Covid in Schools

Icyseanfitz

Wanderer78 wrote: »

maybe school is boring them

yeah its not bringing covid home to his younger brother who is extremely high risk thats bothering him at all, its just boredom

km79

https://twitter.com/checian/status/1318586669315088384?s=21

Wow

Wanderer78

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

yeah its not bringing covid home to his younger brother who is extremely high risk thats bothering him at all, its just boredom

apologies, didnt realise the situation, poor chap

wirelessdude01

km79 wrote: »

https://twitter.com/checian/status/1318586669315088384?s=21

Wow

An almighty rap on the knuckles for that principal for trying to protect their school.

babybuilder

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

An almighty rap on the knuckles for that principal for trying to protect their school.

One or two solicitors letters to the secretary of the DES might curb their bullying tactics overriding the decision of the principal. Nothing that the present government coalition is doing surprises me. They have mismanaged this wholly predictable second wave. What a shower!

babybuilder

Dr Heather Burns, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, says schools are not key drivers of Covid-19 transmission in the community | https://t.co/gFZE1PY0sE pic.twitter.com/yiK1pcXC6h

More garbage.

shesty

Well a very bright light is about to be shone on that data, since schools are basically going to be the only thing open for the next 6 weeks.So we will have a good clear picture of whether they do or do not contribute hugely to the transmission of it.

Wanderer78

shesty wrote: »

Well a very bright light is about to be shone on that data, since schools are basically going to be the only thing open for the next 6 weeks.So we will have a good clear picture of whether they or do not contribute hugely to the transmission of it.

well i wouldnt say its gonna be clear, but certainly clearer

wirelessdude01

babybuilder wrote: »

Dr Heather Burns, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, says schools are not key drivers of Covid-19 transmission in the community | https://t.co/gFZE1PY0sE pic.twitter.com/yiK1pcXC6h

More garbage.

She sounded very good except when asked the question regarding why restaurants with very low levels of clusters are closed but schools with comparatively high numbers of clusters are open. Started to waffle and fill space with non relevant chatter then. Didn't actually answer the question that had been asked.

yankinlk

RealJohn wrote: »

Maybe it’s because not all of us are inclined to put it down to something so positive. My students had been getting back to themselves, and the misbehaviour was on the rise, and then we had a confirmed case and all of a sudden, it’s very quiet. It’s not contentment. It’s fear.

They fed us the line that they cancelled the leaving cert for the sake of the students’ mental health (which was a lie), but now the students are being put in the firing line, and they know it, and their mental health is no longer a priority, as long as mammy and daddy can go to work.

I guess I can count myself lucky. my kids in all 3 tiers of education are dealing fine. I am glad of the extra time we as a family are spending together. In my house, there is no misbehavior and I'm not hearing that from the teacher or the kids either.

You got more likes than my comment (including the original parent that i quoted) - so I guess this thread is all about doom scrolling, feeding the negative and ranting about the HSE/Gov/everyone else.

Smacruairi

yankinlk wrote: »

I guess I can count myself lucky. my kids in all 3 tiers of education are dealing fine. I am glad of the extra time we as a family are spending together. In my house, there is no misbehavior and I'm not hearing that from the teacher or the kids either.

You got more likes than my comment (including the original parent that i quoted) - so I guess this thread is all about doom scrolling, feeding the negative and ranting about the HSE/Gov/everyone else.

I'm sure it's not your intention but that comes across quite "well I'm alright, what you moaning for?". If we applied similar logic to climate change - why is everyone moaning, Irish carbon outputs are tiny, its grand - I think you would expect different answers. Not having a go, I just think the 2 situations are very similar.

shesty

Wanderer78 wrote: »

well i wouldnt say its gonna be clear, but certainly clearer

Fairly indicative, I would say.Enough time and closures to give a good indication of how much of a role schools are playing in this.

The outcome being (you would hope), a very strong focus on the Dept of Ed's efforts in the schools.Or an end to the discussion that schools are the reason for it all.

amacca

shesty wrote: »

Fairly indicative, I would say.Enough time and closures to give a good indication of how much of a role schools are playing in this.

I wouldn't have thought so at all tbh I think that idea is a bit simplistic, I also think it will be used to justify keeping them open but I will stand to be corrected if I'm wrong

I see the whole thing as a network/collective.......just because there may not be much transmission when you knock out many other places people mix but leave the schools open doesn't mean the schools were not a significant factor in the spread when the other areas were open imo.

yankinlk

Smacruairi wrote: »

I'm sure it's not your intention but that comes across quite "well I'm alright, what you moaning for?". If we applied similar logic to climate change - why is everyone moaning, Irish carbon outputs are tiny, its grand - I think you would expect different answers. Not having a go, I just think the 2 situations are very similar.

So I guess you prove my point. If you think negatively you will see negative in everything. Disagree with anyone who sees positive and then turn their words and twist to suit your narrative. (scroll up and read the first post I highlighted, it was ignored as it didn't suit this thread).

