Schools closed until March/April? (part 4) **Mod warning in OP 22/01**

BonsaiKitten

solerina wrote: »

I think that school that closed in Killorglin before Christmas was mass tested but that’s the only one I heard of and that was a massive outbreak...In Normas constituency too !!

They were yes, I have a relative working there. Also the only school I've heard of having mass testing!

ShineOn7

And so it begins

Six school outbreaks in past week with fewer than 10 cases involved

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/covid-19-six-school-outbreaks-in-past-week-with-fewer-than-10-cases-involved-1.4507871?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fhealth%2Fcovid-19-six-school-outbreaks-in-past-week-with-fewer-than-10-cases-involved-1.4507871

SusanC10

ShineOn7 wrote: »

And so it begins


https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/covid-19-six-school-outbreaks-in-past-week-with-fewer-than-10-cases-involved-1.4507871?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fhealth%2Fcovid-19-six-school-outbreaks-in-past-week-with-fewer-than-10-cases-involved-1.4507871

I find this very hard to reconcile with 100 cases per day Aged 5-12 and 50 cases per day aged 13-18.

wirelessdude01

SusanC10 wrote: »

I find this very hard to reconcile with 100 cases per day Aged 5-12 and 50 cases per day aged 13-18.

Sure we all know that is somehow a kid has covid they can't find it in school if it is swept under the carpet!!

ShineOn7

SusanC10 wrote: »

I find this very hard to reconcile with 100 cases per day Aged 5-12 and 50 cases per day aged 13-18.

How recent are those figures?

Dickie10

yeah not looking good for full reopening after easter on the numbers the cases are creeping up again and will after easter, deaths and icu /hospitalisations should reduce to a trickle though as the vulnerable will be vaccinated by mid april.

Locotastic

Dickie10 wrote: »

yeah not looking good for full reopening after easter on the numbers the cases are creeping up again and will after easter, deaths and icu /hospitalisations should reduce to a trickle though as the vulnerable will be vaccinated by mid april.

Why wouldn't they open if hospitalisations and ICU numbers are down to a trickle?

That's the whole point, not to overwhelm the hospitals and have vulnerable people die.

Those numbers have dropped off a cliff, and case numbers will no longer really matter.

DSN

penny piper wrote: »

Considering the fact that case numbers are still extremely high ...I don't see why any school should re-open next week....
Remote education should continue....more traffic about ...more people ...it's absolutely ridculous of this government to get schools opened at all costs...no extra protection since january..and the vaccine situation is abismal....re opening the schools at this moment in time was a bad mistake....there must be a reason for cases not coming down...

Remote education was fine for 2 months but novelty gone now it's not working even the teachers sound bored on the calls as they desparately try to engage kids. Most of my son's teachers cancelled on line sessions this week giving token 15/20 min assignments instead guess they know that's about all they'll get from 1st yrs at this point. (Am checking so he not codding me either & teachers have contacted parents if classes missed) Just wish he didn't have another two weeks. He just hates it now. It's time they went back.

SusanC10

ShineOn7 wrote: »

How recent are those figures?

Prof Philip Nolan used them in this evenings briefing.

shtpEdthePlum

SusanC10 wrote: »

Prof Philip Nolan is saying in the briefing that at the moment there are approx 100 Cases per day in Age 5-12 so Primary aged kids and approx 50 in Age 13-18 so Secondary age.

Given that the daily cases are 500-600 then that is 20-25% of all cases give or take.

(Unless I am misunderstanding as I am cooking at the same time)

Good ever loving holy balls

irishproduce

I think RTEs "case numbers" scaring is making people irrational.
If hospital admissions keep falling and ICU to go with that, coupled with falling or stabilising deaths, then case numbers mean nothing. Its just positive tests. So what.
If no one is dying and no one is suffering in hospital then we're on the way.

Dickie10

so the trick is i suppose mass movement of people not to get tested for covid, once vulnerable are vaxxed , people need to stop going for tests unless physically sick

Hurrache

irishproduce wrote: »

I think RTEs "case numbers" scaring is making people irrational.
If hospital admissions keep falling and ICU to go with that, coupled with falling or stabilising deaths, then case numbers mean nothing. Its just positive tests. So what.
If no one is dying and no one is suffering in hospital then we're on the way.

