Schools and Covid 19 (part 5) Mod warnings in OP

wirelessdude01 · 22-04-2021 10:09am

SusanC10 wrote: »

Some Parents are not contacting the GP at all if the child has symptoms and "improves" within 48 hours. They are not contacting the GP as they don't want to have the child tested as they think that it is too invasive.

The reason they aren't going to the GP is to avoid being possible close contacts. This is a direct consequence of the message that children don't get it bad. The 'ahh sure it is just the flu' brigade.

wirelessdude01 · 22-04-2021 10:10am

km79 wrote: »

It’s very black and white full stop.
Symptomatic people are to self isolate and contact GP to arrange test

Cost isn't an issue as the GP call is free. Some people are just selfish.

SusanC10 · 22-04-2021 10:12am

km79 wrote: »

Those parents are completely wrong and irresponsible. This type of thing is the reason we are still in lockdown.
It’s being going on for years in schools with kids being sent in sick . I thought people had wider up a little.

So did I until yesterday. There are 4 kids absent from our daughter's class this week.
1 had symptoms and was tested - negative - which is a relief. But her sibling went to school and her father went to work during all of that.
1 had a stomach bug.
2 had at least one symptom and their Parents are keeping them at home for 48 hours to see if they "improve" before doing anything.

The mother of the child who tested negative posted on the Group Chat last night in case other Parents were worried which kicked off a discussion which revealed the viewpoint on the 48 hours.

22-04-2021 10:31am

SusanC10 wrote: »

I am finding that most Parents are confused about what to do if their child has symptoms. Based on the Class WhatsApp. And now it is confusing me too.

So, I thought that if a child had any 1 of the listed symptoms, they were not to go to school and the Parent should contact GP. GP will decide whether test needed or not. If test needed then all the household needs to restrict movement until results arrive. If result positive, then all household needs to be tested.

Now, it seems that what some Parents are doing is if a child has any of the listed symptoms, they are keeping the child out of school for 48 hours to see if the child improves (not necessarily that the symptoms in question are gone) and if there is an improvement then, the child is sent back to school without GP having been contacted. Only after 48 hours, if there is no improvement or if symptoms worsen is the GP contacted at that point.

Is this the correct way to approach it ? I am talking about children with symptoms here, not close contacts.

Your interpretation is 100% correct

Darwin · 22-04-2021 4:13pm

4 cases now in my wife's school, but it would appear parents have not informed the school. Lots of senior cycle kids missing too, not clear why yet.

A Shaved Duck? · 22-04-2021 4:23pm

Darwin wrote: »

4 cases now in my wife's school, but it would appear parents have not informed the school. Lots of senior cycle kids missing too, not clear why yet.

There is an issue with tests being organized properly, we received a text about our son being a close contact on monday and a test was being arranged so we pulled him and his brother out of school. They have no symptoms as yet thank god.

4 phonecalls later and we are still without an appointment..

Call 1 - Told it would be arranged within 24 hours
Call 2 - Told it would actually be 48 hours
Call 3 - repeated that 48 hour window was in play.
Call 4 - Told that we have somehow slipped through the net and no appointment arranged..!

We know of 3 other parents with Kids out of school this week getting the same run a round.

How can parents tell the schools anything when they cant get a straight answer from the people in charge of this.

Darwin · 22-04-2021 4:28pm

That's a fair enough point, and it is disgraceful the way you are being given the runaround like that.

anais · 22-04-2021 5:59pm

Class across the corridor out as close contacts. Positive case in class. Two of my pupils complaining of headache, sorethroat, stomach ache. Sent them home. Back in the next morning. Three more complaining of sore throats today.
On the hse letter home to the close contacts, a sore throat is listed as a symptom.
On the general letter to parents, sore throat is not mentioned.
I'm not sure if I need to send these kiddies home or just wait it out, maybe it's a tummy bug. No temps, but some haf taken neurofen so hard to know.
Feeling a bit vulnerable!

combat14 · 22-04-2021 6:05pm

school only open a week and a bit and numbers back up from under 300 to almost 620 today...

vaccine rollout a complete shambles with june targets looking impossible to meet ..

fingers crossed businesses can reopen shortly but once again seems like we reopened schools too soon when there was absolutely no need

Jinglejangle69 · 22-04-2021 6:09pm

combat14 wrote: »

school only open a week and a bit and numbers back up from under 300 to almost 620 today...

vaccine rollout a complete shambles with june targets looking impossible to meet ..

fingers crossed businesses can reopen shortly but once again seems like we reopened schools too soon when there was absolutely no need

There is a backlog today.

