Media blackout on school cases this term

[3asAbird]

I find it really odd all English secondary schools are back including my own children's school.
They all did testing well over a week ago.
Neither the news letter or local rag that normally lives for this kind of news has reported any postive cases which find hard to believe.

I asked primary head and she said only if 5or more cases would they inform parents and I argued how do vunerable parents or parents of vunerable kids assess risk to them if they unaware.
I would love to see more transparency on how many postives each week and % of kids who have tested.
Also phe clear published figures how much infections within educational settings each week.

The current newsletters are like alternate universe where covid doesn't exist.
None of my kids are vaccinated and 1 has ashma.

Think people summoning any absence i school or staff possibly maybe covid but I dislike all the secrecy.

@herecomesthsun

Well, isn't it a bit soon to be either positive or negative? Give it 4 or 5weeks and we will be able to see a bit more.

Bear in mind also that ONS is 2 or 3 weeks behind with the age related case data.

If it’s too soon why complain there’s a media blackout?

I wouldn’t go with it but I’m not saying there’s an absence of reporting,

I'd just be happy there weren't loads of cases being reported from school if I were you.

As for the weekly local council newsletter listing cases etc and reminding residents to be careful !!! That would straight to the junk folder. Don't get me wrong I'm careful, social distance wear a mask when required etc but I'm a responsible adult I don't need the constant nagging to be careful

1. I haven't complained of a media blackout in relation to this myself

2 but I would like the cases to continue to be reported

and

3 I think it is just little soon to suggest that there isn;t an issue with schools

I'm in Scotland and I honestly think people just aren't testing anymore or organising PCRs for kids.
Kids tend to have mild symptoms.
Cases have risen dramatically since schools went back yet school absences havnt.
In fact I was at a school meeting this week absences are 4% lower than average for this time of year.
Hospitals here are overwhelmed though with in vaccinated adults

@herecomesthsun

1. I haven't complained of a media blackout in relation to this myself

2 but I would like the cases to continue to be reported

and

3 I think it is just little soon to suggest that there isn;t an issue with schools

1 others have.

2 I’m fine with accessing dashboard not leading news, can’t remember even how often it happens

3 I am commenting on media blackout now not whether it will rise

I think it is just little soon to suggest that there isn;t an issue with schools

My issue is that I don't believe they'd report it if there was.

all good then

@noblegiraffe

I think it is just little soon to suggest that there isn;t an issue with schools

My issue is that I don't believe they'd report it if there was.

now that is a fair point (although ONS gives a pretty good idea)

Approval Is Required in some circumstances for some reports.

I'm not sure if that's the same as a blackout.

Thanks you herecomes

The researchers found that 15 weeks after their PCR test 66.5% of people who had tested positive and 53.3% of those who had tested negative had one or more symptoms. About 30% of those who had tested positive for covid-19 had three or more symptoms, compared with 16% of those who tested negative. This enabled the researchers to conclude that 14% of people who test positive for covid have persistent symptoms. The most common symptoms reported were headaches and tiredness.

The high numbers of young people who tested negative reporting symptoms at 15 weeks may be explained by tiredness being common in this age group generally and the survey period coinciding with the return of school after lockdown and a likely increase in non-covid infections.

Roz Shafran, study coauthor from the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, said, “Our study also shows the importance of having a comparison group so that longlasting covid-19 symptoms are not confused with non-covid-related ill health. Without a control group of young people, our findings would be uninterpretable.”

Well, without a control group it’s a bit meaningless, isn’t it?

although ONS gives a pretty good idea

ONS data shows an increase in infection rates in kids even before schools went back. I think posters saying 'no positive LFTs in my school' should be wondering, therefore, how effective LFTs really are at catching cases.

We have about 30 in the 6th form alone out with positive tests.

Deep joy.

Have extra measures been put in place as a result, Evvy?

@Hyacinth88

I'm in Scotland and I honestly think people just aren't testing anymore or organising PCRs for kids. Kids tend to have mild symptoms. Cases have risen dramatically since schools went back yet school absences havnt. In fact I was at a school meeting this week absences are 4% lower than average for this time of year. Hospitals here are overwhelmed though with in vaccinated adults

Is this to do with recording though? My child had 100% attendance last term despite covid isolations?!

I'm really liking being 'normal' at school. The only thing we're not doing is whole school assemblies.

There are cases in my class, cases in u child's school class too, so it's inevitable we'll get it at some point.

Schools will only be severely disrupted if lots of staff are off at once, which will probably also only happen once or twice in an academic year to any individual school while it goes through the system. I think 'they' think that this option is fine. And while I'm not entirely happy with it, I can also see that it is 'fine'.

75 cases found by LFT on day 1 in a sixth form setting I know of - that is far more than the total of the pandemic so far.

Open as normal, however.....

