I think people find it hard to understand the deal with kids reduced susceptibility to #COVID19 and what it means for schools etc
I thought I’d share a little analogy which helps me conceptualise it
Let’s imagine #COVID19 is rain...
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I thought I’d share a little analogy which helps me conceptualise it
Let’s imagine #COVID19 is rain...

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Everyone wants to stop getting wet
Adults are just dressed normally
Teens have a little hat on
Younger kids have got an umbrella
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Adults are just dressed normally

Teens have a little hat on

Younger kids have got an umbrella

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When there is very little rain, you won’t notice much difference between how wet everyone is
When it starts raining a bit, you’ll notice the younger kids are less wet than adults
The teens may be just as wet as they spend more time out in the rain
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When it starts raining a bit, you’ll notice the younger kids are less wet than adults
The teens may be just as wet as they spend more time out in the rain
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But what happens when there’s a monsoon?
Well a rain hat and coat aren’t going to cut it
Everyone gets soaking wet
And the problem is once you’re wet, you start making other people wet too
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Well a rain hat and coat aren’t going to cut it
Everyone gets soaking wet
And the problem is once you’re wet, you start making other people wet too
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What we’ve seen more recently in England is 2 things:
1. Very high infection prevalence - Monsoon rain
After this happened, we shut the adults indoors and left the kids out in the rain (in school)
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1. Very high infection prevalence - Monsoon rain
After this happened, we shut the adults indoors and left the kids out in the rain (in school)
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2. A more infectious virus variant - this is like stripping off a layer of protection for everyone (including kids)
When it rains, more people are now getting wet than before
It will be harder to leave kids (and everyone else) out in the rain without them getting wet now
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When it rains, more people are now getting wet than before
It will be harder to leave kids (and everyone else) out in the rain without them getting wet now
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Fortunately kids and teens still don’t suffer much when wet
But the best way to keep them dry is to stop it raining
That’s what we need to do over the next few weeks to get them back to school
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But the best way to keep them dry is to stop it raining
That’s what we need to do over the next few weeks to get them back to school
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We can add extra measures to school (masks, more distancing, better ventilation etc), but ultimately these are like putting on a hat/raincoat etc
They are useful when it’s not raining much
They won’t hold back a flood
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They are useful when it’s not raining much
They won’t hold back a flood
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