We knew opening schools would result in cases going up.

We can't hide from covid forever.

Kids education is so important, covid isn't the only show in town.

ICU numbers are down and hospitalisations, that's all that matters.

We're moving on in life, simple as.

harr · 22-04-2021 6:27pm

My son was a close contact on a confirmed case got call from school Tuesday lunch time saying he might be a close contact and to wait confirmation from HSE ..
Got confirmation and test yesterday and results back in 14 hours ( negative) found the process seem less.
Only issue is HSE said he can return to school but school seems to think he has to wait ten days from his last contact with the other child .. confused

khalessi · 22-04-2021 6:32pm

Jinglejangle69 wrote: »

We knew opening schools would result in cases going up.

We can't hide from covid forever.

Kids education is so important, covid isn't the only show in town.

ICU numbers are down and hospitalisations, that's all that matters.

We're moving on in life, simple as.

The thing is, you might know, I might know, the cat on the street knows but NPHET HSE and Dept all say schools are safe. NPHET are just short of blaming joggers and people driving with windows open on rise in covid cases.

Education is important and implementing more safety measures would not go amiss but no it is easier to deny schools have cases and they are part of the reason for the rise in cases.

10 weeks left to go before end of school year, they never reversed the cut to the cleaning budget, I presume they are trying to hit this through vaccination at one end and herd immunity at the other.

Jinglejangle69 · 22-04-2021 7:10pm

khalessi wrote: »

The thing is, you might know, I might know, the cat on the street knows but NPHET HSE and Dept all say schools are safe. NPHET are just short of blaming joggers and people driving with windows open on rise in covid cases.

Education is important and implementing more safety measures would not go amiss but no it is easier to deny schools have cases and they are part of the reason for the rise in cases.

10 weeks left to go before end of school year, they never reversed the cut to the cleaning budget, I presume they are trying to hit this through vaccination at one end and herd immunity at the other.

Schools aren't safe. Nowhere is safe bar locking yourself in your room for the rest of your days.

But most people still are out working knowing the risks are minute.

Life must go on.

KerryConnor · 22-04-2021 7:19pm

I'm all for keeping schools open.
But there was a positive case in my daughters class yesterday and they sent only Pod home. So only 4 kids will be tested. Everyone else in class back in today after sharing a room/yard/toilet with a positive case.
While at this point I agree 2 weeks out is very disruptive and transmission is often v low in school setting .. Why on earth aren't they doing similar to health care settings.. Declare the whole class (or school for that matter) casual contacts so they all get a test straight away even if they dont have to isolate.
Seems insane to have 25 kids in the classroom today, no tests, no idea if another child is carrying it and further transmitting it.

khalessi · 22-04-2021 7:20pm

Jinglejangle69 wrote: »

Schools aren't safe. Nowhere is safe bar locking yourself in your room for the rest of your days.

But most people still are out working knowing the risks are minute.

Life must go on.

Did I say life mustn't go on, nope.

The point I made is that NPHET refuse to accept that schools arent safe, you can say it, I can say it but they are steadfastly ignoring it. Why not admit it like you have and do something about it, if education is so bloody important to them?

Natterjack from Kerry · 22-04-2021 7:49pm

khalessi wrote: »

Did I say life mustn't go on, nope.

The point I made is that NPHET refuse to accept that schools arent safe, you can say it, I can say it but they are steadfastly ignoring it. Why not admit it like you have and do something about it, if education is so bloody important to them?

