How will schools be able to go back in September? (Continued)

Spanish Eyes

Teachers deserve so many kudos now for just getting on with it, albeit being a bit nervous about the situation.

They have earned their praise.

screamer

pwurple wrote: »

Mine have been back a while. First week almost complete. No explosions to report. It's not too hard. The children wash their hands more and there is a more complicated pickup routine. That's about it.


What are you going to sabotage to prove yourself right? Are you are going around licking the eyeballs of Covid positive people and then spitting all over classrooms in your spare time?

And ignorance like this will certainly not help in the attempts to keep covid at bay. Your post is pure ignorant to the real dangers our kids and their teachers are facing, you really need to check yourself.

Spanish Eyes

Just wondered if there is a staggered return? Have been in touch with the brother and sister who are much younger than me and have younger kids. Not starting back till Monday, that's Primary.

Anyway I don't care. I think if this works out it will give us all the biggest lift for six months. Fair play to the Principals and teachers, they seem to have all turned up and are raring to go, no bother.

So much angst on this thread. I think people just want some kind of normality to return. I have always had a lot of respect for teachers, and have so much more now. This return could never have been easy for them.

wirelessdude01

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Just wondered if there is a staggered return? Have been in touch with the brother and sister who are much younger than me and have younger kids. Not starting back till Monday, that's Primary.

Totally up to each school.

Queried

Has anyone any recommendations regarding anything I can do to boost my immunity over the next few months? Aside from the usual eating well, getting enough sleep and exercising regularly? I have started taking vitamin c and d and echinacea but want to do anything I can to prevent any sort of cold-like illnesses and having to miss work because it would be such a nuisance!

I'll be getting the flu vaccine too.

iamwhoiam

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Just wondered if there is a staggered return? Have been in touch with the brother and sister who are much younger than me and have younger kids. Not starting back till Monday, that's Primary.

Anyway I don't care. I think if this works out it will give us all the biggest lift for six months. Fair play to the Principals and teachers, they seem to have all turned up and are raring to go, no bother.

So much angst on this thread. I think people just want some kind of normality to return. I have always had a lot of respect for teachers, and have so much more now. This return could never have been easy for them.

Junior infants in our school Thursday and Friday for an hour or two . All others in on Monday at staggered start times

smellyoldboot

pwurple wrote: »

Mine have been back a while. First week almost complete. No explosions to report. It's not too hard. The children wash their hands more and there is a more complicated pickup routine. That's about it.


What are you going to sabotage to prove yourself right? Are you are going around licking the eyeballs of Covid positive people and then spitting all over classrooms in your spare time?

Will be at least a week or 2 before we start seeing the results from this. Let's not rush too hard to pat ourselves on the back yet eh...

irishblessing

Queried wrote: »

Has anyone any recommendations regarding anything I can do to boost my immunity over the next few months? Aside from the usual eating well, getting enough sleep and exercising regularly? I have started taking vitamin c and d and echinacea but want to do anything I can to prevent any sort of cold-like illnesses and having to miss work because it would be such a nuisance!

I'll be getting the flu vaccine too.

That all sounds good, definitely pay attention to your diet, no smoking and no heavy drinking. And of course wash hands and don't touch your face and keep your distance as much as possible.

Spanish Eyes

Well after all the hundreds of posts, the schools are back. All be it on different days over the next week.

Let us try and be positive and hope for the best. The parents are nervous as are the teachers. But at least they are back, and we shall see what happens.

Kudos to all who are nervous about Covid but did it anyway.

Given me a bit of a lift tonight anyway!

speckle

Isolation room in garden shed, inventive but just shows how underfunded/crowded schoos are

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/better-than-a-staff-toilet-school-has-garden-shed-for-isolation-39482093.html

wirelessdude01

speckle wrote: »

Isolation room in garden shed, inventive but just shows how underfunded/crowded schoos are

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/better-than-a-staff-toilet-school-has-garden-shed-for-isolation-39482093.html

Total stunt.

JP Liz V1

It was nice seeing school uniforms about again

iamwhoiam

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Total stunt.

Definitely . I was shocked that no one lifted a pot of paint and painted a rainbow or sunshine or something . Surely they could make it more child friendly if they put their mind to it

meeeeh

speckle wrote: »

Isolation room in garden shed, inventive but just shows how underfunded/crowded schoos are

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/better-than-a-staff-toilet-school-has-garden-shed-for-isolation-39482093.html

If they were serious about using that thing for isolation room I wonder how nobody thought it would be good to properly scrub it and possibly throw some paint on to make it more welcoming. Garden shed is not ideal but there are ways you can make it more welcoming and it seems to me they went out of the way to make as off-putting as possible. There are only three possibilities as I see it:
A. They don't care
B. They don't believe they will need it
C. They were not happy with the department and wanted to make a point

None of them presents school in a good light.

wirelessdude01

meeeeh wrote: »

If they were serious about using that thing for isolation room I wonder how nobody thought it would be good to properly scrub it and possibly throw some paint on to make it more welcoming. Garden shed is not ideal but tgere sre ways you can make it more welcoming but it seems to me they went out of the way to make as off-putting as possible. There are only three possibilities as I see it:
A. They don't care
B. They don't believe they will need it
C. They were not happy with the department and wanted to make a point

None of them presents school in a good light.

