Are teachers more at risk from covid?

[notevenat20]

Did anyone listen to More or Less discuss this?

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000rvjr

What do you think?

@Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum
my children are at 3 different schools, all with similar measures in place to the ones you mention, apart from masks in classrooms (or any masks at all in the. Add of the primary school). One secondary had multiple cases from end September onwards and in the end had to close completely for 2 weeks; the other secondary had no cases until October half term, then multiple year groups isolating from then until Christmas; the primary had nothing at all until the last week of term and then 3 year groups out. I think, with the current (lacklustre) measures, it's mostly down to luck.

[quote pinkpip100]@Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum
my children are at 3 different schools, all with similar measures in place to the ones you mention, apart from masks in classrooms (or any masks at all in the. Add of the primary school). One secondary had multiple cases from end September onwards and in the end had to close completely for 2 weeks; the other secondary had no cases until October half term, then multiple year groups isolating from then until Christmas; the primary had nothing at all until the last week of term and then 3 year groups out. I think, with the current (lacklustre) measures, it's mostly down to luck.[/quote]
Definitely agree there is an element of luck too

I should have said sorry. Both schools closed early in the end because of to many cases. In London the virus from last week of November was unstoppable.

What I will say is he secondary with all the measures taken by our wonderful LST had no cases among the teachers. Only teacher with covid got it whilst in hospital having an operation. It is the school I worked in before my health issues. So I know just how much work they did sorting everything out for September. (I am not a teacher)

The primary school with no measures or masks had half the staff catching covid. I think that says something. In both schools the virus cases among the children were many.

Listen to the bmj webinar on schools. V clear that risk is no greater than for average of working population. Risk in primary schools lower than senior schools. 50 per cent of 'outbreaks' and 50 per cent of cases are teachers rather than students..

50 per cent of 'outbreaks' and 50 per cent of cases are teachers rather than students.

Because children are OFTEN ASYMPTOMATIC. How are people still not getting this?! It's not outbreaks in the teachers it's detected in the teachers.

@Wafflewife At least half of children have clear symptoms and in a class of 30 you would therefore be very likely to have some symptomatic children if they are infected.

It’s about 80% of adults who show symptoms.

I think by discussing the statistics, and what they show, we're actually playing into the government's plans.

How convenient for them that we're all discussing the many different ways stats can be interpreted and debating the finer detail of who has it worst in one of the worst affected countries in the world, rather than the rather more pertinent question:

Why are there no measures to prevent airborne spread of covid in schools - uniquely among all indoor working environments in the UK (yes, we know not all workplaces are actually doing what they're supposed to but at least they're supposed to!)

Uniquely among all countries I've looked at - UK schools have no basic measures to stop airborne spread of covid in the middle of a pandemic. Where we have the highest death rate among comparable countries. One of the highest in the world.

Why not even the most basic of measures being funded or mandated?

Why are they getting away with allowing one indoor workplace to have no safety measures at all?

This thread is very informative and uses government produced data
twitter.com/SarahDRasmussen/status/1356302411414052864?s=19

Well, my experience in a primary school was that a growing number of children were showing (atypical - as in typical for children, but not the holy trinity....) symptoms before staff were affected and then it ripped through the school merrily, with multiple cases amongst children, parents and/or staff, with 50% of staff testing positive in the build up to Christmas and Public Health England advising no children be allowed into the school if they complained of any symptoms of any illness. Nobody died, though! I am quite certain more than the 50% of staff who got tested were likely to have had covid, though, given the prevalence of asymptomatic cases in the community and the number of children being sent to school by their parents with headaches, sore throats, fatigue and stomach aches (“but it’s not covid because they aren’t coughing and don’t have a temperature! My child has missed enough school already, without some jobsworth trying to send them home with just a cold!”).