Thread.

Nothing pre-planned here just some preliminary thoughts on the dataset I’ve built showing 643 UK Schools with Coronavirus infections. Apologies in advance if it lacks coherency. Just thought it useful to share with you what is happening....

First, 643 is an under statement. Some areas are excellent at providing transparency eg Glasgow, NI, Manchester, NE & Liverpool. But south of the M25 there is something of a news blackout, especially in the shires.

For the most part, the early examples were children & teachers bringing infections into the classroom. Initially, it was mostly single cases & contraction was almost certainly before term started. They all should have been tested before starting. It was a catastrophic error.

Increasingly, the evidence is that schools are experiencing multi infections on site. There are now more than 60 schools with multiple infections & that figure is growing steadily. And this excludes asymptomatic cases which we already know make up about 40% of cases.

Of the cases of school infections we know about (800+) about one third are teachers & and about one third are primary schools. For now, it’s mostly secondary schools & pupils. But weaknesses in the testing system make this very hard to be confident about.

There are several things that cause me a lot of worry

• Why is London mostly not reporting?
• If we know of 800 infections it probably means there are c3000+ infected on site
• On site transmission is growing & failures in testing are worsening this
• It’s causing a 2nd wave

Last point. As a matter of urgency, strategies for blended learning need to be advanced. There are many many ifs and buts. We live in an age where no political leader will speak for the safety of teachers, parents or pupils. That’s unprecedented.