1/ Thread: 15th November

Children and transmission, SAGE document to government.

Seen some interesting takes on this in the media.
gov.uk/government/pub…
SAGE have warned government in the past that schools will likely impact RO by up to 0.5

Infections have increased since schools opened, particularly in those of school age.

Says the link is difficult to prove or disprove, later explains this is due to what data they have to use
3/ Points out children have low risk of severe symptoms, says education workers are at similar risk to other keyworkers

The ONS study mentioned compared the risk as equivalent to keyworkers like frontline healthcare workers
4/ High confidence: transmission can occur in education settings

There has been more than a 1000 outbreaks in schools (its multiple thousands)

Low confidence: No direct evidence transmission in schools significantly increases infections in children
5/ This is a reoccurring theme in the documents SAGE put out on transmission in children, not enough evidence, data, with low confidence.

They have more confidence that since schools opened students played a significant role in household transmission
6/ Mitigations are important, once again the importance of ventilation is highlighted

Germany is investing €500m on school ventilation while our government won't even pay for sanitiser.
7/ If the government isn't going to invest in ventilation, why are they saying masks shouldnt be worn in classrooms?

SAGE have been telling the government they should be doing this since July
8/ On a side note, DfE is putting out some information that can fairly be called propoganda.

The only reason any class size is smaller at the moment will be because half the students are isolating
9/ Then there is this video with all the students wearing masks in a classroom when DfE specifically says they shouldn't be worn in classrooms.

The corridor is also completely empty, doubt thevvideo wasn't taken in the middle of a normal school day.
10/ More detail on students playing a significant higher role in introducing infection into households since September.

Students more likely to introduce infection into households than adults according to ONS data
11/ This is the latest information the government is working on, what the scientists are telling them, does it appear that they're listening?

In the last couple of months there have been a lot of new studies on students and schools with better data
12/ Just the data from the recent half term is worth considering.
13/ In Germany they are saying students and schools can drive transmission

Seems to be particularly a problem when infection rates are high, if infections are low schools could operate quite normally with minimal risk.

Of course we also need TTI working

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More from @karamballes

17 Nov
1/ Month ago I explained how the government guidence and support for schools would lead us to chaotic rotas due to isolations
Todays stats unfortunately prove me right
It's time to restore order
2/ SAGE are telling government students are as infectious as adults, that they may be playing a significantly higher role in household transmission than first predicted
3/ In seperate papers government were warned that undetected asymptomatic cases in schools could cause superspreading events, their answer...no additional testing for asymptomatic cases in schools
Read 10 tweets
27 Oct
1/ Thread: We're going to end up with blended learning, its just a matter of how?
Over 6k schools with confirmed outbreaks
Government figures say 50% of secondaries with partial closures due to isolations.
Remember government didn't intend on closing schools in March.
2/ The main reason schools closed in March was because DfE realised that with CEV shielding and isolations and sickness escalating education settings were at the brink of closing anyway due to unsafe staffing numbers.
3/ This is where we are heading, a disorganised introduction to blended learning, the rotas randomised by who is impacted by outbreaks, most likely creating unmanageable workloads.
Worst of all at the cost of amplifying transmission in the community and the health of staff
Read 25 tweets
20 Oct
1/ Thread: Nick Gibb and the Education Select Committee

Masks
Tiers
Infections
Isolations

Very little clarification and a lot more confusion, plus the usual head in the sand over the DfEs inadequacies
2/ Nick got confused about masks.

The issue is national restrictions are based on a 3 Tier system, while the specific measures for schools laid out in the Containment Framework is a 4 Tier system.

tes.com/news/school-fa…
3/ So he said all schools were in Tier 1 of the containment meaning masks should be worn in communal areas,however all schools are in Tier 1 or higher of the 3 tier restrictions

Schools minister doesn't appear to understand the rules, does he think all schools should have masks?
Read 12 tweets
18 Oct
1/ Thread

Earlier I made a misleading statement about the DfE.

I said they'd taken down their propoganda on Facebook...

I was wrong

Apparently we have smaller class sizes and social distancing in secondary classrooms.
m.facebook.com/watch/?v=63359…
2/ The lies and disinformation has gone on right from the start, the video even begins with the statement that DfE worked closely with the professions to draw up the guidence, blatant lie.

From the start of the crisis the government have refused to engage
theteacherist.com/2020/05/17/whe…
3/ Lost count of how many evidence based questions ive worked on that have been sent to Johnson and Williamson on half of half a million education workers without receiving a reply.

This government has no idea of the meaning of consultation, look how they have treated so many
Read 8 tweets
13 Oct
1/ Thread: Going through the latest SAGE releases, some interesting bits to tease out of it, will write this in bursts over the next day.

The main meeting which begins with saying the effect of education settings opening has only just begun, suggests more impact to come
2/ Lots of people already highlighting things from the main meeting, instead I'm going to focus on the paper on Further Education a there isn't one on schools snd these are the same age students in secondary 6th forms

gov.uk/government/pub…
3/ At various points it does reference previous documents on secondaries, and some comments generalise education settings.

Begins by stating outbreaks in FE are highly likely and risk amplifying local transmission due to creating connectivity,as schools do between homes and work
Read 30 tweets
10 Oct
1/ Thread: Don't mean to join the tin foil hat brigade but I have concerns the rate of infections in schools is being suppressed from public knowledge.
In March the government made NHS bed capacity its key metric for success. This led to people being put into care homes without
2/ testing, and other measures to free up bed space while the Nightingales were prepared.
Ignoring the death toll, government ministers continue to cite their management of the first wave as a success due to the NHS not being overwhelmed.
3/ In the Summer under pressure from papers and some poor messaging from Labour "no ifs no buts" a full reopening of school became another metric of success that I have heard MPs mention as a sign of good governance.
Read 36 tweets

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