My sons year at primary school (Scotland) is being decimated by cases. However, unless they have been at a party or otherwise identified as a close contact to Track and Trace they are not being told to isolate and test. In fact I know of at least half a dozen cases in his class alone (and it's a big school) in the past couple of weeks and we have only recieved one letter from the school advising to get kids tested if they have any symptoms. I think the Scottish government is just letting it run now that most adults are double vaccinated. Thankfully none of the kids seem more unwell than as if they have a cold, and very few parents are testing positive.

Am in Scotland and our school mentioned number of positive cases in the newsletter in view transparency. But previously an email was sent out for each case.

However due to changes in isolation rules there isn't the same need to know on a case by case basis.

Lateral flow results were never published only confirmed pcr tests. Lateral flow tests here are done at home so school would only know if a case was then confirmed by pcr.

I don't need a case by case notification. In all honestly didn't need that last year either. My kids will stay off if unwell and obviously if they test positive but not worried about the school as a whole. Didn't worry about figures in school last year either.

It's been great only seeing covid as a footnote on the newsletters. It's fantastic to see clubs etc back at schools.

I feel enormously uncomfortable about such specific info (which school, which year group, which classes) being in public domain. It's none of my business.

There's buckets of covid around. DC could get it from socialising with friends, from us, from work, from the bus or train, from each other or a neighbour. I don't need to know what is happening at school.

@noblegiraffe as we've discussed before, we do in-school testing rather than at home and, while no longer enforced, we strongly encourage masks. About 60% are wearing them. Most of last year's measures stay in place. All self isolating students are beamed into lessons remotely.

Our school will be reporting cases (non yet). That’s literally all I care about. (and even then, I’m not that bothered). I don’t care if there’s 100 cases in a school in Cornwall. I don’t care if there’s 100 cases in the school down the road.

Covid is here. It’ll get us at some point. I’d much rather we had this nice normal school environment.

OK its been said many times by leading scientist that infection rates in school broadly similar to rates of infection in the community.
County/ City rates is 396 per 100 last 7days over 1800 new infections reported in the last 7 days.
So miracle our senior school or any other local senior school has no cases.

The threshold for bringing in new restrictions are high.

This thread once again highlights education lottery that is English education.

Some schools had no cases last year.
Some never isolated
Some are being informed right now
Some schools have kept additional measures or been understanding of parents concerns and others have been heavy handed.
The fact the DFE want take councils and schools to court in December then opened schools for 1 day in jan speaks volumes.

It is too early to tell.
Also kids can get covid twice so like adults if they had covid last year then catch it again this year they not classed in new infection figures.

The ons I suspect will be only accurate data we have as PHE suppressing data.
I haven't seen a phe surveillance pie chart report in ages..

I get some of you not bothered about covid and you super pleased with normal school no restrictions so why did you have problem with the stats being published so those parents who are more concerned about covid can make the appropriate action for them and thier families.
By hiding info we essentially making vunerable kids abd families less safe.

I just don't have im alright Jack attitude that some have.
I am not super covid cautious I think I sit somewhere in the middle.
I do read the science and the stats.

@cantkeepawayforever

75 cases found by LFT on day 1 in a sixth form setting I know of - that is far more than the total of the pandemic so far.

Open as normal, however.....

75 cases and every one of them well enough to get up and go to college, and now isolating.. I'm not seeing a problem here? Genuinely which part of that is scary or bad?

You don’t have a right to other peoples’ medical data. You may feel that you’d like to know who has covid so you can work out whether they’ve been near your child but you don’t have a right to know that. I can’t work out what difference you think it will make either. The school have said they will inform you if there’s more than 5 cases, in the same way they would send out a letter for nits, V&D, flu or anything else. Track and trace will contact you individually if your child is a contact. That’s more than you’ll get if you take your child swimming/ soft play/ lay ground etc. Your children aren’t vulnerable, if they were then yes I would hope that the school would work with you but that would be a private matter between the school and that family.

75 cases and every one of them well enough to get up and go to college, and now isolating.. I'm not seeing a problem here? Genuinely which part of that is scary or bad?

No - as it draws from far and wide, every student was given a test pack on enrolment and required to do the tests at home - facilities were available within the college for anyone who wanted it, but the advice was to test at home as a very large majority of the students arrive by public transport and the public health risk of coming in to test was obvious.

As a result, how ill they are is unknown - and tbh that isn't information I should have. One member of staff died yesterday after being very ill for longer than 28 days, so not counted in the statistics.

I don’t think it’s necessary to know the ins and outs of every school unless there’s a considerable outbreak. If every school, why not every large work place? I work in a huge building with no open windows and social distancing appears to be over. Should I be told of someone on the other side of the big open plan office has Covid? I don’t know how that would help me in any way.

Cases are recorded daily. They’re broken down by area. It’s not a blackout on information at all!

I got a text saying a child has Covid in DC’s nursery class. They can’t tell me if the child has mixed with my DC, so I have no way of assessing the risk. I accept there is risk.

I’m not unbothered by Covid. I’m CEV, immuno compromised with no response to the vaccine. The risk to me is high but I don’t expect to know every single Covid case I may or may not have been exposed to. That said, if a child is unvaccinated and CEV, I think the risk assessment has a quite different.