Sunday Times: Schools back in 3 Weeks

[Lumene]

Will post link

Would be interesting to see how many of those back benchers who have signed the letter have school age children, teachers in their families etc and are therefore directly affected by schools return. Because let’s face it, non of them give 2 fucks about children’s education, they weren’t writing letters against under funding schools were they? They just see schools going back as the first step in getting back to normal and therefore getting tills ringing again!

I personally would prefer the PM to wait until after Easter, it’s 3 weeks, not the end of the world and will allow cases to fall and so many more people to be vaccinated. Surely by end of April when schools reopen after Easter the vaccination programme will have reached those in their 50s, maybe even 40s, therefore lots more teachers and school staff will be vaccinated as well as parents at home!

@MrsWhites

Would be interesting to see how many of those back benchers who have signed the letter have school age children, teachers in their families etc and are therefore directly affected by schools return. Because let’s face it, non of them give 2 fucks about children’s education, they weren’t writing letters against under funding schools were they? They just see schools going back as the first step in getting back to normal and therefore getting tills ringing again!

I personally would prefer the PM to wait until after Easter, it’s 3 weeks, not the end of the world and will allow cases to fall and so many more people to be vaccinated. Surely by end of April when schools reopen after Easter the vaccination programme will have reached those in their 50s, maybe even 40s, therefore lots more teachers and school staff will be vaccinated as well as parents at home!

Wholeheartedly agree

Source link pls?

@WaterBottle123

I never said I was quoting a source

Not everyone who is vulnerable will be vaccinated. A lot of people have been missed out of group 6 by the skin of their teeth or through an error on their records.
That's not to say I don't think that schools should reopen on March 8th, but just saying that the vulnerable will have been vaccinated isn't true. All the backbenchers who want to end all restrictions by April are ignoring that.

Why can't we introduce 1 year group per key stage per fortnight and see how it goes?

I personally would prefer the PM to wait until after Easter, it’s 3 weeks, not the end of the world and will allow cases to fall and so many more people to be vaccinated. Surely by end of April when schools reopen after Easter the vaccination programme will have reached those in their 50s, maybe even 40s, therefore lots more teachers and school staff will be vaccinated as well as parents at home!

But we don’t yet know that the vaccine stops it spreading, just that it stops you getting severely ill. And once the people most likely to get severely ill have been vaccinated, which they now have, what is there to wait for?

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

I don’t know what she was a doctor of.I can’t find the bloody link! But she was at Cambridge.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow cool, my friend has a degree in English from Cambridge, I'll seek her view.

Mind you, she would never debase herself by appearing in the right wing trash press (ITV)

@KatherineJaneway

Source link pls?

@WaterBottle123

I never said I was quoting a source

@KatherineJaneway

Then why make such a sweeping statement?

The issue is the students/children being a symptomatic then passing on to family/friends etc.
Most teachers I know are happy to be in school; it's best for everyone. However the worst thing is opening and closing schools constantly. Therefore all schools need effective testing for all which takes to lace regularly.

@Thepilotlightsgoneout that’s what I’ve been wondering too. Lots of people worried that schools reopening will lead to community spread but as I understand it we cannot eradicate that. Community spread is inevitable now. With vaccines the spread in the community will infect only those who are younger and not clinically vulnerable. So while we might get ill there is a very low risk of being hospitalised. Also in September when schools reopened, retail and hospitality were still open and travel was not restricted either so all of this contributed to a greater spread amongst an unvaccinated population.

@ElevenBells exactly - we are going to have to live with this and we cannot keep lockdown for much longer.

I keep seeing this claim that the numbers are "made up by the unions". It's not true. Schools and Early Years are required to report their cases to Ofsted, who are collating the figures.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/reported-coronavirus-covid-19-cases-by-registered-early-years-and-childcare-settings
This is the recent Early Years report. As you can see, numbers shot up after Christmas. They were still high through January, and that's with some settings closed because they're Reception classes attached to schools and the claim that our youngest children are largely asymptomatic. Just imagine what the schools data must have looked like, had schools not closed.

The main issue that epidemiologists are rightly very worried about is these mutations. It is really a very bad idea to have a half vaccinated population all mixing again. The very real likelihood is that the virus will circulate and start to mutate to continue to find new hosts. This is the worst situation we could possibly find ourselves in as all of these vaccines will have been for nothing and we’re back to nearly square one again.

It’s just awful for kids, truly. But if they even left it until after the Easter holidays this could make a huge difference as the virus will have been suppressed to a greater extent.

Lock down and release is just as bloody miserable for everyone.

Quietly test trace and isolate has gone out the window as we all know it’s been a complete bag of shite. Dido is completely unfit for the job.

Sorry, I meant bubbles collapsing at school not lockdown and release

@WaterBottle123

Then why make such a sweeping statement?

I didn't. Just my view of what a sensible course of action would be.

Test trace and isolate is they key.
MExcept the government won’t fund the isolation. So the low paid don’t isolate🤷🏼‍♀️ And who can blame them?

The main issue that epidemiologists are rightly very worried about is these mutations.

Sure that's a risk we're taking, but vaccine manufacturers especially the mRNA ones can quickly adapt their vaccines. And some might think it's a risk worth taking given the massive benefits to children being back at school.

But the more strains mutate the more chance of evading the vaccine.

Then the vaccine can be adjusted again!

We need to learn to live with this virus for the long term. We'll probably need annual booster jabs to protect against the various new mutations that emerge.

I wish people would stop saying the vulnerable have been vaccinated. DH is diabetic and in Group 6. Not yet been offered a vaccine and given how large the group is, may not be by March 8th. He is also over 50. Which really can't be that unusual for parents of secondary kids.

Frequentflier, I’m with you.

Plenty of parents in the over 50’s age group. What’s the point in vaccinating us after the horse has bolted?

Not all the vulnerable are able to have the vaccine either. Those with organ transplants can’t. Those undergoing cancer treatment often can’t. So when the government are on about the vulnerable have been vaccinated, it’s not all of them!