THE return from schools in England this week has always been the greatest risk point for rising Covid cases this fall.
We now know only too well that any increase in social contact in closed public spaces increases the likelihood of virus transmission.
If we want to know what might happen, all we have to do is look to Scotland, which brought children back to school in mid-August.
Scotland’s return to school resulted in a national surge in Covid cases, with up to a third of the new cases found in school-age children. Cases have doubled in the past week, with significant consequences for parents, teachers and children themselves. Nearly half of secondary school students in East Dunbartonshire were absent from Covid this Tuesday.
This evidence is worrying. Scotland has taken more measures to prevent transmission in schools, e.g. B. wearing masks when England plans.
The English Ministry of Education suggests that the easing of most Covid control measures in English schools should ensure that an educational process as normal as possible takes place this school year. It is hard not to conclude from the Scottish experience that abandoning common sense is exactly the opposite for Covid control measures in English schools.
Unlike most other parts of Europe and North America, the UK has not yet decided to vaccinate all healthy 12 to 15 year olds. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) is still hesitant to make this decision. This puts our school-age children at greater risk.
Eight key recommendations developed by the WHO European Technical Advisory Group on School Education to keep schools open and safe are: Schools will be the last place to close and be the first to reopen; Introduction of a Covid test strategy; Protecting the intellectual and social well-being of children; Protecting the most vulnerable and marginalized children; Ensuring effective risk reduction measures; Improvement of the school environment; Involving children and adolescents in decision-making and implementing a vaccination strategy aimed at keeping children in school.
England’s Contingency Framework, the school and college return strategy published in August, has either very weak or nonexistent plans for the last four of these recommendations. Difficulties may be imminent.
The only salvation for Lancashire schools could be that most areas in Lancashire had a fall rate of between 200 and 300 per 100,000 as of Monday, while the average fall rate in England reached 350. Lancashire also has probably one of the highest natural immunities to prior infection.
Will this be enough to curb a high number of school dropouts in connection with Covid in the coming half year? We just don’t know.
Whatever happens, the local authorities in Lancashire will work closely with schools, colleges, parents and youth to minimize the risks and consequences – but we can only act within the limits given by the current Department of Education guidelines allow .
