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Govt suppressed data on “Indian” variant in schools prior to ending mask mandate

129 replies

JanFebAnyMonth · 22/05/2021 21:23

www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/22/no-10-tried-to-block-data-on-spread-of-new-covid-variant-in-english-schools?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other&fbclid=IwAR29Q2q1HshlU1IKtpWSEboxLJZAEdNxH2OAI7pNt7Tuh_VYr9dKFUQZ5JQ

Shocking.

OP posts:
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6
jumpbounce · 23/05/2021 01:24

@noblegiraffe

What's that Jan? The government are lying about/suppressing data about covid spread in schools?

The only surprise is that this time the press are reporting it.

This!
pixie09 · 23/05/2021 01:30

I think there is a lot of over reaction in the comments. It was the right decision to stop masks in schools as kids cant properly learn wearing them 6-7 hours a day! The indian scariant /variant was detected in only a small number of areas and even then, with no really bad results. There were like 2000 cases detected - what is that? Just cases, some are positive, some are false positive. 28 people in hospitals with covid in Bolton area! Really, and that makes the news!???? What about the number of suicides, cancer deaths and other life threatening conditions that were not treated because of covid? They all have increased by xx times but no one is reporting those. As if the NHS and the MSM are now solely covid only....

Drawcilla · 23/05/2021 02:03

@pixie09

I think there is a lot of over reaction in the comments. It was the right decision to stop masks in schools as kids cant properly learn wearing them 6-7 hours a day! The indian scariant /variant was detected in only a small number of areas and even then, with no really bad results. There were like 2000 cases detected - what is that? Just cases, some are positive, some are false positive. 28 people in hospitals with covid in Bolton area! Really, and that makes the news!???? What about the number of suicides, cancer deaths and other life threatening conditions that were not treated because of covid? They all have increased by xx times but no one is reporting those. As if the NHS and the MSM are now solely covid only....
I don’t even know where to begin with hyperbole and misinformation here so I’m going to bed. Seriously though. Night.
blueangel19 · 23/05/2021 02:04

Why would the government be doing this? Are you saying the government wants children to be infected, have long Covid or die?. If anything the restrictions are still over the top. We can’t travel to most places, have been in lockdown for months. The government have pushed for the vaccine to save lives and end the pandemic. I think is odd they would do this.

herecomesthsun · 23/05/2021 03:23

@colouringindoors

V misleading post. This is in the 6-months post infection not the remainder of your life. But hey ho lets keep trying to scare the living daylights out of random strangers on the internet 🙄

thank you!!!

This is called "having a discussion". It is what people do on discussion boards.

Sometimes people discuss stuff they are concerned about. They are allowed to do that.

You don't have to read the thread if it makes you feel worried,

Hope this helps.

herecomesthsun · 23/05/2021 03:25

@blueangel19

Why would the government be doing this? Are you saying the government wants children to be infected, have long Covid or die?. If anything the restrictions are still over the top. We can’t travel to most places, have been in lockdown for months. The government have pushed for the vaccine to save lives and end the pandemic. I think is odd they would do this.
The government have been very laissez faire about kids being infected, much of the time.

Keeping masks for a bit longer would have been a really easy, sensible thing to do.

herecomesthsun · 23/05/2021 03:27

This reply has been deleted

Post references deleted post Talk Guidelines.

motherrunner · 23/05/2021 06:32

We were maskless for one day and at the end of Monday we had a notice from local PHE that masks were advised to be worn for another two weeks (when it will be reviewed again) with the concerns over the Indian variant. I’m glad and feel sorry for those who haven’t got this protection.

That article sickens me.

picturesandpickles · 23/05/2021 06:43

This person is compiling lists of schools with outbreaks: twitter.com/DmodosCutter/status/1395068282693111813

The UK is in a huge mess right now.

Cases amongst school-age people are rising, the government is hiding data and doing nothing to mitigate the issue in schools.
My overwhelming feeling remains sadness, we being very badly let down.

borntobequiet · 23/05/2021 07:57

@cronk23

Why would you need a thread about other schools covid cases? Surely as a parent or guardian you'd be informed if there was covid in your child's school and that's all you need to know. This hysteria is borderline ridiculous and it's always from the same people.
Why would you need to know about national crime/unemployment rates? Or availability of public transport, school places, access to healthcare? Surely information about your own neighbourhood is enough. This argument is the initial step towards keeping people too poorly informed to make proper decisions, and so towards increased political control. We are lucky in this country to have the information available (and unlucky enough to have media keen to suppress, obscure and misrepresent it much if the time, either at the behest of its owners or Government).
lonelyplanet · 23/05/2021 08:37

Thanks for starting this thread. It is very concerning. PHE snuck out their worrying report on the Indian variant late last night. It excluded the data on schools. Shocking.

cronk23 · 23/05/2021 08:40

@borntobequiet please tell me how knowing every single case in every school in the U.K. is helpful? I'm genuinely at a loss to understand what this achieves. My Dd school has always kept us informed of any cases and all I need to know is this information. Just looking at the thread on Twitter someone posted and it's littered with corrections because they can't even get the names of the schools right. How can you be sure that random people on the internet are telling the truth?

wasthataburp · 23/05/2021 08:40

Kids can't wear masks forever

BeaMinus · 23/05/2021 08:49

Two local schools have year groups isolating at the moment due to 'multiple cases'.