Or D By having that as the isolation room it would ensure most parents wouldn't send in a sick child or dose them with something to mask a sickness knowing they would be out in 'the shed'

iamwhoiam

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Or D By having that as the isolation room it would ensure most parents wouldn't send in a sick child or dose them with something to mask a sickness knowing they would be out in 'the shed'

Surely the kids come first for any teachers regardless though ? It wouldn’t take long to make it child friendly .

s1ippy

School virus outbreaks likely but ‘bespoke’ responses will avoid closures - HSE (via @IrishTimes) https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/school-virus-outbreaks-likely-but-bespoke-responses-will-avoid-closures-hse-1.4340291

Covid-19 cases and outbreaks will emerge in schools across the country but health officials will take a “bespoke” approach to investigations to avoid school closures, the HSE has said.

Responding to public anxieties about the possibility of outbreaks as schools reopen, Paul Reid, the chief executive of the HSE, said at a briefing that some people expected a checklist to be followed if there were outbreaks but the response would be “very defined” to prevent closures.

“There is no doubt positive cases and likely outbreaks will emerge in schools across the country but the public should be assured that our public health teams have very significant experience in how we manage an outbreak,” he said.

Targeted public health measures being taken now to respond to the increase in Covid-19 cases were “adapted” to avoid another national lockdown, the health chief said.

“It is not a second surge; it is a significant ramp-up of cases in different geographies and locations and we have to respond to that,” he said.

Mr Reid said the response to school outbreaks would be similar to those in meat plants, direct provision centres and nursing homes and follow a “case by case” and “risk-based approach.”

Dr Abigail Collins, a consultant in public health medicine at the HSE, said that investigating school outbreaks was “not a tick-box exercise” where a score of three or six out of 10 to a yes-no questionnaire would drive how public health officials react to infections in schools.

Investigators would assess details such as where infected children had been sitting in a classroom, how they entered classrooms and access toilets and what happened at break times.

Dr Collins said that “bespoke restrictions” will be based on “bespoke information” gathered in the risk assessment of a school and that staff or pupils may be asked to restrict movements.

“We might temporarily restrict certain activities in certain areas to keep a hold of any transmission risks within the school facility,” she told the HSE’s weekly briefing at DCU in Dublin.

‘We will act fast and hard’
The HSE hoped schools follow public health recommendations so that “we won’t see large-scale exclusions or school closures” but those actions would be taken if necessary, Dr Collins said.

Health officials would avoid a “wide, sweeping first brush approach” initially and that she “would not routinely expect” whole classes to be excluded if there is a single case found.

“I would hope that we would be more measured than that,” she said, but did not rule out more severe restrictions on schools or potential closures if there was a risk of infections spreading.

“We will do what is necessary and if we deem through our investigations that there is genuine concern of onward spread and transmission in a class or a broader setting within the school, then we will act fast and hard,” she said.

Dr Collins warned that information on school outbreaks was “not open information to put on Facebook or Twitter feeds” but private as with any interaction with health services.

HSE chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said that internationally it has been found that transmission between children in schools is uncommon and not the main cause of infection amongst them.

Just 2.8 per cent of Irish cases were in children under 15 and any symptoms have been mild.

“The risks of closures of schools now outweigh the risks of Covid-19 to children,” he said.

Anxiety
Mr Reid spoke about the importance of schools reopening, citing a new HSE report being published today showing that the Covid-19 lockdown has had “significant adverse consequences” for children’s educaiton and that primary school children have been most affected.

The report finds that anxiety levels for children may increase due to lack of socialisation and the loss of routines, and that children requiring additional learning were disproportionately affected.

On infection levels, Mr Reid said there had been 1,400 new cases in the 14 days to August 24th, up from 833 over the previous 14-day period and that the incidence of the disease in the country was 27.5 cases for every 100,000 people, though it remains high at 159 in locked down Kildare.

Ireland’s incidence of the disease compares with an EU average of 37 per 100,000 and a low of 2.3 cases per 100,000 in Latvia and a high of 176 in Spain.

The Irish rate is higher than the UK at 22.6 cases per 100,000, Greece at 28.9 and Italy at 17.9 and but lower than Croatia at 74 cases per 100,000, France at 70 and Portugal at 29.7, according to the most up to date figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Irish hospitals was 28, which “is a little bit of a concern because it has been creeping up, albeit with lower numbers each day,” he told the briefing.