Schools are neither safe nor unsafe. Efforts by teachers to paint the matter in such simplistic terms for people are well educated and should no better, but have been blinded by selfishness officialised and spearheaded by their unions, has fooled no one. It is a question of risk. Not a binary safe/unsafe. And by all expert analysis, and in comparison with other large sections of the population and work environments, the focus teachers have drawn of their sense of specialness is obscene. I dont think any other sector will come out of this crisis with the reputations more reduced.

khalessi · 22-04-2021 7:52pm

Natterjack from Kerry wrote: »

Schools are neither safe nor unsafe. Efforts by teachers to paint the matter in such simplistic terms for people are well educated and should no better, but have been blinded by selfishness officialised and spearheaded by their unions, has fooled no one. It is a question of risk. Not a binary safe/unsafe. And by all expert analysis, and in comparison with other large sections of the population and work environments, the focus teachers have drawn of their sense of specialness is obscene. I dont think any other sector will come out of this crisis with the reputations more reduced.

Actually teachers reputations wont have changed they have been bashed for years, long history on boards going back to early 2000s, what it will show up is the narrow mindness of people who have nothing better to do then slag off teachers.

Darwin · 22-04-2021 8:02pm

Natterjack from Kerry wrote: »

Schools are neither safe nor unsafe. Efforts by teachers to paint the matter in such simplistic terms for people are well educated and should no better, but have been blinded by selfishness officialised and spearheaded by their unions, has fooled no one. It is a question of risk. Not a binary safe/unsafe. And by all expert analysis, and in comparison with other large sections of the population and work environments, the focus teachers have drawn of their sense of specialness is obscene. I dont think any other sector will come out of this crisis with the reputations more reduced.

You couldn't be more wrong. The REACT-1 study in England (and many many others) show that children are frequently infected with Covid and children transmit the virus at very similar rates to adults. If you had bothered to read this thread properly you will see that teachers are simply asking for very basic measures that are already present in many other European countries. For example, this should include regular blanket testing of all students and staff. In some countries this is done twice a week. In Austria, every citizen gets 5 free covid test kits every month, N95 masks are available for 59c, most pharmacies do covid testing with results available same day. And where are we in comparison?

PowerToWait · 22-04-2021 8:17pm

Natterjack from Kerry wrote: »

Schools are neither safe nor unsafe. Efforts by teachers to paint the matter in such simplistic terms for people are well educated and should no better, but have been blinded by selfishness officialised and spearheaded by their unions, has fooled no one. It is a question of risk. Not a binary safe/unsafe. And by all expert analysis, and in comparison with other large sections of the population and work environments, the focus teachers have drawn of their sense of specialness is obscene. I dont think any other sector will come out of this crisis with the reputations more reduced.

Can you name one other profession where one spends hours at a time in small rooms with quite possibly hundreds of people from different households?

I’ll wait.

Natterjack from Kerry · 22-04-2021 8:23pm

PowerToWait wrote: »

Can you name one other profession where one spends hours at a time in small rooms with quite possibly hundreds of people from different households?

This is the where the lack of sophistication and understanding of the risk is betrayed. The matter cannot be reduced to such limited and simplistic analyses. But there is an attempt to push the teachers' position with this type of argument. Very few have fallen for it.

Jinglejangle69 · 22-04-2021 8:45pm

PowerToWait wrote: »

Can you name one other profession where one spends hours at a time in small rooms with quite possibly hundreds of people from different households?

I’ll wait.

Bakeries, meat factories, warehouses, fish factories, pharmaceutical factories, supermarkets.

Need anymore?

SlinkyL · 22-04-2021 9:33pm

Natterjack from Kerry wrote: »

Schools are neither safe nor unsafe. Efforts by teachers to paint the matter in such simplistic terms for people are well educated and should no better, but have been blinded by selfishness officialised and spearheaded by their unions, has fooled no one. It is a question of risk. Not a binary safe/unsafe. And by all expert analysis, and in comparison with other large sections of the population and work environments, the focus teachers have drawn of their sense of specialness is obscene. I dont think any other sector will come out of this crisis with the reputations more reduced.

