More protections needed in schools?

[RocketFire7]

Zubaida Haque from independent sage is now reporting that covid is sending more DC are being admitted to hospital than ever before. She believes this is due to the lack of protections and mitigations in schools.

twitter.com/zubhaque/status/1489599939353186311?s=21

Do we now need to implement better protections in schools to keep DC, staff, parents and communities safe? There is also of course the risk of long covid.

Should we be looking to make N95 masks compulsory from age 5 (as many US states have done), air filtration units, rota systems so that social distancing can be maintained and sending home whole year groups when there is a positive test?

It would also be common sense to me to implement a rota system, to allow social distancing in classrooms. Why not have half the class in Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday for deep cleaning and teacher planning, and then the other half in Thursday and Friday?

You do know that it's not 2020?

No. Absolutely not. Covid is here to stay. 99.99% of kids who get it are FINE. This is ludicrous!

Is there data to support this? Thanks

It would make it a unique virus if you could get reinfected by it immediately after recovering.

@treeflowercat

Is there data to support this? Thanks

It would make it a unique virus if you could get reinfected by it immediately after recovering.

Poster said they wouldn't get it again, no timescale specified.

Treeflowercat,

That depends - because while reinfection with EXACTLY the same virus immediately is not generally possible (for people with functioning immune systems), reinfection with a slightly different variant is entirely piossible (reinfection with omicron after delta is common in schoolchildren at the moment, for example, typically around 6-8 weeks apart).

What isn't known, I don't think, is the 'minimum level of change' needed for reinfection to flip from being 'really unlikely' to 'actually quite common'. There are already two sub-variants of omicron, and there may well be more - is it guaranteed that infection with the second is not possible after recovering from illness caused by the first

Well that sucks.

“As it has been less than two months since the first Omicron case in the UK was reported, there is no data yet that proves that patients can be reinfected with this same variant. However, a spokesperson for the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) told the i news site that it was “definitely possible”.”

www.theweek.co.uk/news/science-health/955464/can-you-get-omicron-twice?amp

There's been at least three dominant variants of this in less than two years, so by that pattern, we're expecting this sort of disruption on at least an annual basis. Yeah.

Well, on the bright side, if we believe that omicron is milder than delta, and delta is milder than alpha, the next variations could be better? (I know they’re equally likely to be worse rather than better but let’s just imagine).

The next variant might just give you a warm tingly feeling for a week. Or secretly deposit £100 in your bank account, or dust behind your fridge like you’ve been meaning to for months.

#positivity

Poster said they wouldn't get it again, no timescale specified.

Ok, well immunity will wane over time... and also over time,'other variants will emerge.

However, some people seem to convinced themselves of an escalating cycle of doom if restrictions are lifted.... And that there'll be more and more infections, and people will get infected again and again in a very brief period, and basically we will all have Covid, all of the time, because you can catch Omicron again, and because it can only "get worse".

Rotas? No. Not at this stage. It’s airborne and highly infectious so I don’t think the disruption caused is worth it when infection would spread anyway.

Ventilation yes. Hepa purifiers yes. Avoiding inter year assemblies yes. I think proper ffp masks would help too but they’ve been so politicised by idiots in this country that trying to explain how they work is like weeing in the wind.

But purifiers, ventilation and keeping year groups apart for lunch and assemblies etc would go a long way to containing the spread and stopling outbreaks.

This would stop disruption to education and keep kids in school

@treeflowercat

However, some people seem to convinced themselves of an escalating cycle of doom if restrictions are lifted.... And that there'll be more and more infections, and people will get infected again and again in a very brief period, and basically we will all have Covid, all of the time, because you can catch Omicron again, and because it can only "get worse".

Who has ever said these exact words? Or are you inventing things?

"Independent Sage" need to disappear back into which ever hole they were living in before February/March 2020.

@Dishh

*@treeflowercat*

However, some people seem to convinced themselves of an escalating cycle of doom if restrictions are lifted.... And that there'll be more and more infections, and people will get infected again and again in a very brief period, and basically we will all have Covid, all of the time, because you can catch Omicron again, and because it can only "get worse".

Who has ever said these exact words? Or are you inventing things?

You're right, no one has said those exact words....but there is a definite perception in some posts that loosening restrictions can only lead to the situation getting inexorably worse and worse. The purpose of my post was to take those perceptions to their logical conclusion and show they don't really stack up.

It's counter-instinctive to think that loosening restrictions may actually make things better, and it's natural to want to double down.... but like having an enema, tightening up sometimes can only make it more difficult, loosening may not the natural reaction but helps no end (so they say!)

@treeflowercat

You're right, no one has said those exact words....but there is a definite perception in some posts that loosening restrictions can only lead to the situation getting inexorably worse and worse. The purpose of my post was to take those perceptions to their logical conclusion and show they don't really stack up.

Okay. So, making things up.

There are a fair few posts re situation not improving or cases not falling

They are decreasing though and hearing this morning that in youngest ages groups they have fallen sharply.

Er, no.

People are just not reporting positive lateral flows or not testing. Hopefully they are being responsible enough to isolate if they know they have it, but people are certainly not reporting.

@NYnewstart

People are just not reporting positive lateral flows or not testing. Hopefully they are being responsible enough to isolate if they know they have it, but people are certainly not reporting.

The sharp fall in 5 to 11 was this last week, so it’s been rapid. Depends whether you think reporting differences happened around the testing changes or to a greater extent in last week.

@NYnewstart

People are just not reporting positive lateral flows or not testing. Hopefully they are being responsible enough to isolate if they know they have it, but people are certainly not reporting.

Over million tests are being reported every single day.

And let’s not forget than the ONS survey is also reporting a drop, which isn’t affected by the standard testing numbers.

@NYnewstart

People are just not reporting positive lateral flows or not testing. Hopefully they are being responsible enough to isolate if they know they have it, but people are certainly not reporting.

This is true, but we know from the ONS data that cases are dropping.

...and Zoe app saying they're rising. Hard to know. Hoping ONS is right.

ONS should be the closest due to the way it’s done

Yep. 🤞

ONS is based on actual tests. Zoe is based on people self reporting symptoms. ONS is the most accurate measure we have.
The weekly ONS report is out at 2pm so will be interesting to see what it says.