“No evidence” schools spread Covid

[ThePenIsBlue]

This was on BBC news

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56072460

@DBML
You said on another thread you have a 15 year old son? Nearly 16 you said. Why does he need wrap around care?

Why would you put your parents at risk doing this if you don’t need to?

[quote Delatron]@DBML
You said on another thread you have a 15 year old son? Nearly 16 you said. Why does he need wrap around care?

Why would you put your parents at risk doing this if you don’t need to?[/quote]
Reread my post please.

They provide wrap around care for my siblings kids, not mine

[quote Delatron]@DBML
You said on another thread you have a 15 year old son? Nearly 16 you said. Why does he need wrap around care?

Why would you put your parents at risk doing this if you don’t need to?[/quote]
I think you need to re-read. DBML said they provide wraparound care for her brother’s kids....

I see it was your brother’s children, my mistake:

But over 65s are being done nationally now so really getting on to the younger age groups and still 3 weeks to the schools may open. It will be most likely staggered and secondaries a few weeks later. So most of the older generation will have some degree of protection by then and cases should be low if current trends continue.

If cases are low and many of the vulnerable protected then the arguments to keep school closed will fall flat I’m afraid.

Sorry my mistake @DBML It didn’t seem to add up that you had a teenage son yet your parents were only late 50s.. sorry for the confusion.

If cases are low and many of the vulnerable protected then the arguments to keep school closed will fall flat I’m afraid.

And what about the arguments to implement mitigation measures?

You appear to be arguing against a straw man here.

1. Schools aren't closed

1. There are scientific arguments around preventing another wave as we emerge from lockdown.

1. Many of the vulnerable remain unvaccinated.

1. Some children are CEV

1. Emergence of variants

1. See also strains resistant to vaccine control.

But isn’t that still pretty early for the first vaccine dose (assuming all over 65s have their first jab in the next 3 weeks, which may not happen) because it then takes a few weeks for some immunity to be built up anyway and as such, they are advised to still stick to the current rules during that time, especially before having a second dose, which could be a long wait?
It seems a little hasty to base the success of all children in England returning on 8th March safely on one possible does of a vaccine for some who have had it, doesn’t it?
There should be additional measures in place I would have thought, even if it is for a ‘just in case’ scenario.

The funny thing is, I actually can’t wait for schools to open again. I can’t wait to get out of this house and see my classroom, see different faces. Sometimes I’m tempted to say
‘Oh fuck it! Let’s just get on with it and see what happens’.

But a child in our school lost their single parent in January and a teacher also gave it to and subsequently lost her only remaining parent.

I realise to you this might feel small or a necessary evil, or unique or whatever...but to our school community this has been devastating and we would like to avoid anything else happening like this, if possible.

That’s ok @Delatron

My son is 15
I’m 40
My parents were 20 and 18 when they had me. I’m the oldest sibling.

@noblegiraffe yes mitigation measures would be great. Doesn’t seem to be happening and we can’t deny children an education any longer. There’s the argument. Disagree all you like. But as a teacher you will be back in school in the next month or so.

[quote Delatron]@noblegiraffe yes mitigation measures would be great. Doesn’t seem to be happening and we can’t deny children an education any longer. There’s the argument. Disagree all you like. But as a teacher you will be back in school in the next month or so.[/quote]
So you want mitigation measures, I want mitigation measures, but you are choosing to be weird and aggressive anyway? And a snipe that implies you still think I don’t want to go back to school, after you made up the idea that I had a ‘schools need to stay closed’ narrative.

Odd.

It’s not odd. Mitigation measures would be great. I’d even support mask wearing. But in the absence of them I still think schools should open soon.

What’s weird, Delatron is that you posted ‘It will be most likely staggered and secondaries a few weeks later.’ and don’t think this counts as a mitigation measure.

Another vote for your taken on the government's timing, @Wherediditgo. Just about everything from the government and the BBC is strategically placed to influence our thinking. Spin spin spin, it's so painfully transparent. There is no doubt that that BBC article was ordered by government. A "new variant" is casually mentioned today, so far NOT accompanied by the usual doom and gloom. And yep, bingo card ready for talk of recession and unemployment just before the shops reopen. Boris is certainly going to want to get in "I saved your summer!" before he resigns, as he was so cruelly and inhumanely denied the opportunity to save Christmas.

A third of the staff at my school have had Covid, far higher rate than the surrounding area. Just a coincidence I'm sure.

The data isn't clear. Whatever we do is a gamble. Johnson is prepared to gamble that opening schools fully on 8th March will not lead to a resurgence of deaths and hospitalisations down the line. He's gambled before and been wrong before. Let's hope he gets lucky this time around.

Pretending that we have enough data and foreknowledge to make it anything other than a gamble is foolish.

Johnson is prepared to gamble that opening schools fully on 8th March will not lead to a resurgence of deaths and hospitalisations down the line

I don't think he is. Not this time.

Care to gamble on whether he cares to gamble?

I tend to think that if Johnson thinks he has a 50% chance of looking like a hero, against a 50% chance that he'll screw things up horribly and have to waffle his way out of it, he takes the risk every time, because he is so used to waffling his way out of cock ups. Man has no shame.

@LumpySpacedPrincess

A third of the staff at my school have had Covid, far higher rate than the surrounding area. Just a coincidence I'm sure.

Approx 75% of staff in my infant school plus several parents and children. Few children actually tested. Those who tested positive had cold like symptoms.

Dh's office in same city has over 200 staff and 3 tested positive over same time frame despite being open for all staff.

None of our family and friends have tested positive, neither has our student Dd. Dh and Dd didn't test positive or have symptoms when I had it - Dd was at home at the time.

@Delatron

Grandparents vaccinations should be kicking in soon so that will protect the multi generational households. So that’s one argument gone...

Great grandparents maybe, but for many of the children I teach their grandparents are in their 50s and 60s. We aren't nationally up to those groups. Lots of areas are currently starting groups 5 and 6 but many haven't reached that yet.

Lots of group 5 to 9 grandparents.

Lots of group 6 CV school staff (all expected to be in crowded rooms with no masks and no SD) and parents.

Most of group 6 won't have had their vaccine by March 8, let alone threes after it.

It's highly unlikely I'll have been called for mine by then as my surgery were only just starting sending out invitations to group 5's 65-69y this morning.

Genuinely think it's going to go down to the wire, Nellodee and my current bet is primaries back, with exam years for secondary.

But I'm not sure about the new variant. It might even have to go regional.

I don't think a school with 300 pupils is tiny - it's actually larger than the UK average of 281!

300 isn't a large school though.

My infants only school is only one class off that. We are three form intake and have 270 across just three year groups.

Three form intakes are pretty normally where we are.

A three form intake primary would have more than double that.

Once you add secondaries then it's pretty small tbh. Our smallest secondaries have over 1000, some are nearly double that. Some have more than 2000.

At my primary school there is a large proportion of children who are looked after by grandparents before and after school. The majority of these are in their 50's and 60's.

I did look, but couldn't see, what the methodology was for differentiating between self isolating, confirmed infection, contacts and such like, taking into account that the government instructed schools to only use X - attendance not required - which isn't recorded as an absence in any case?