Wow!!! Teachers painting the matter simplistically! It is not teachers but the dept of Ed, Norma F, NPHET etc that have repeated the schools are safe mantra. Teachers, students, parents and members of the public with brains or those that ‘are well educated’ have simply pointed out that this defies logic. The virus no more knows if it is in a school, a meat factory, a nursing home etc ..it will spread if conditions allow irrespective of location..illustrated by 20+ cases in school in Nenagh this week. Full disclosure, I am a teacher and a parent of primary and secondary students. I want schools open, it is better for my children for so many reasons and my workload is vastly increased when wfh..but stop with the gaslighting, manipulation of school data and pretence that schools are somehow different to every other type of communal gathering. I want to work, I want my kids back in school but I also want the fact that opening schools will drive up transmission to be acknowledged and accepted as a trade-off for having our schools open.

hesaidshesaid · 22-04-2021 10:33pm

KerryConnor wrote: »

I'm all for keeping schools open.
But there was a positive case in my daughters class yesterday and they sent only Pod home. So only 4 kids will be tested. Everyone else in class back in today after sharing a room/yard/toilet with a positive case.
While at this point I agree 2 weeks out is very disruptive and transmission is often v low in school setting .. Why on earth aren't they doing similar to health care settings.. Declare the whole class (or school for that matter) casual contacts so they all get a test straight away even if they dont have to isolate.
Seems insane to have 25 kids in the classroom today, no tests, no idea if another child is carrying it and further transmitting it.

Can I ask what class level this relates to? Was the teacher tested do you know? It doesn’t seem like it from your post. I can’t understand this from Public Health if so, if the teacher has it, they’ll all be at home shortly anyway since sub teachers are impossible to find.

JP100 · 22-04-2021 10:40pm

Inevitable really once schools returned and just means that any meaningful reopening of other parts of society will be further pushed back once again.

[url]Https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/spike-in-covid-19-cases-linked-to-school-and-workplace-outbreaks-1.4544840?mode=amp[/url]

PowerToWait · 22-04-2021 10:43pm

Jinglejangle69 wrote: »

Bakeries, meat factories, warehouses, fish factories, pharmaceutical factories, supermarkets.

Need anymore?

Nah, none of those work in the conditions I describe. Teachers can be in close contact with up to 180 people a day, for hours at a time, in small rooms. You're talking about factories and supermarkets, warehouses, massive buildings and limited exposure to small amounts of people.

Icyseanfitz · 22-04-2021 10:54pm

Sure who wants a nice summer anyway....

combat14 · 22-04-2021 11:45pm

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

Sure who wants a nice summer anyway....

the whole country

killbillvol2 · 23-04-2021 1:22am

Natterjack from Kerry wrote: »

Schools are neither safe nor unsafe. Efforts by teachers to paint the matter in such simplistic terms for people are well educated and should no better, but have been blinded by selfishness officialised and spearheaded by their unions, has fooled no one. It is a question of risk. Not a binary safe/unsafe. And by all expert analysis, and in comparison with other large sections of the population and work environments, the focus teachers have drawn of their sense of specialness is obscene. I dont think any other sector will come out of this crisis with the reputations more reduced.

LOL. Another expert. Do you actually"no"anyone who's well educated?

And I'll bet you loved teachers before this. Adored them I'd say. Supported them all the way. They'll be so upset that their reputations are "more reduced" in your little world.

I'm welling up.

KerryConnor · 23-04-2021 6:56am

It's a 3rd class and I assume teacher wasn't tested either. Everyone back in the following day, no tests offered.. Only pod isolating.

hesaidshesaid wrote: »

Can I ask what class level this relates to? Was the teacher tested do you know? It doesn’t seem like it from your post. I can’t understand this from Public Health if so, if the teacher has it, they’ll all be at home shortly anyway since sub teachers are impossible to find.

Theboinkmaster · 23-04-2021 12:46pm

How is this thread still going.

What more is there to say? Once schools returned they'll stay open now until the summer.

There is zero chance schools will be closed again between now and summer, or even again due to COVID.

Schools and Covid 19 (part 5) **Mod warnings in OP**

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Schools and Covid 19 (part 5) Mod warnings in OP