Going back to school .

[Sallydimebar]

Feeling really uneasy on DS 12 returning to school , Just feel this omicron is going to rip through and although I’m told it’s mild 2 people currently with covid are vomiting, stomach pain and feeling dreadful , barely moving out of bed. I’m thinking it’s probably omicron they’ve got .
I feel with out the vaccine I’m sending him in with no protection. Not feeling 100% on the jab but don’t want the risk of long covid and he really seems to suffer quite badly with illness . He had it in October was quite poorly with it , can’t get jab till end of jan . Was poorly 2 weeks ago with headache and temp for four days then cough lft negative . Just don’t want another 8/10 days of omicron . It’s being described as highly contagious so very likely to be in school again in jan .

Are parents going to lft kids twice a week (if test-kit available as I can’t get hold of any at moment) ? Not heard about masks yet , but they were only needed in corridors not in class .

Was hoping if you had delta maybe that would protect you for a bit, if he had antibodies but I’ve read delta gives you no protection from omicron.

Really don’t want schools shut again and so vital for his mental health to be with his peers as well as education.

It would be a lot of work for teachers to provide hybrid learning, whereby those at home have a level playing field eg for this years GCSE, A level and other public exams.

And I don't think it's right for SC who already have the shit end of the stick in terms of their heslthb(or parents or siblings health) to also have their educational prospects reduced further than the hit that everyone has had to take

We have had repeated scare stories about "no, THIS time the children really are getting sicker!!!" throughout this pandemic, and each time it's turned out to be a damp squib. It is winter, kids are getting hospitalized in rising numbers for this and that, including RSV and other shit, and some of them are (surprise surprise) testing + for omicron because omicron is basically everywhere. There will also be a few cases of kids actually developing hospitalization-worthy symptoms from omicron itself, but that is also true of a lot of other respiratory seasonal viruses and has been the case since forever. I am seeing nothing that requires school to be canceled.

@greenteafiend

Well data has to be assessed before the unknown is known. Early data suggests an increase in hospitalisations in children. Of course its possible 5x as many children are breaking their legs this year and happen to have covid also. But until the data have been gathered and assessed we wont know for sure.
Being cautious until the unknown is known is sensible. This doesnt mean living in fear but equally doesnt mean going to a covid party to get infected.
Lets hope children arent badly effected by any covid varient or any future pandemic.

@Sowhatifiam that's at least something but it still leaves a lot of us in a difficult position :(

@PastMyBestBeforeDate. I know. I have a CV child who can expect to live a long life and therefore needs to be in school and educated alongside his peers. I don’t want to keep him off but I hate sending him in!

Absolutely @Sowhatifiam. Mine already have to put up with me being disabled and it's been awful asking so much of them on top over the last nearly 2 years. I really try very hard to keep them in but not having a mum would be a far bigger impact.