Balls to that sentiment. If you don't end up in hospital or are not dying doesn't mean you're not potentially in for a ****ty long term time.

Not a thing irrational about that thought.

hesaidshesaid

Hurrache wrote: »

Balls to that sentiment. If you don't end up in hospital or are not dying doesn't mean you're not potentially in for a ****ty long term time.

Not a thing irrational about that thought.

Absolutely agree. Good friend of mine, healthcare worker, first symptoms of Covid on Paddy’s Day last year. No underlying conditions. Has been in pain every single day since, it affected her nervous system, particularly around her ribs, so every time she breathes in, it really hurts. If she walks more than 500m her heart rate doubles - she has been instructed to wear a Fitbit to track this. She has tried to go back to work on at least three occasions, disaster each time. She’s been hospitalised four times I think, never in ICU. The doctors don’t know what to do.

Just before Covid struck, she was promoted. She is desperate to get back to work, back to normal, to just get her life back. A year on, it’s looking increasingly unlikely. And she knows of a significant number of others in the same situation.

It may be a minority that get these kind of long-term effects from Covid but it’s not a minority anyone wants to be part of.

combat14

https://m.independent.ie/news/sharp-increase-in-people-attending-workplace-could-impact-spread-of-covid-19-40186922.html

60% people attending work place now compared to 25% this time last year

sounds like people have enough even tho nphet states covid numbers are still high

Hurrache

People just can't go into work because they're fed up with the restrictions. It's likely because businesses and companies have procedures, processes and structures in place to manage it better now that we know a hell of a lot more about the virus. It's nosnense to think it's because people are fed up.

SusanC10

SusanC10 wrote: »

Prof Philip Nolan is saying in the briefing that at the moment there are approx 100 Cases per day in Age 5-12 so Primary aged kids and approx 50 in Age 13-18 so Secondary age.

Given that the daily cases are 500-600 then that is 20-25% of all cases give or take.

(Unless I am misunderstanding as I am cooking at the same time)

14 day report(25th to 10th) has 696(9% of total) cases in 5-12 year old and 613(8% of total) in 13 to 18 - given one group is 8 years and the other is 6, nothing unusual.

The weekly report for last week 9(28th to the 6th) had 344 in 5-12 and 276 in 13 to 18, so no real shift in the balance of numbers across age groups based on that.

He must have said approx 100 a day in schools kids of which approx 50 are in 13-18's as this seems to match the data?

penny piper

in todays independent Prof.Philip Nolan stated that the re-opening of schools has "gone very well" and described it as a testament to the work done around schools and said they are a low risk environment due to the work of the education sector and parents.
He stated that NPHET had seen "very little evidence " of transmission within schools since they re-opened with the evidence indicating in most of those cases brought into the school was by more than one person.
Nphet have seen only 6 outbreaks in schools since they re-opened.

He then went on to say that Nphet is seeing early worrying signs that they have seen before ie Slippage in people adhering to public health advice..More people mixing than there were before...etc

I really don't think nphet know what is happening in schools..ie nothing new since Christmas regarding health/safety ...
and what do they expect once they open schools? ...people have given themselves a green light to act as if everything is ok ....
I do believe children in primary schools should be wearing masks next week as other countries have advised.........but we will see..

Hurrache

Primary schools have already been open for 2 weeks now, albeit at a reduced capacity.

And ffs, you can't hold anyone but the morons themselves who take it as a green light that everything is ok to account.

Rosita

irishproduce wrote: »

I think RTEs "case numbers" scaring is making people irrational.
If hospital admissions keep falling and ICU to go with that, coupled with falling or stabilising deaths, then case numbers mean nothing. Its just positive tests. So what.
If no one is dying and no one is suffering in hospital then we're on the way.

