1)Sally, w/ respect, why aren’t British children able to tolerate what children around the world are doing during a pandemic, WITHOUT COMPLAINT?
This virus can kill & cause long term debilitating illness.
It has caused devastation across the globe physically & economically.
2) Why wouldn’t we say -
“This is a difficult situation for us all.
We all want to come out of lockdown w/out causing more illness, death & effects on the economy.
To do this safely EVERYONE MUST HELP REDUCE TRANSMISSION.
We hope you want to be part of this.”
3) This is what I’d say to my children if they were still at school...
“Just for a few hrs a day, to let you all be in school together, PLEASE JUST #WearAMask & accept it’s not 100% comfortable but #MasksSaveLives & YOU can be part of the solution.”
4) #COVIDisAirborne, why wouldn’t we want our children & young ppl to show #CollectiveResponsibility & #Solidarity & teach them to be part of something bigger than themselves?
We all want schools to stay open, but for that to be possible we must adopt a #WeNotMe attitude!
Another excellent, practical resource for school heads to use to improve mitigation w/in UK schools.
As approx 10M ppl mix w/ virtually none of this in place it’s hard to believe that it won’t result in kicking off another #COVID19 surge w/ a BIG BANG! 1/8
Everyone able to effect change should read it & consider which side of the DEBATE they wish to be in over next few months.
False reassurances about the use of #lateralflowtests by the government & those prepared to support them on TV/media have attempted to hide to truth. 2/
No children & very few staff or parents of school age children will be vaccinated by 8th March.
Do you understand what that means? Because your repeated rantings about masks are very ignorant & dangerous.
Is that your intention? 2/
Do you feel comfortable knowing that trying to stop children wearing masks at school will directly lead to more #COVID19 in pupils, teachers, parents & family members, ESPECIALLY if they are clinically vulnerable or extremely vulnerable?
Whichever way you spin it, a BIG BANG return to FULL opening of ALL English schools on a single day is INSANE!
Mixing 10M children w/ all the staff that it will entail, with current disease prevalence & more transmissible variants is a sure fire way to INCREASE TRANSMISSION!1/8
As cases rise, WHICH THEY WILL, it’ll be impossible to know which age ranges are responsible quickly & change course without causing absolute havoc to the education of the children & to the lives of their working & non-working parents. 2/
And of course, that’s not even considering the effect on the individuals who may needlessly become seriously ill w/ #COVID19, get #LongCovid or sadly die.
On so many levels, a phased return is needed...NO....
IS ESSENTIAL to allow careful monitoring & a chance to change tack. 3/
Dear @susannareid100 & @piersmorgan
In advance of your program tomorrow I wonder if I could ask for your help?
If any celebrity duo can make this happen, it is you two!
The ROAD MAP is here & there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
There are many positives in the #PrimeMinister’s cautious approach but the BIG BANG opening of English schools on 8th March with very few added mitigations is reckless & irresponsible, risking everything we have collectively achieved so far.
We all know that schools & early years settings are risky places to work in. Whatever the stats tell us about teachers en masse, I feel that for individual staff, being forced to work in crowded, poorly ventilated rooms w/ many others protected by little #PPE , is a VERY BIG ASK!
I’m particularly upset today that teaching & nursery staff haven’t been prioritised for vaccination.
I really don’t care what stats have been thrown at us claiming they’re not at ⬆️ risk of serious #COVID19 outcomes as a group.
They’ve been treated with utter contempt! 1/7
We expect them to teach & care for our children, our most precious family members.
And we expect them to do it WITHOUT #PPE in conditions most of us would run away from - crowded, poorly ventilated rooms, mixing w/ MULTIPLE households every day.
2/
Imagine expecting high rise window cleaners to work without safety ropes.
Imagine builders being told “sorry chaps, no hard hats or steel capped boots today”.
I’ll say again.... think #Chernobyl, the men sent on to the roof to kick the radioactive rubble off the reactor.
3/
One of the most bizarre & troubling bits of the #ReopeningSchools saga is that @educationgovuk & @BorisJohnson have ignored every single plea from teachers, early years staff, pupils & their families to #MakeSchoolsSafe & wasted all the months they have had to do so. 1/14 🧵
2)They’ve turned their backs on plentiful advice from #SAGE, @IndependentSage & @NEU.
Even @CMO_England has made his reservations as clear as he can from a rather difficult position.
But they’ve put their collective fingers in their ears & metaphorically said “La La La La”!
3) @GavinWilliamson & @halfon4harlowMP CLAIM the motivation for a speedy full opening of all school & early years facilities is the WELFARE OF CHILDREN!
They repeatedly cite educational, emotional, social & psychological needs.