Really high cases in my local school

[CovidinPrimary]

In two year groups of my local primary school approx a quarter of kids have tested positive in the last week. Public health are involved.

Part of me expected this, but part of me feels very nervous. My DD is not in the year groups impacted but has likely come into very close proximity of many kids who are now infected and will continue to do so, covid is just allowed to be rampant in schools.

It’s really shocking, I have never seen even a cold virus spread as fast in comparison. School are taking mitigation actions as advised, but these just involve trying to stop the impacted year groups coming to contact with other year groups: impossible for reasons such as siblings etc.

The rationale part of me knows that if DD gets covid he will probs be fine (at least short term who knows long term!) but the scale of how it’s spreading in school is just alarming.

I feel like I have been forced to risk accept my child will get covid and it’s not sitting right with me

@lljkk

1 in 32 secondary age up to year 11 in England

That's quite a lot lower than the 1/4 or 1/3 prevalence reported here.

It wasn't intended to sound low, though. That's a lot (and the most of any age group). Basically one in very class. A school my size would be 10 cases per year group if we were 'average'.

Fortunately for society as a whole, lowest prevalence in in the 70+ age group.

At my daughter's secondary school 15/30 in her form currently have Covid. She is the only one in her wide friendship group who has never had it. They have Public Health England involved with huge numbers of positive pupils across three year groups. They are wearing masks full time again and have gone back to year group bubbles with all extra-curricular activity cancelled again. All pupils have been advised to get a PCR. Anyone who thinks this is any kind of normal is deluded. Every day we send her to school to potentially catch Covid and have to hope she's not one of those who end up with long term issues.

Our children have suffered throughout this. First, schools were closed to protect the elderly. Now they are vaccinated, schools can re-open with no limits and we can risk the health of the young freely. It's outrageous and shocking to be honest.

'Most' people are not asymptomatic. I blame the government for syaing that without clarifying that they mean ' at the point of testing' (and even then it isn't most!). The majority do go on to develop symptoms, albeit generally mild. There are very very few who remain totally symptom free.

Basically one in very class.

ppl elsewhere in thread are talking about big clusters, 1/4 or 1/3. Which suggests plenty of schools or classes with 0/30 must also exist, if 1/32 is 'average'

From now going forward, most children and most previously vaccinated or prior-infection adults will have very mild infections, can be treated as asymptomatic. estimated 50% of kids have prior infection, 96% of population has antibodies,etc.

Asymptomatic infection is going to be the new normal type of covid infection.

@lljkk

Most cold virus infections are asymptomatic. Or so mildly symptomatic that they are hard to recognise as illness.

Just like most covid infections in children are.

Kid in my form hasn't returned yet after their 10 day isolation for covid because they are still not well enough. Not the only child I know in that position.

I don't remember children being off for that long for having caught a cold, that length of absence would be really unusual.

I'm trying to be careful in saying 'most' not 'all'

'most' != 'all'

obviously covid is still very important for the (increasingly small, thank goodness, bless the vaccine makers) ppl who become quite ill with it

Yes, lljkk but you compared 'most covid infections' with most 'cold infections' and in my experience, they are not comparable.

covid is becoming another strain of common cold; in transition

@Whatever9999

Seriously you've never seen a cold virus spread this fast, you can't have been taking much notice then.

Colds are massively less infectious than the delta-variant so no, no one will have seen a cold spread this fast.

@CovidinPrimary What part of the country are you in @CovidinPrimary

@bizboz

I really hope the effects of the vaccine don't begin to wane after 6 months as has been suggested as a possibility. Most teaching staff that I know we're vaccinated between April and July. The sooner the older children can get the vaccine, the better IMO. DC is 11 so will miss out (has had Covid but I believe Covid +vaccine is reported to offer the greatest long-term protection).

They do wane - see attached.

@Mybalconyiscracking

You probably have seen a cold virus spread this quickly, you just weren’t paying attention.

Exactly. If we weren't testing most of those with Covid would just think they had a cold at this point.

On the upside - 30% with covid now have antibodies and offer the 70% some protection

That’s assuming the 70% haven’t had it previously! Good chance most schools will be covid free come winter.