There are four confirmed cases of Covid-19 in hospital intensive care units.

Mr Reid said the HSE plan for the winter was at an “advanced” stage of planning and that it was preparing figures on costs before presenting the plan to the Government.

Part of the plan includes the establishment of community assessment hubs to keep the examination of rising respiratory illnesses during the winter months out of hospitals.

Testing
The average turnaround time for people being sent for a Covid-19 test and the result being given along with their contacts traced was 2.2 days, down from 2.7 days, he said.

Some 52,700 Covid-19 tests have been conducted in the past seven days and serial testing in meat plants had involved 3,000 tests being completed since they began last Friday.

The HSE will begin serial testing in direct provision centres this weekend, said Mr Reid.

The limit of 100,000 weekly tests was not a target but capacity and that carrying out all 100,000 on serial testing to check asymptomatic spread was “not the best outcome,” he said.

Dr Henry said that there had been a delay of two weeks in the supply of flu vaccines from the manufacturer but that he was confident they would arrive by late October.

He said that he did not expect “undue delay” in the uptake of the vaccine.

What the hell are they on about, the whole reopening is an exercise in box ticking, top to bottom.

The meat plants, direct provision centres and nursing homes are NOT examples of models they should be following.

There's no such thing as a bespoke solution, it's just something they're saying to make it sound like there's actually a plan.

The reality is that they don't have enough testing capacity for what they're going to need in a week or two weeks' time.

This is where some sort of government coherence or endgame would have been really useful. For days already, apparently healthy people who didn't know they were infected have been undoubtedly giving this virus to others inside in schools. Those won't know they have it until probably at least this time next week, or until they give it to someone vulnerable belong to them.

I don't understand why there wasn't a phased reopening so the clusters wouldn't be so huge.

I was out around the place today with work and honestly there was that horrible Christmas crush where everyone is on top of everyone else and rushing everywhere. I saw two actual car crashes. Nothing whatsoever has been learned in half an entire year.

wirelessdude01

iamwhoiam wrote: »

Surely the kids come first for any teachers regardless though ? It wouldn’t take long to make it child friendly .

It shouldn't even be considered. From what I understand it was the staff that got the media involved as they didn't agree with what the principal had decided. Can't imagine the staff relations and morale to be very good in that staffroom.

Gerry Hatrick

s1ippy wrote: »

School virus outbreaks likely but ‘bespoke’ responses will avoid closures - HSE (via @IrishTimes) https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/school-virus-outbreaks-likely-but-bespoke-responses-will-avoid-closures-hse-1.4340291


What the hell are they on about, the whole reopening is an exercise in box ticking, top to bottom.

The meat plants, direct provision centres and nursing homes are NOT examples of models they should be following.

There's no such thing as a bespoke solution, it's just something they're saying to make it sound like there's actually a plan.

The reality is that they don't have enough testing capacity for what they're going to need in a week or two weeks' time.

This is where some sort of government coherence or endgame would have been really useful. For days already, apparently healthy people who didn't know they were infected have been undoubtedly giving this virus to others inside in schools. Those won't know they have it until probably at least this time next week, or until they give it to someone vulnerable belong to them.

I don't understand why there wasn't a phased reopening so the clusters wouldn't be so huge.

I was out around the place today with work and honestly there was that horrible Christmas crush where everyone is on top of everyone else and rushing everywhere. I saw two actual car crashes. Nothing whatsoever has been learned in half an entire year.

I agree. Really are best hope now is the virus somehow mutates away and is less dangerous. Really bad early signs though.

giveitholly

s1ippy wrote: »

School virus outbreaks likely but ‘bespoke’ responses will avoid closures - HSE (via @IrishTimes) https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/school-virus-outbreaks-likely-but-bespoke-responses-will-avoid-closures-hse-1.4340291


What the hell are they on about, the whole reopening is an exercise in box ticking, top to bottom.

The meat plants, direct provision centres and nursing homes are NOT examples of models they should be following.

There's no such thing as a bespoke solution, it's just something they're saying to make it sound like there's actually a plan.

The reality is that they don't have enough testing capacity for what they're going to need in a week or two weeks' time.

This is where some sort of government coherence or endgame would have been really useful. For days already, apparently healthy people who didn't know they were infected have been undoubtedly giving this virus to others inside in schools. Those won't know they have it until probably at least this time next week, or until they give it to someone vulnerable belong to them.

I don't understand why there wasn't a phased reopening so the clusters wouldn't be so huge.

I was out around the place today with work and honestly there was that horrible Christmas crush where everyone is on top of everyone else and rushing everywhere. I saw two actual car crashes. Nothing whatsoever has been learned in half an entire year.

