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

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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 12,941 ✭✭✭✭Purple Mountain


    ^^it all depends if the siblings are vaccinated.

    To thine own self be true



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,432 ✭✭✭SusanC10


    Anyone know how the use of Antigen Testing in Primary Schools will work ?



  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,890 Mod ✭✭✭✭shesty


    If you're referring to my post, no, these were all preschool and primary school kids in every case. Nobody vaccinated. Just very conflicting advice being given out.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,921 ✭✭✭Bananaleaf


    "I can understand staff in schools may be worried but with the numbers in schools it is pretty much impossible not to pick it up"

    Wow.



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,840 ✭✭✭Dickie10


    why do we not hear about schoools in all these case numbers talk, surely its schools that are driving cases most ? either that or shut up about covid completely as they have in UK, i think we just need to forget about it at this stage let the health service go and sort it out, the public have done all they can.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,655 ✭✭✭Darwin


    RTE reported there were 34 outbreaks of covid reported in schools last week. However 32 of those were "late" findings from May/June so it is of little surprise that there is no talk of schools when outbreaks are not being reported in a timely manner. Carlow and Waterford are two counties that have the highest incidence per 100K, in my opinion colleges are a big driver of this (19-24 age cohort are well represented in the covid stats) given that there is no social distancing being enforced and it is pretty much a free for all in the canteens. This work from home advice excludes schools and colleges, I'm not sure what they are hoping to achieve.



  • Registered Users Posts: 31,001 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    @Darwin wrote

    This work from home advice excludes schools and colleges, I'm not sure what they are hoping to achieve.

    IMO it's about strengthening the hand of WFH-able employees who don't want to be exposed unnecessarily to workplace risks, rather than about bringing down the numbers overall.

    But I've stopped paying attention to the briefings on this as I'm permanent WFH (as are most "office"-based workers I know).



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,328 ✭✭✭celt262


    My area has the highest instance rate in Cavan and Monaghan and all others LEA areas in the region are below the national average. The reasons for this is there have been outbreaks in several schools and the kids are bringing it home into the house.

    If they did the contact tracing there might be some control on it...



  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,890 Mod ✭✭✭✭shesty


    If schools were driving it, we would have seen it rampant in pods, and classrooms long before now. It isn't.

    That doesn't mean that kids are not catching it.It just means that they are more likely to catch it outside of school.If it was as transmissible in kids as it seems to be in adults then for every child who was positive in a room, at least every other child at their table, and more in the classroom, would have been positive too.And it hasn't been happening like that.All last year, with no vaccinations and contact tracing, it wasn't happening like that.

    I know several families locally that it has gone through -in 3 of the 4 cases the preschooler in the family brought it home but did not infect anyone in the school, or have previous cases in their school before they caught it.In fact one preschooler was not in a school or creche, stay at home mammy. The 4th case, an adult caught it but did not pass it to the kids, despite being at home alone with them for 2 weeks, without any separation in the house.

    It is not proof of anything much, but it does seem to reinforce that transmission among kids is just not the same as it among adults.



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,946 ✭✭✭spaceHopper



    We aren't been told about cases in school. There apparently was a case of it in my kids class two weeks ago, now their teacher is out sick all this week. Nobody informed. It's fine for the government to stop contact tracing and testing in schools to keep kids in class but a lot of people have vulnerable older parents, I do and if I know there is a case in my kids class I can at least make other arrangements for my mother to make sure she has food in the house and is OK. Looks like I'll have to a weekly antigen test.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 5,131 ✭✭✭Widdensushi


    Most people will be having frequent antigen tests, people will need to take personal responsibility if in contact with the vulnerable.



  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,890 Mod ✭✭✭✭shesty


    Absolutely, I don't necessarily agree with contact tracing being stopped altogether.I didn't see the point in whole classes being left at home for 10 days/2 weeks unnecessarily though.I would prefer to know if there was a case in my child's class, yes.



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,946 ✭✭✭spaceHopper


    I'm lucky I can afford the 7 euros a week for one not everybody can and what happens when the vulnerable person is a sibling or lives with the family? Holding back information is wrong in this case



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,787 ✭✭✭the corpo


    Currently 6000+ positive kids, and the way things are climbing I imagine it'll easily reach 10,000, which is the number we had out when contact tracing was stopped.

    I know I'd prefer 10,000 kids off pending tests, rather than 10,000 kids off because they have covid.



  • Registered Users Posts: 6,809 ✭✭✭phill106


    Wondering am i over reacting.. Child is in primary school, and their class had one of those co2 monitors put in. Great!

    Untill my child tells me the teacher disconnected it last week as it kept going off... And now a child who sits next to mine is out now with covid, after being in Monday.

    I am thinking tampering with such a device is a serious safety issue, leading to increased risk.

    Met the principal today, said he wasnt aware if it and will look into it...



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,921 ✭✭✭Bananaleaf


    I see your point and I can understand why you might be either angry or upset. The teacher shouldn't have disconnected it.

    CO2 monitors don't detect the presence of Covid in the room, they just monitor how adequate the ventilation is. If that statement triggers you or anyone reading it - please understand that that is what the dept of Ed are telling us when we air (pun unintended) concerns about them going off in the classrooms all the time.

    If they start beeping in a classroom, it is an indicator that the windows and doors need to be opened. We have them going off in rooms where all the windows and doors are already open. We raised this concern and the statement in italics above is what we were told. So, ie: just get on with it please because we're not willing/able to do any more for you. We didn't get our monitors until mid-October and I was initially really annoyed about that until I realised that they weren't going to be telling us anything that we didn't already know. They are a really useless piece of kit.