So now we can all see that schools are hotbeds of Covid infection and we all agree that keeping schools open is important, I hope that everyone will support teachers being given booster jabs as a priority. I will be bloody furious if we aren’t and people working from home are pushed forward again.

@BluebellsGreenbells
It would be good if that happened. Sadly, quite a few of the children I teach are on their second bout of Covid - and within six months.

How scary op, I would be feeling the same as you. Thankfully my kids primary schools seem fine for now 🤞

I think my kids school may have had an outbreak in early 2020. Not everyone believes the U.K. had covid before it was said to be a problem but my two were very poorly as were loads of other kids and teachers. Kids were mainly fevers and teachers with hacking chesty coughs they couldn't shift. I remember a tes her saying to me that nearly all the teachers had a bad chest that antibiotics weren't shifting. Some off for a while. Kids were being taken to the doctors (before lockdown obviously) and doctors had no explanation for it but never concerned it was covid despite it being an increasing problem in China, Italy etc etc. My two were very poorly like nothing I've ever experienced before. To add, a family with 2 children in the school had travelled to Asia before Christmas. I know we have the delta variant now, which we didn't then and I'm only saying this because if it was in fact covid that was spreading, it did get better, much better quickly and despite there being no isolation it did slow down and back to normal. And funnily enough the school hasn't had any outbreaks of covid since the first lockdown.

Im in one of the schools with low numbers at the moment helping to balance out the numbers. We currently have about 20 off with a positive test so that is about 1/100. We had lots of cases just before Christmas (including me) and then again just before the summer, so hopefully some are immune.

I am sure the plan is to give boosters by age and clinical vulnerability.

I do think that teachers are very exposed by occupation, and I really sympathise, but the balance of other risk factors around race, deprivation etc confounds the stats, so it's less obvious in public health terms as things stand.

Age and clinical vulnerability are easier to use to flag up risk.

Exactly. If we weren't testing most of those with Covid would just think they had a cold at this point

…because covid is just like a cold…not.
Flu, yes. Cold, no.

@boomwhacker

At my daughter's secondary school 15/30 in her form currently have Covid. She is the only one in her wide friendship group who has never had it. They have Public Health England involved with huge numbers of positive pupils across three year groups. They are wearing masks full time again and have gone back to year group bubbles with all extra-curricular activity cancelled again. All pupils have been advised to get a PCR. Anyone who thinks this is any kind of normal is deluded. Every day we send her to school to potentially catch Covid and have to hope she's not one of those who end up with long term issues. Our children have suffered throughout this. First, schools were closed to protect the elderly. Now they are vaccinated, schools can re-open with no limits and we can risk the health of the young freely. It's outrageous and shocking to be honest.

Spot on. It's not normal and it's not acceptable.

Choccymumma
Would you support teachers receiving boosters as soon as they are needed to make this ‘normality’ happen? I really want to keep things normal too but my health is my priority and no one can say Covid doesn’t spread in schools now. It is an easy solution to put school staff on the same priority lists as care home workers and NHS.

I would support this definitely. Although I'm not sure its the answer alone. We are 2 weeks on and covid is spreading through our primary via older siblings who are at home positive. Some of our teachers only had their second one at the end of August.
We are also full of bad colds and sickness bugs!

Thanks for replying. I am also keen to keep working and for schools to keep open but I am genuinely concerned about what will happen when vaccines stop working. Some of my colleagues are still waiting for their second vaccine (they are young!) so obviously wouldn’t need it yet. I think it should be a priority at the point when vaccine effectiveness is considered to wane.

At the minute the death rate average is 148 a day which is over 54,000 a year. We still have the highest new daily case rates (by a long way) and death rates in Europe - despite the numbers vaccinated.

@BustopherPonsonbyJones

Thanks for replying. I am also keen to keep working and for schools to keep open but I am genuinely concerned about what will happen when vaccines stop working. Some of my colleagues are still waiting for their second vaccine (they are young!) so obviously wouldn’t need it yet. I think it should be a priority at the point when vaccine effectiveness is considered to wane.

I've loved being back with the children and definitely don't want schools to close again (although I don't think they will) But anyone who thinks this system is less disruptive is delusional. Take care.