What has car crashes got to do with covid? Maybe people are trying their best to try get their lives back to some sort of normality

vid36

Those 15 minute tests that got approval in the USA yesterday are a huge deal.We need them rolledout in Europe as soon as possible. Otherwise, the testing system will be overwhelmed by cases including schools as we move through autumn winter. But 15 minute tests are a game changer and it would possible to manage clusters effectively and efficiently.

BonsaiKitten

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

It shouldn't even be considered. From what I understand it was the staff that got the media involved as they didn't agree with what the principal had decided. Can't imagine the staff relations and morale to be very good in that staffroom.

We are only allowed 4 at a time into our staffroom now - and no kettles, cutlery, microwave etc - so perhaps everyone in that school is just quietly seething in their classrooms

Fair play to that staff though, I honestly can't imagine sending a child out to a shed.

s1ippy

giveitholly wrote: »

What has car crashes got to do with covid? Maybe people are trying their best to try get their lives back to some sort of normality

Yeah probably, most of the stressed morons rushing looked like their lives were basically a car crash anyway. Getting somewhere on time is clearly worth physical injury. (?)

The car crashes have to do with the fact that people need to slow down and cop on to themselves. There's way more traffic on the road with everyone going places, it's going to take longer to get around.

Bobtheman

It's hard to know what to think. In secondary schools asked to work in situations not replicated elsewhere.
Science is unclear. No matter what the experts here say.
Let's hope a vaccine on the way.
Ventilation in old school buildings is ****e.
No plan for online learning anywhere that I can see.
But can't complain. Must remain positive.:(:rolleyes:

Bobtheman

Leave the bloody shed alone. Schools have enough on their plate without a PR paint job.

Montage of Feck

Bobtheman wrote: »

We are lab rats pure and simple. But on we plough.

No we're not, we know how it spreads and the groups most at risk but obviously not the longer term effects. With a bit of common sense it can be kept in check, it's a balancing act between keeping the economy and public services going and keeping the infection rate down.

irishblessing

Can anyone explain what is with all the anti-vax nutters I'm suddenly seeing everywhere online? They claim the government have made it mandatory to give school children the live nasal flu vaccine. And that it's extremely dangerous because the children will be contagious and shedding live virus for 28 days. I've asked 3 different times now on 3 different social media places for a link to that but no-one seems to have one. Where t f is it coming from??

Oh and glad to see the positivity here but the first few days, weeks of opening and it going okay/happy kids etc doesn't reassure me at all that it's not going to spread like wildfire and many will get caught in the crossfire.

wirelessdude01

irishblessing wrote: »

Can anyone explain what is with all the anti-vax nutters I'm suddenly seeing everywhere online? They claim the government have made it mandatory to give school children the live nasal flu vaccine. And that it's extremely dangerous because the children will be contagious and shedding live virus for 28 days. I've asked 3 different times now on 3 different social media places for a link to that but no-one seems to have one. Where t f is it coming from??

Nothing mandatory. Just being offered for free to u12s(I think).

Queried

s1ippy wrote: »

School virus outbreaks likely but ‘bespoke’ responses will avoid closures - HSE (via @IrishTimes) https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/school-virus-outbreaks-likely-but-bespoke-responses-will-avoid-closures-hse-1.4340291

This part has me a bit irritated to be honest; "
Health officials would avoid a “wide, sweeping first brush approach” initially and that she “would not routinely expect” whole classes to be excluded if there is a single case found."

I'm sorry but maybe my experience is different based on our inability to implement proper social distancing measures but if there is a covid case in my class and the HSE or whoever it is tells us to continue class as normal it would be very irresponsible in my opinion. How could you not routinely expect to exclude a class where the kids are sitting beside each other like they were in March? By this do they mean they will not quarantine a class until they are tested? Or am I missing something? If I'm picking this statement up wrong please ignore the rest of my message :pac:

I was happy to go back to work today but I've been pretty nervous, I went to visit my parents house yesterday because I am too afraid to see them indoors as they are high risk. I'm generally really distancing myself from people because I'm afraid of passing something on to them now that I will be in close contact with near 30 children every day for hours. To hear that we may be forced to continue to go into a classroom where there has been a confirmed case just boils my blood. I'm trying my best to do everything to keep the children in my care safe and to create a fun, stress free learning environment. I was feeling positive today about the return to school but reading things like this leaves me feeling deflated. I want to trust that if there is an outbreak in my classroom that it won't be swept under the carpet. Sorry, this just really annoyed me.

irishblessing

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Nothing mandatory. Just being offered for free to u12s(I think).

People are saying they are refusing to send their kids back to school, not because of COVID but because of mandatory harmful vaccinations. :rolleyes:

Surely not even the live nasal vaccination could cause a child to be contagious and shedding for 28 days. Wtf would be the point of a vaccine then.