It's not too late but we must act now. Independent SAGE sets out plan to fix failing Test & Trace and answers your Qs on transmission in schools. With @theAliceRoberts. Latest figures from @chrischirp pscp.tv/w/cmFzwDFNV0V3…
Welcome all, we are LIVE and @chrischirp is talking us through the week’s figures.
Numbers are rising but not just because we're testing more people @chrischirp 
Test & trace is getting worse. We're reaching fewer people within 24 hours who've had a positive test and we're reaching fewer contacts. Everything is slowing down.
Infection rates in Scotland have been flattening off
Number of new confirmed COVID cases per 100,000 people in England
Cases are going up everywhere, not just the north west and north
Cases are coming down in Liverpool, Manchester & Nottingham, which are all university towns
As universities control outbreaks the numbers are declining but it's too early to say these cities have turned a corner
Cases are going up in all age groups. There's been a sharp increase in the last week of primary school children testing positive
60% of parents are worried about their children catching Covid-19. Almost half of all schools have been affected
46% of state secondary schools had one or more pupils self-isolating
Every 2 weeks the number of deaths is roughly doubling
The average time between infection and death is 4 weeks
This is how a 2-week circuit breaker would work
There is a real cost to waiting
The govt needs to urgently halt and reverse growth. It's not enough to slow it
Professor Anthony Costello: now is the time to do a circuit breaker @globalhlthtwit
@globalhlthtwit presents Independent SAGE's detailed blueprint to fix Find, Test, Trace & Isolate
Our first question is from Kate Green MP, Labour MP for Stretford & Urmston and Shadow Education Secretary: why are rates coming down in some schools but going up in primary schools?
'There is secrecy at every level. Schools struggle to get data from the government, some head teachers are hiding information from teachers, and parents are operating by guesswork.' Dr Terry Wrigley, education expert and editor of the academic journal, Improving schools
'If you were pursuing a herd immunity policy you would send children into schools without masks. We should have insisted on masks in secondary schools from Day 1' @globalhlthtwit
'The situation in schools is exceedingly dangerous. For every tested case, there will be a number of pupils infected but showing no symptoms': Dr Terry Wrigley
'In high infection areas, for pupils in secondary schools it's probably very necessary to have some degree of blended learning.' Dr Terry Wrigley
It's a wrap! Thank you for joining us. Same time next week
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