Treppen

yankinlk wrote: »

So I guess you prove my point. If you think negatively you will see negative in everything. Disagree with anyone who sees positive and then turn their words and twist to suit your narrative. (scroll up and read the first post I highlighted, it was ignored as it didn't suit this thread).

If it helps I'm happy for you and your family.

RealJohn

yankinlk wrote: »

I guess I can count myself lucky. my kids in all 3 tiers of education are dealing fine. I am glad of the extra time we as a family are spending together. In my house, there is no misbehavior and I'm not hearing that from the teacher or the kids either.

You got more likes than my comment (including the original parent that i quoted) - so I guess this thread is all about doom scrolling, feeding the negative and ranting about the HSE/Gov/everyone else.

It’s not about “doom scrolling”. It’s about those of us who are actually in there with the students and have been for many years being able to recognise the difference between fear and contentment. I imagine most of us can also report that the dampening of bad behaviour applies more to the higher years than the lower ones, because they’re less naïve and understand the situation better.
They’re quiet because they’re afraid, they’re being kept in the dark, and a lot of them know it.

I’m not claiming that no kids are benefiting. I’m sure some are. I’m also inclined to think that while schools are clearly not safe, many students are safer in schools than they are elsewhere, for a variety of reasons. Frankly, I could accept my increased risk if we were being treated honestly. We’re not. The students are not. The parents are not. The public is not.

expectationlost

km79 wrote: »

https://twitter.com/checian/status/1318586669315088384?s=21

Wow

are the Tarbet school cases in one particular class or year or across many? with 7 cases (in past week) and 45 contacts it probably is but just wondering if anyone knows

shesty

amacca wrote: »

I wouldn't have thought so at all tbh I think that idea is a bit simplistic, I also think it will be used to justify keeping them open but I will stand to be corrected if I'm wrong

I see the whole thing as a network/collective.......just because there may not be much transmission when you knock out many other places people mix but leave the schools open doesn't mean the schools were not a significant factor in the spread when the other areas were open imo.

No you would have to look at the rates of spread....
There will still be cases as schools are open. I think in theory if schools are not driving the transmission rates high quickly, then cases should drop to a certain low and settle there over a period.If schools are contributing more than is suspected, it would be a higher settling point and slower to happen I feel.But you would need a good 4 weeks and even better 6 weeks of data to show this.In addition the test and trace should contribute because it should show what proportion of the cases are coming from where.You would have to look at all the data over time, not just case numbers.

Basically closing everything else down should clear a lot of the noise out of the data.

Sorry, I am tired, that may not be the clearest explanation of what I mean.

memisemoi

expectationlost wrote: »

are the Tarbet school cases in one particular class or year or across many? with 7 cases (in past week) and 45 contacts it probably is but just wondering if anyone knows

7 cases across the following:

4 in second year
2 in third year
1 in leaving cert

Over 40 close contacts identified.

man_no_plan

Of course this thread is a bit negative because it is the only place that teachers have to have some sort of a discussion about things.

There are genuine concerns among teachers and they should be discussed. I wouldn't characterise it as being excessively negative.

I would advocate strongly for the continued opening of schools, that's easy for me with a school with very compliant students and only a single case to date. That doesn't mean that a teacher in a school with a different reality shouldn't be worried or hold a different view.

This isn't an open v closed argument. Or a teachers v non teachers argument. It about openness and honesty and unless people feel that that is there we may as well forget about it.

There should be a solid protocol in place for tapering the opening of individual schools based on their individual circumstances. The problem, politically, is that then some schools are at an 'advantage' over others if some are open and some closed.

The problem with this is that even with all schools closed there are still marked differences. I wouldnt think that closing a school for a few days, even if teachers taught remotely from school, to buy time re contact tracing is necessarily a bad thing if it means breaking chains of transmission.

Principals are being rode in this, basically. They are trying to work with an increasingly worried body of teachers and students and being dictated to by the DES who will be nowhere to be seen when the **** hits the fan.

I wouldn't equate our work to health workers in terms of front line but there does need to be a recognition that they are, effectively, the only very busy (in terms of numbers of people on site at a given time) workplaces open and that more support is needed with quicker information to schools when a case linked to the school is found and clearer guidance an the protocols and process of identifying contacts. It does seem to depend on which Public Health area you are in although I have heard of the advice varying within the same school.

To be fair to NPHET the saw the overwhelm of contact tracing coming but nobody wanted to know. Now we are paying for this. Between now and when the system can cope positive cases should will need an automotive holding position of some sort that limits transmission potential in schools.

km79

memisemoi wrote: »

7 cases across the following:

4 in second year
2 in third year
1 in leaving cert

Over 40 close contacts identified.

And on the very same day the Dept forced that school to reopen

http://twitter.com/gavreilly/status/1318662134235058178

Hse cant cope
People now basically been told to identify their own close contacts who will then have to be tested and be off school/work for two weeks
There will be a huge rate of absenteeism from now on

wirelessdude01

Wonder will the text state that they are only allowed something like 4 close contacts?

