Is it ok we are just letting our kids get Covid?

[Moonopoly]

DD5 has just tested positive for Covid. There have been several cases in her Year 1 class but school remains the same. Under the old rules the ‘bubble’ would have closed and she would perhaps have stood some chance of not getting it.
Is it ok that we are letting the government pursue a herd immunity policy with a novel virus amongst our kids?
We seem to be the only country doing this?

I would rather my children didn’t get covid. Or flu or norovirus or anything else ever. But, realistically, I can’t rid the world of covid/flu/norovirus and the harms of OTT ‘protections’ to keep them from being exposed would almost certainly outweigh the harms of exposure.

@MegaGengar

I really don't think it's ok.

Some of the comments here seem to think that kids will just have COVID once and if they get it now then it's over and done with. But it's clear that there are reinfections (just because the government no longer count them, doesn't mean they don't happen) and having COVID doesn't give people long lasting immunity.

On the other hand, there is evidence that even asymptomatic COVID can lead to possibly permanent lung and brain changes (obviously they can't say how long lasting those things might be as it's such a new virus), long COVID, death etc.

Why are we risking long term future health of our children and letting it run rampant through schools when they know that some of those kids will end up with long COVID and potentially life long ill health?

A few mitigations in schools/generally (mask wearing, ventilation, social distancing, isolation of contacts) would go a long way to protect a lot of people. As it is, nobody has much protection at all and it wouldn't take much effort (mask wearing, ventilation) to make a big difference.

Comments like this make me wonder about people's ability to comprehend the most basic principles of how viruses are spread.

How and I am asking this as a genuine question, how is it at all possible for a mask to prevent your child from getting a virus that is literally everywhere? They may wear a mask in school and have great ventilation at school, but how does that protect them from getting it from a family member, a friend, a doctor, someone at a club they go to? Are you proposing they hide away indefinitely?

It's all absolutely crazy at the moment. 3 out of our five household have covid. The school can't accept the other two dc that are negative because me and dh are positive and can't leave the house. So we're all stuck in going crazy. We had a really rough few days of feeling really poorly even though fully vaccinated. Glad to be on the better side of it but Track and Trace ringing a million times a day even though we've already given all info to them is ridiculous. Especially when they're ringing us to tell us that our negative dc have been in contact with cases of covid (yes we know, it's us!!!) and they don't have to isolate anyway!! What's the point in it? In a way I'm glad we've had it, but one of the dc hasn't so it means we will still have to go through it all again at some point, and likely catch it again? Will this go on forever?

@Megistotherium

I don't think it's ok, but so many parents in favour for their children to just catch it , what can we do? People say children are low risk, but how low, I wonder, especially more children catch the virus. I think we will know how this will turn out in few months/years. Hopefully the optimistic people are right, and most of children get through this without harm.

Obviously if it could go away that would be better. No one wants it.

But given that even zero Covid countries will be in same position soon what do you suggest?

All you can do is slow it down with mitigations that are more harmful on the whole than the risk

@GoldenOmber

I never used the word "serious" in terms of brain damage. I said possibly permanent.

So brain damage in a way that is damaging enough to be permanent, but not damaging enough to be serious, but still damaging enough to be serious enough to keep ‘social distancing’ in place indefinitely, even though you can’t actually see it but it might be there?

And they may morph into boogeymen with fifteen heads, don't forget that.

@PeriChristmas

It's likely to be very minor in kids. My kid had it and was symptomless. So now I feel he's protected. Yes he could have spread it, so we kept him home in isolation for 10 days.

He had to isolate if he had it...

I’m not happy either. Mine are under 12 so I would love to give them the vaccine but can’t, though hopefully it will be a choice soon as apparently America are hoping to approve it very soon in younger kids. I would love mine to have it before it rips through all the kids. At least people could chose if they want their kids to have a vaccine then that are under 12 and if people don’t that’s fine too.

I’ve just had Covid for the second time. It was more of a head cold and less of a lower respiratory problem. Still felt shit but not as bad as flu. Symptoms were more condensed so got over it quickly.
Every time we get a cold our bodies recognise just enough to mount a robust immune response. Covid will be the same. Most children probably had it in early 2020. Now that the circulating virus is sufficient different from the original they are getting it again.
It is only dangerous for those who are immunosuppressed or have underlying health problems (not always obvious) that create complications post infection.
Although not pleasant I have survived it twice, the second infection much milder than the first thanks to vaccine.
Hopefully the vaccines will be tailored to the variants circulating, as the flu vaccine is every year and Covid will become a distant memory.