It is disgusting that the data is being kept from us all.

MsAwesomeDragon · 23/05/2021 08:54

@cronk23

Why would you need a thread about other schools covid cases? Surely as a parent or guardian you'd be informed if there was covid in your child's school and that's all you need to know. This hysteria is borderline ridiculous and it's always from the same people.
In a lot of schools (mine included) you are only informed of a case in school if it is in your child's "bubble". A bubble in our case is a full yeargroup of over 200 kids, plus however many others they share a bus with. So if there's a case in year 7 then only year 7 parents would be informed, and only the close contacts are sent anything more than a very generic email.
lonelyplanet · 23/05/2021 08:58

[quote cronk23]@borntobequiet please tell me how knowing every single case in every school in the U.K. is helpful? I'm genuinely at a loss to understand what this achieves. My Dd school has always kept us informed of any cases and all I need to know is this information. Just looking at the thread on Twitter someone posted and it's littered with corrections because they can't even get the names of the schools right. How can you be sure that random people on the internet are telling the truth? [/quote]
You can't tell whether random people on the Internet are being factual. That's why it is so important that the government releases accurate up to date information.

Regulus · 23/05/2021 09:01

Just to add my school is participating in in school testing, this means that positive cases do not need to isolate they get tested every day for five days.

They are allowed to continue making their own way to school on public transport. No masks, not even in corridors.

borntobequiet · 23/05/2021 09:03

[quote cronk23]@borntobequiet please tell me how knowing every single case in every school in the U.K. is helpful? I'm genuinely at a loss to understand what this achieves. My Dd school has always kept us informed of any cases and all I need to know is this information. Just looking at the thread on Twitter someone posted and it's littered with corrections because they can't even get the names of the schools right. How can you be sure that random people on the internet are telling the truth? [/quote]
It’s true that knowing about local infections in schools is the most important thing for individuals and communities. The worrying problem is that the national information is being suppressed, which not only impacts on information at the local level, but which makes it difficult to criticise policy decisions on a national scale, such as the removal of the mandate on face masks, which in turn affects individual schools, children and families.
Here’s a relevant passage from the article in the Guardian (which, whether one reads it or not, is a respected newspaper and a generally reliable source):
The focus of their anger concerns the pre-print of a PHE report that included a page of data on the spread of the India Covid-19 variant in schools. But when the report was published on Thursday 13 May, the page had been removed. It was the only one that had been removed from the pre-print. Days later, the government went ahead with its decision to remove the mandate on face coverings in English schools.

wasthataburp · 23/05/2021 09:13

@Regulus

Just to add my school is participating in in school testing, this means that positive cases do not need to isolate they get tested every day for five days.

They are allowed to continue making their own way to school on public transport. No masks, not even in corridors.

Interested to hear the outcomes of this? Has it spread etc?
Hmmph · 23/05/2021 09:17

@Regulus

Just to add my school is participating in in school testing, this means that positive cases do not need to isolate they get tested every day for five days.

They are allowed to continue making their own way to school on public transport. No masks, not even in corridors.

I assume you mean close contacts of positive cases don’t need to isolate, not the positive cases themselves...?
chocolateisavegetable · 23/05/2021 09:18

Thanks for posting about this Jan

A helpful tip for those posters shouting "stop scaring us" ... The Covid board might not be the best place for you.

bathsh3ba · 23/05/2021 09:34

Schools round here are using common sense rather than relying on the government to tell them what to do. It feels like a lot of people don't want to be trusted to do that. The vast majority of areas round here have had no cases in weeks, anywhere, schools or elsewhere. These schools have got rid of the masks. In areas where there have been clusters, masks are still being worn.

dippymootoo · 23/05/2021 09:36

In our secondary school, you only get notified if your child is a close contact of the case. So the very few children who are taken out, the rest of the bubble isn’t notified.

JanFebAnyMonth · 23/05/2021 09:47

To those who only want to know about their area, their child’s school: do you only vote in local council elections, not general elections?

OP posts:
herecomesthsun · 23/05/2021 09:48

@wasthataburp

Kids can't wear masks forever
but a few weeks more would hardly hurt, in the circumstances
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