Even that means 10,000 phonecards to already under pressure GPS. Total sh!tshow.

TheValeyard

They have completely dropped the ball on this and now the ball is on fire.

Not sure how some schools are coping at all from what I've been hearing from some friends I'm other schools. Then other schools seem to have a magic Covid shield with zero confirmed cases.

After midterm will interesting as bar manufacturing and essential retail, nothing else will be open. We will truly see the effect teens and kids are having at spreading this virus, that just wont fcuk off.

Unicorn55

shesty wrote: »

Well a very bright light is about to be shone on that data, since schools are basically going to be the only thing open for the next 6 weeks.So we will have a good clear picture of whether they do or do not contribute hugely to the transmission of it.

It's not just the schools that are the only thing open and teachers are far, far, far from the only people who will be working (not from home) for the next 6 weeks (and even then the schools will be closed for 1 week at midterm).

There will also be:
Supermarket staff
Hardware store staff
Safety supply shop staff
Pharmacists and staff
Some other shops (e.g. pound shops)
Food production and manufacturing employees
Medical device manufacturing employees
Pharmaceutical manufacturing
Banks, credit unions, post offices
Couriers, depots and sorting offices
Delivery drivers
Warehouse staff, picking staff
ESB workers
Firefighters
Broadband and phone suppliers
Train and bus drivers
Cleaners across all industries
Refugees
Direct provision centres
Health care professionals, housekeeping staff, home helps, laboratory staff, GP's, midwives
Vets, fisheries, horticulture staff
Disability care staff
Childminders and creches
Environmental Health Officers
Prison officers
Waste removal and waste disposal staff
An Garda


And many more that I didn't even list. 1000's and 1000's of workers who have been working throughout the entire pandemic. All deemed essential. None who get to work from home for even 1 day, never mind the next 2 years. And let's be honest, none of our work places were designed with a pandemic in mind.

Bobtheman

It seems for a close contact masks have to be off around you for a considerable amount of time. Just being around another student is not enough.
That's according to our VP whom I suspect Is talking through their hole.

byhookorbycrook

Unicorn55 wrote: »

It's not just the schools that are the only thing open and teachers are far, far, far from the only people who will be working (not from home) for the next 6 weeks (and even then the schools will be closed for 1 week at midterm).

There will also be:
Supermarket staff
Hardware store staff
Safety supply shop staff
Pharmacists and staff
Some other shops (e.g. pound shops)
Food production and manufacturing employees
Medical device manufacturing employees
Pharmaceutical manufacturing
Banks, credit unions, post offices
Couriers, depots and sorting offices
Delivery drivers
Warehouse staff, picking staff
ESB workers
Firefighters
Broadband and phone suppliers
Train and bus drivers
Cleaners across all industries
Refugees
Direct provision centres
Health care professionals, housekeeping staff, home helps, laboratory staff, GP's, midwives
Vets, fisheries, horticulture staff
Disability care staff
Childminders and creches
Environmental Health Officers
Prison officers
Waste removal and waste disposal staff
An Garda


And many more that I didn't even list. 1000's and 1000's of workers who have been working throughout the entire pandemic. All deemed essential. None who get to work from home for even 1 day, never mind the next 2 years. And let's be honest, none of our work places were designed with a pandemic in mind.

Unicorn, you aren’t comparing like with like , though .No other sector is being asked to have the contact time , with very little or indeed no social distancing and masks , like school staff are .

TheValeyard

Bobtheman wrote: »

It seems for a close contact masks have to be off around you for a considerable amount of time. Just being around another student is not enough.
That's according to our VP whom I suspect Is talking through their hole.

I've heard this from plenty of staff in various schools. Masks on, 1m apart, not a close contact. So when their buddy tests positive, it's just a coincidence.

Unicorn55

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

Unicorn, you aren’t comparing like with like , though .No other sector is being asked to have the contact time , with very little or indeed no social distancing and masks , like school staff are .

Other sectors are being asked that though. Quite a few in the above sectors can't have one or the other or both.

s1ippy

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

She sounded very good except when asked the question regarding why restaurants with very low levels of clusters are closed but schools with comparatively high numbers of clusters are open. Started to waffle and fill space with non relevant chatter then. Didn't actually answer the question that had been asked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRcmG9hALZ4

It's like they have one line they can say and they just restructure the sentence again and again whilst lauding praise on the groups they answer to and voiceless stakeholders they throw under the bus.

Cmon teachers I'm sick of saying it wash your hands. :rolleyes:

wirelessdude01

TheValeyard wrote: »

I've heard this from plenty of staff in various schools. Masks on, 1m apart, not a close contact. So when their buddy tests positive, it's just a coincidence.

Only way to be a close contact in secondary now is to be in the company of someone who is maskless for more than 15mins and not socially distancing. This all has to be i doors as well.

Canteen seems to be only place in theory where this can occur and I've heard stories of schools this week moving students on within 10mi s of sitting down to eat.

This was brought in last Friday.