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@IndependentSage Independent SAGE’s position on school reopening from Jan 8th: our schools are a major source of infection transmission and regaining control of the pandemic is only possible if they are temporarily closed. https://www.independentsage.org/a-safe-schools-policy-for-re-opening-education-as-soon-as-possible-and-mitigating-the-harms-of-closure/
The advisory group agrees that maintaining children’s education should be a major priority during the pandemic and schools should be last to close and first to open in any pandemic control strategy.
But it says explicitly that the time during which schools are closed should be used to take all necessary measures to increase their safety so they can be reopened with minimum delay. Not doing so “would be entirely unacceptable”.
It also strongly recommends taking all steps necessary to mitigate the harms caused by school closure.
The November detailed report from @IndependentSage outlines a strategy including all these and urges it to be developed and implemented without delay. https://www.independentsage.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Safe-schools-v4b1.pdf
The November detailed report from @IndependentSage outlines a strategy including all these and urges it to be developed and implemented without delay. https://www.independentsage.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Safe-schools-v4b1.pdf
It recognizes there is absolute consensus around the importance of education, and therefore proposes such strategy be implemented by a national task force (UK) bringing together all stakeholders including national and local government, providers and participants in education.
It adds the task force’s co-design and co-production of policy and practice would put it in position to identify real needs, understand how policies can best be implemented in local conditions and to ensure broad support for these policies.
It says the government repeated insistence to keep schools open while failing to make them safer created vast inequalities, as school attendance was impossible for fluctuating groups of children, especially poorer children. https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/merseyside-borough-highest-country-covid-19194496
The inequality was exacerbated because children from deprived backgrounds were considerably less able to maintain their studies from home. https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/2020/06/15/how-the-covid-19-crisis-has-affected-childrens-right-to-an-education/
Regarding the emergence and spread of the B117 variant (more transmissible in adults and children), the importance of schools for the overall spread of infection in the community has become more apparent. https://cmmid.github.io/topics/covid19/reports/uk-novel-variant/2020_12_23_Transmissibility_and_severity_of_VOC_202012_01_in_England.pdf
Children aged 12-16 are (by a factor of 7) most likely to be the first COVID case in their household and 2-16 year olds are twice as likely as those over 17 to pass on the infection as concluded by the official UK SAGE on December 22nd. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/948606/s0991-sage-meeting-74-covid-19.pdf
It adds (UK SAGE) that “the growth of the pandemic could not be stopped (i.e. R brought below 1) without schools being closed.”
“It is highly unlikely that measures with stringency and adherence in line with the measures in England in November (i.e. with schools open) would be sufficient to maintain R below 1 in the presence of the new variant. R would be lower with schools closed.”
On the unfortunate one day reopening of UK schools: “As late as Sunday 3rd January, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson insisted that he had no doubt that schools are safe and urged parents to send parents back to school on the Monday.”
“However, on the Monday, he changed his position and announced that all schools would be closed from the following day for all but the children of critical workers, for vulnerable children and, since, for children lacking the resources for home study.”
“We regret the confusion uncertainty, and delay and difficulties that this caused parents and children. We are concerned at the fact that students came back to school and mixed for a day before the closure decision was made.”
The familiar ‘everyone is essential’ spin is an issue there too: “We are also concerned at the ongoing confusion as to who is exempt from the policy and, in particular, the expansion of the category of ‘critical workers’.”
For a clear reason: it results in large classes. “This is in danger of increasing the number in school to a point where the policy becomes less effective and the ability of teachers to deliver remote learning is undermined.”
On school surveillance screening, @IndependentSage endorses it as one element in a safer schools strategy: large-scale/mass screening of staff and pupils using lateral flow tests. It highlights testing is meaningless without clear response pathway to test results.
It adds: 1- Identifying infections without first seeking to minimise them makes no sense. 2- Screening should be done by trained staff and not made the responsibility of already over-stretched school staff.
3- Screening should be used as a means of finding cases rather than as a means of determining whether or not people are infected, given the high false negative rates (a negative test should not be taken as an indication that someone is not infected or to relax mitigations).
