With numbers rising is it on the cards again?
Trouble is. In a normal class of 30 they'd go red in about 15 minutes.
Yep. Whether the windows are open or not.
School policy is just to open windows and if it stays red well.....
Morning
Let's get out there and make a difference
A good education is priceless and allows upwardly mobility
I think the position of teacher is a very important job and a good teacher has the power to change a students life and even to save lives
If I was teacher and had to enter a classroom with 30 children knowing most of those children will get the virus and not really be affected but the chances are high the teachers also get it and may be seriously ill or bring it home to loved ones,I don't know how I would handle it
Even the loss of taste and smell is worrying as that means its in your central nervous system and there may be health issues in the future
But air borne viruses cannot be stopped , if you try and limit them by restrictions on movement and masks the virus will mutate so it will spread quicker
Herd immunity is and was the only way forward, witness whats happening now
Herd immunity is way more effective than any jabs
And herd immunity can be best achieved via vaccines in a game of large numbers which is what we are dealing with here. Read serious medical research.
You lost me at "Let's go out there and make a difference"
Why would masks make it mutate faster, what effect do they have on the molecular clock?
Masks reduce transmission and viruses mutate to adapt to the environment and to mor more effectively between hosts
Not just masks but all efforts to stop transmission means the virus will mutate to adapt
You.are wrong and that is a fact
You protect the vulnerable and let Herd immunity sort out the rest
That is how all air borne viruses have been dealt with up to covid in 2020
What? There is a molecular clock in all organisms, they mutate at a particular rate. Viruses have no feelings, never minds about a mask. Bottlenecks can cause a change in a population but the mutation rate is still the same, there is simply more death in the unadapted or unmutated population. This is very basic evolutionary theory. You seem to be confusing bottlenecks and mutation rates. A bottleneck can cause what looks like rapid evolution but if actually just aggressive selection, not the same thing at all.
Mutation rates can be altered by mutagen, agents like uv radiation, radioactive compounds ect. A mask is going to cause no change to any mutation rate, it will simple help prevent transmission. A mutation may arise that contravenes this (unlikely given there is a physical barrier in place, and all viruses have a minimum particle size) but it wasn't caused by the mask, its just takes advantage of the mask being there to be more successful. The virus will mutate regardless of masks being around or not. This is dangerous rhetoric.
Before we have this discussion what are you a teacher of or what science qualification do you have
I have degree in physics from limerick and I never worked in the field
some will be forced to close with so many teachers and subs off.
You are on a hiding to nothing Timmy....Am_Zarathustra is correct.
Your statement that masks make the virus mutate faster is the kind of thing one might find in a dedicated echo chamber. If you have those qualifications you say you have you should be able to put them to good use and do a little reading from credible sources.
I would assume you have a fair idea that my degree (and more) is in this area. Biological sciences (I'm not going to be more specific, it would almost certainly identify me) and postgrad work also in this area.
But to be clear, if I didn't have a degree in this area it wouldn't make my explaination any less correct, science is funny like that.
Or a sci-fi blockbuster
Jesus you'd want to tell that to the lads who developed the measles and mumps vaccine........other highly contagious airborne viruses we got to herd immunity with using vaccines........
Although with people like you spreading incorrect rhetoric like that I can see why we are getting breakthrough cases in communities with low vaccination rates now
There are times I'd love a laughing emoji instead of a thanks 🤣🤣
Is herd immunity even an actual possibility with a corona virus? Won't it just keep changing and evolving near indefinitely so long as it can transmit? (Hopefully evolving to something much the same as the common cold)
This is hard to actually tease out. So rhinoviruses (cause a nice proportion of colds) and influenza don't proofread their own RNA (blueprints).....so they copy and copy but never really check the copy is right! It's like Chinese whispers and you get high rates of viable mutations (most mistakes are lethal, in most organism if they occur in genes). COVID 19 does have a proofreading ability, it does a quick pass over the copied RNA to make sure it looks right. This is generally a good thing if your deleveping therapeutics. It may stay roughly the same, or enough the same that vaccines and our own immunity could be enough.
There are some interesting theories on the 1890 pandemic cold was caused by a form of alphacoronavirus that is now endemic and causes a mild cold. It actually looks an awful lot like our current pandemic, symptomatically anyway. I'd actually be very optimistic now with the new data coming out but time will be the real tester of most of these theories. Though it does show the importance of keeping accurate historical records.
The sooner close contacts without symptoms are able to come back to work the better tbh. This is becoming unworkable and we are days away from having to ask some year groups to remain home. I am also finding it REALLY hard to maintain a work/life balance when there are so many isolating students to cater to as well. School internet ridiculously unreliable so live stream to them is not an option so I am here every evening doing pre-recorded explanations of what we will do in class the next day to have ready to send to them each morning.
In fairness, the kids are delighted with it and can't thank me enough - they truly are learning from home - but I can't keep doing this - it's crazy. I know someone will find fault with me for saying this, but I do have a life and a hobby and my doggies outside of work and I need to make time for them too.
You tell 'em Boris! Lets get it done!
Actually for us, today was basically a normal day. Numbers near normal, very few staff out. Looks like this has blown through our school on the run up to Christmas, during the holidays (was sad the amount of kids telling me they had to isolate for the holidays) and had it the week we came back.
To me, the unofficial strategy seems to be let omicron just take everyone and be done with it.
Wow, that's brilliant. We, on the other hand, are at crisis point and it looks like it's getting worse, not better for us. Which is strange, because for a school of our size, throughout the whole pandemic we had very few cases at all! I'm assuming the vast majority of our absences are close contacts so things bound to calm down hopefully.
Would it not be better at this stsgr for your school to shut and teach online?
That way the positive kids who are well enough to hh and the self isolating students and staff could work away?
We are an ETB. Thou shalt not close. Having said that I know principal was meeting them today because we are truckin' through the S&S so I think the TYs may be going from Monday - I guess it depends on how many staff are positive and how many are isolating without symptoms. I assume my principal knows this so we will hear if any decision has been made tomorrow
Gosh that sounds like a tough environment to work in. Our experience is much like Valeyards, most staff and students are back with a couple of kids missing from most classes and a few staff still out but nothing we can't manage. Hope things improve for ye soon.
Thank you History Queen. Staff morale is good so work remains a nice place to be. Our principal and deputies are really great. It's just the general exhaustion and trying to fit everything else in the day in - it can't go on. And with new close contact rules, I suppose it won't.
Anybody have the latest/most relevant guidelines for teachers who get Covid?
In particular, if a second-level teacher tests positive, how many days before he/she can return to the classroom? Also, if the result is from a self-administered positive antigen test, how do we get this "confirmed"/medical cert or whatever so that we are covered for the school absence?
Your principal should know all the above
It’s the HSE who should advise on this . The principal won’t know and can’t ask about an individuals vaccination status. It is also dependant on age if it’s an antigen test. Again the principal can’t ask this .
Its fairly clear on hse website . They do it out step by step for the various scenarios.
Hse website goes through every possible scenario
it’s the same for teachers as any other person really
Here is the section on a positive antigen test
Latest info note for schools
Appendix A shows what’s needed as proof
