrier of the virus.

The only long term solution is natural herd immunity, and that has to start with our children. It is our children that will build natural immunity and pass that immunity onto their children.

The rest of us will be dealing with this virus for the rest of our lives. Unlike diseases like small pox and the likes, no corona virus has ever been stopped, extinguished, eliminated, whatever you want to call it. And they are all deadly to compromised physiologies. This one just happens to be more deadly and fantastically good at reproducing itself.

With this one, people are very good at spreading it around and giving it to other people around them. The virus cannot do any of those things. People need to infect other people in order for it to work.

I am no expert, but I thought one of the reasons that Spanish flu because less deadly was because it mutated. Viruses mutate very quickly.
Viruses mutate both ways, is is not a conscious process but due to pure chance, and it is up to the selective pressure then to determine which mutations will be "successful" in the end. The Spanish flu strain itself also wasn't brought here by aliens or created in a laboratory, it had mutated from a previously more harmless "parent" virus. In the wider coronavirus family, there are members which are both much deadlier (mers), and benign (common cold) so the potential is there both ways.

@ElliFAntspoo

Bingo - You're spot on. We have never managed to prevent humans from catching, incubating, or passing coronaviruses to other human beings. All a vaccine does is limit the severity of the infection, and turn someone who has coronavirus into a carrier or an asymptomatic carrier of the virus.

The only long term solution is natural herd immunity, and that has to start with our children. It is our children that will build natural immunity and pass that immunity onto their children.

The rest of us will be dealing with this virus for the rest of our lives. Unlike diseases like small pox and the likes, no corona virus has ever been stopped, extinguished, eliminated, whatever you want to call it. And they are all deadly to compromised physiologies. This one just happens to be more deadly and fantastically good at reproducing itself.

With this one, people are very good at spreading it around and giving it to other people around them. The virus cannot do any of those things. People need to infect other people in order for it to work.

Er no. Children will not become immune. And immunity is not inherited

Er no. Children will not become immune. And immunity is not inherited

Are you really expecting immunity to be developed in 10 months? Are you really suggesting children did not build immunity to H1N1 over generations? Are you really saying that immunity is not built up over time?

Or is it the case that you are saying its not happened by now and therefor the entire immune system of human life on this planet doesn't work anymore?

I'm just trying to understand exactly what you believe to be happening here.

So...

Ambiguity and obfuscation in the announcement. Absolutely no facts and absolutely no explanation of the mechanic of the decision making process. And legal extension of the lockdown powers until 17th July.

Spot on then. Tell them what you have to say to keep them placated and plod on and do what you're going to do anyway. Who says they don't know how to treat children. They seem to be treating everyone like children very well.

There is no way in hell the kids are going to school in March. But if you need to dream to get through this, then yes, they'll be back in school in March. Don't worry about it. Just sit tight and wait just a little bit longer.

I really don’t want schools to open in March, I’m hoping it’s not the option of them attending or being fined. If it well pay fines until after Easter. I can not risk them going.

They won't open in March. But they have to tell the fragile people that they will to get them through this next month. Then they will tell them just a little bit longer.

This is all about protecting the vulnerable people in society who cannot face the realities of the world around them yet.