Bizarre thing to say since there's clearly a link between between high positive tests and other measures. The idea that you can stabilise or lower hospital admissions while not caring about case numbers makes no sense.

penny piper

Hurrache wrote: »

Primary schools have already been open for 2 weeks now, albeit at a reduced capacity.

And ffs, you can't hold anyone but the morons themselves who take it as a green light that everything is ok to account.

Aren't primary schools re-opening fully next week? big difference

Must be alot of "morons" about with cases continuously remaining at aprox same level....

the corpo

Our son had his last zoom call with his teacher today (oh joy!) and the teacher did a great job reassuring the kids about coming back in on Monday, has them all very excited.

He was at pains to point out that it will be colder than before as there will be more windows open, and being kept open, so to always ensure they have warm coats with them. Great to see the school being proactive on this.

Rosita

the corpo wrote: »

He was at pains to point out that it will be colder than before as there will be more windows open, and being kept open, so to always ensure they have warm coats with them. Great to see the school being proactive on this.

To be fair that's just the schools passing on the guidelines they were given.

Newbie20

I heard Phillip Nolan on the radio this morning. It would annoy you listening to him. He talked about how the new variant was so much more transmissible and basically had changed things a lot.
But then when asked about schools, he said they were safe because we know that there were no problems when they opened in September (conveniently ignoring the fact that this was before the new variants which he was just warning us about)

My wife just told me that her friend who is a primary teacher is after getting covid and is very sick with it. She is certain she got it in school because she isn’t meeting anyone else. No doubt it will be put down as community transmission to keep the school numbers down.

I’m a secondary teacher myself and am happy to be back. At least with us, the return is gradual and everyone is wearing masks. I feel sorry for Primary teachers who have the whole school back already and don’t have children wearing masks. The fact that the schools have returned with a more transmissible variant but no additional safety measures have been put in place, really is a farce.

wirelessdude01

the corpo wrote: »

Our son had his last zoom call with his teacher today (oh joy!) and the teacher did a great job reassuring the kids about coming back in on Monday, has them all very excited.

He was at pains to point out that it will be colder than before as there will be more windows open, and being kept open, so to always ensure they have warm coats with them. Great to see the school being proactive on this.

Common sense really. No kid should be going to school in this changeable weather without a coat.

I've mine to told to make sure that they have appropriate layers on. That they can wear masks if they want to(have encouraged them to).
Make sure that they bring their own sanistiser if they so choose.

SusanC10

Spoke to our daughters Teacher this morning. He has told me what he will be teaching for the next 2 weeks until the Easter holidays so we can do it at home. She will do her homework on Google Classroom.
Hopefully things will be better by April 12th.

the corpo

Rosita wrote: »

To be fair that's just the schools passing on the guidelines they were given.

I'm ready to be corrected but I don't believe there are any or many updates to the guidelines, it's open a window where possible and when the room isn't occupied?

The teacher implied far more windows, if not all will be open this time, which I was pleased to see. I'm ready to go up and take the whole pane out, if it ups the odds of keeping junior back in class!

deliege

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

... Make sure that they bring their own sanistiser if they so choose.

Interestingly, the document forwarded by our kids primary school re. reopening has the following lines:

"As per DES guidelines, the school will provide sanitiser and children are not permitted to bring bottles of sanitiser with them to school."

I found that rather strange, especially given the previous fu*k-up with "approved" methanol-based sanitizer... If I were sending my kids back, and especially given sensitive-skin past issues of one of them, I'm not sure I'd be too happy about this ...

Hurrache

DES? Other emails I've seen from schools all remind children to have their sanitiser with them.

wirelessdude01

deliege wrote: »

Interestingly, the document forwarded by our kids primary school re. reopening has the following lines:

"As per DES guidelines, the school will provide sanitiser and children are not permitted to bring bottles of sanitiser with them to school."

I found that rather strange, especially given the previous fu*k-up with "approved" methanol-based sanitizer... If I were sending my kids back, and especially given sensitive-skin past issues of one of them, I'm not sure I'd be too happy about this ...

All but three of mine had their own before Christmas. Make life a lot easier plus less disruption in a senior class when they just have their own.