    I'm not saying your child's teacher is right, but if they have been sitting in a classroom for over 2 months now with this thing beeping in their ear while they try to do their job, I can see how they'd be driven to it.

    If the teacher had the windows and the door of the classroom open, then it wouldn't really matter if the CO2 monitor was plugged into the wall or flung into the bin. But if they didn't have the windows or door open then that's a problem - even if the CO2 monitor is plugged in.



  • Registered Users Posts: 242 ✭✭Golfwidow


    The monitor doesn’t go off! It changes colour. When it gets to red, a teacher leaves the room with class to aerate the room and returns about 10/15 minutes later. Unfortunately these monitors are set to 1500 (CO2 particles) although the recommendation for hospitality is 900-1200. Who do the D of Ed think they are fooling? They don’t stop the spread of Covid. We need Hepa filters, not CO2 monitors! An instruction came with these monitors, warning teachers not to tamper with them! I wonder why?

    Anyhow, these monitors are so flimsy. The one in my class was plugged in at the only place a socket was available and placed on top of a shelf. Windows open, as instructed in every Irish classroom and the wind blew…. the very flimsy ( looks like it came from a pound shop) monitor crashed to the ground and now rattles! No more monitor and cannot be replaced!! What a waste of money! By the way, I still had cases in my class … even when the monitor worked!



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,921 ✭✭✭Bananaleaf


    Oh I thought they beeped! Ours have gone red but no beep and we thought they were broken lol. They are extremely flimsy



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,921 ✭✭✭Bananaleaf


    Also, another thing about the monitors .... they are supposed to be placed a certain distance from the nearest person in the room, but all of ours are plugged in at the teachers' desks, right beside where we sit



  • Registered Users Posts: 242 ✭✭Golfwidow


    I actually had mine as far away as possible from the nearest person and on a high enough shelf with an extension lead donated by a very kind parent so that we could also access a socket. Yes, these monitors are so flimsy and windy weather and open windows don’t help the situation at all!!!!



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  • Registered Users Posts: 4,760 ✭✭✭jimmytwotimes 2013


    If our monitors go red we're not allowed to leave room as per management.

    Local arrangements seem to vary wildly given vague Dept guidelines across the board.

    Should there be in-person staff meetings/PT meetings? etc

    All schools approaching differently



  • Registered Users Posts: 242 ✭✭Golfwidow


    It’s hard enough knowing that your monitor is red. Maybe raise concerns with BOM or inspectorate if principal/management refuse to follow guidance which is to temporarily leave the classroom? This is a health and safety issue. We are still in the middle of a pandemic. The management haven’t a leg to stand on if you actually decide that you will vacate the classroom with pupils when the monitor goes red. What happens when your school has a Covid inspection?



  • Registered Users Posts: 389 ✭✭Vaccinated30


    Well lock yourselves in forever because covid isnt going anywhere ever. Contact tracing just means your child will be tested, it wont stop them catching covid in school, in clubs, outside, in the shops. And there is nothing to stop any parent bringing their child every week for a free PCR. But they dont, they just moan about hypothetical vulnerable people.

    Again, if theres a vulnerable sibling/parent family memeber, then the only protection is never leave the house again. Or stop breathing because you wont catch it then either but you will be dead anyway.



  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,890 Mod ✭✭✭✭shesty


    Honestly,I would forget about the device and be more concerned with keeping an eye on your own child for any symptoms.

    The device does nothing except provide a vague guide to teachers, it is pointless really.



  • Registered Users Posts: 7,408 ✭✭✭Icyseanfitz


    Just regarding co2 monitors, there's no actual guidelines on what to do if they go red, our school has instructed teachers to just open the windows wider and continue as is, if it doesn't go down go get the principal. Pure window dressing bs



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,428 ✭✭✭History Queen


    Our school advice is open anything that isn't already open (windows/doors), email principal and deputy, go for a walk with class if you wish/can, to see if goes down below red. Otherwise continue on.



  • Registered Users Posts: 6,809 ✭✭✭phill106


    Totally understand, its just a sign that highish levels of co2 are in the room, which would be improved by ventilattion etc, which are the same things that increase the chance of covid spread.

    In addition to this, same teacher had a habit of closing windows because it was too loud outside (children in yard doing PE).

    So each of these things in isolation wouldnt be too much of an issue, both of these things together annoy me.


    I am keeping an eye on my child of course, no symptoms and he is double vaccinated, but cant be too careful. Better to call out these issues, if there is one, rather then be silent and regret not mentioning it was my opinion.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,921 ✭✭✭Bananaleaf


    The noise levels in classrooms is a huge issue. Huge. I can barely teach some days. But, it is what it is and we are where we are. I wouldn't dream of closing the doors or windows.

    You are right to call it out.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,433 ✭✭✭solerina


    The CO2 monitors are a total waste of money, I have one in my classroom and with the same number of students the only,y thing to make it turn red was warmer days….they don’t go off as you said, they just change colour !! They are a government smoke screen to make people hunk they are doing something to make students more safe….rubbish !!!



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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,230 ✭✭✭Sammy2012


    On the co2 monitors. Mine goes red around 3 times a day. Usually before the breaks and hometime. I have the windows open all day, every day and we had our covid inspection last week and the inspector told me "you are too well ventilated". I will continue as is for the winter and the kids can wear coats/body warmers if they are cold. My monitor is located beside my desk and is around 2 metres away from the kids themselves. If I moved it closer to the window (however I have no plug to do this) I'd say it would go red less. Anyway to me they are a waste of money and just a tick box exercise by the department.



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