The ridiculousness is a) that the children still have to quarantine for 10 days despite being back up to 100mph after max 5 days and b) those sharing a house with the covid case do not have to isolate if vaccinated or under 18.
These two rules totally contradict each other.
Either it's a dangerous virus or it isn't. Either they are infectious or they aren't.

For Those saying that 10-13% of children get long covid. Honestly, this is a crazy notion. For the vast majority of children covid is a very mild disease. Yes, post viral fatigue exists as it does with any virus, but it is rare.

twitter.com/nigeltwitt/status/1438686181374382080?s=21

twitter.com/apsmunro/status/1438461046956646405?s=21

Part of the rules are health driven and part economy

@toomuchlaundry

Part of the rules are health driven and part economy

None of the rules are health driven any more. That's the problem.

The plan is to spread the infection. And a large number of people have bought into that ideology. Personally, I don't think it's the right thing to be doing. Mass infection is not inevitable. It's a strategy.

Mass infection is not inevitable

We can mitigate against this to some degree with vaccines, but there is still going to be a lot of infection. So I suppose it depends what you consider ‘mass infection’ to be?

@Briony123

The ridiculousness is a) that the children still have to quarantine for 10 days despite being back up to 100mph after max 5 days and b) those sharing a house with the covid case do not have to isolate if vaccinated or under 18. These two rules totally contradict each other. Either it's a dangerous virus or it isn't. Either they are infectious or they aren't.

Totally agree with this

Mass infection is not inevitable.

How would you stop a child boy getting the virus before say 12?

Even then they can still get it after if they are vaccinated

I am also bemused by the whole situation and the ever contradicting rules. To me they might as well remove all rules and admit that they plan to just let it spread. Half naked attempt is just weird. It’s like they put a few rules in place to make it look like they don’t want it to spread when the actually do, but don’t want to admit it.

• half baked attempt

Mass infection is not inevitable.

I don’t know how you can conclude this. Natural R rate of delta is very high. Vaccines reduce transmission to some degree, but clearly aren’t extremely effective (though they are at preventing serious disease, thankfully). If we impose highly restrictive measures cases jump right up after they are lifted.

Unless you’re advocating high levels of restrictions, for the foreseeable future, then I think it pretty much is.

And a large number of people have bought into that ideology.

Equally people have bought into mitigations for children to benefit adults.

Yes there are so many people in this country have been desperate to “just get on with it and learn to live with it” not sure how that ideology compare a to elsewhere in the world

I don’t understand it. Why were schools closed for months, we couldn’t even sit down for a picnic and one walk a day.

Suddenly we’re exposing our DC to this. Makes you wonder what the point was.

@Endlesscleaning

I don’t understand it. Why were schools closed for months, we couldn’t even sit down for a picnic and one walk a day.

Suddenly we’re exposing our DC to this. Makes you wonder what the point was.

Well surely because having schools closed for months and people screaming at others for eating a bag of monster munch on a park bench isn't sustainable in the long-term?

@Endlesscleaning

I don’t understand it. Why were schools closed for months, we couldn’t even sit down for a picnic and one walk a day.

Suddenly we’re exposing our DC to this. Makes you wonder what the point was.

To stop kids getting it and passing it onto the elderly and vulnerable. It was never to protect kids.

@Endlesscleaning

I don’t understand it. Why were schools closed for months, we couldn’t even sit down for a picnic and one walk a day.

Suddenly we’re exposing our DC to this. Makes you wonder what the point was.

The 'point' of it was to 'save the NHS' - ie keep infections at a manageable level until a vaccine could be developed and distributed. It was never to ensure that nobody caught covid ever. The vaccine has now been developed and distributed, children catching it aren't a threat to the hospitals, so we no longer need to have those measures in place.

Well surely because having schools closed for months and people screaming at others for eating a bag of monster munch on a park bench isn't sustainable in the long-term

🤣🤣🤣. Quite. There were those of us who never found it reasonable , but we were few and far between in those days. Happy to be less of a minority now 🤞🏻