Thread by @CKyobutungi

🧵
One day, I hope we will talk about COVID19 and schools; about the do or die attitude around school attendance, where parents, teachers and school heads are willing to risk their lives & the lives of students as long as they don't miss a few days of classes.
#CovidIsReal

Case in point:
My 11 y.o and 2 y.o started in person classes on May 11. A little over a week later, they both came home with cough, runny nose & fever. I decided they would skip school the next day (Friday) and possibly Monday the week after (with the weekend)
#CovidIsReal

On Monday Teacher #1 called me:
Teacher: Why didn’t D come to school?
Me: She has a cough and cold
Teacher: Is she seriously sick?
Me: No, but I am being cautious in case it’s COVID
Teacher: Laughs incredulously: COVID??? Where did she get it from?
.......

..Me: I mean she started coughing a few days after starting in-person school, so…….
Teacher: Mama D, just send her to school. It’s okay

**D didn’t go back to school until she stopped coughing – she missed about 4 days in total of school. 2 y.o. missed about 6 days.
#Covid19

As I speak, nanny got a cough, I got a cough, hubby got a cough, so imagine if indeed the kids had COVID?

#CovidIsReal

A more heartbreaking scenario has unfolded in UG.
The second wave of Covid19 is sweeping across the country. It is worth noting that about three weeks ago, some schools closed and students went home for a short 2-week holiday.

#StaySafeUG
#CovidIsReal

Schools were supposed to reopen on Monday before the new restrictions came into force. A few schools however, were still open and social media was awash with stories of outbreaks in some boarding schools

#StaySafeUG
#WearAMask

As I speak, hundreds, if not thousands of parents are dealing with seriously sick children who were picked from boarding schools after the president’s directive. Some parents went straight from school to hospital for admission.
#StaySafeUG
#WearAMask

Some parents have reported finding their kids on oxygen in the school sick bays. In some cases, this was happening without the parent’s knowledge!!!
Some are thanking the president for saving their children just in time!

#CovidIsReal

It turns out, that as soon as schools opened some parents sent kids who had been diagnosed but had not yet tested negative; some parents sent kids who should have been in isolation because they had been in contact with Covid positive family members 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

#StaySafeUG

When kids started falling sick with cough, it was treated as a common cold and they continued attending class with their class mates. When kids started falling seriously sick, that’s when COVID was suspected and schools started testing and isolating cases. And now here we are!

It’s heartbreaking hearing from (mostly unvaccinated) parents struggling to manage sick teenagers at home (because hospitals are full). Parents are throwing everything they have at the virus but at great risk to themselves & other family members.
#StaySafeUG
#WearAMask Please!

I have some questions; lots of questions!!
What is soooooooo important about school attendance that parents feel their child should not miss even a few days of school, when they could be a danger to their teachers, cooks, and classmates?

#covidisreal
#StayHome - if you can

What is so important about school attendance that teachers feel like a child should not miss even a day of school when they could be a danger to them (teachers) and their classmates? When shall we ever get out of this do or die mindset about school attendance?

#StaySafeUG

What COVID prevention protocols have been given to schools regarding students or staff with ANY COVID19 symptoms? In this day and age, should children with “flu” be allowed in school when they could have COVID19?
#StaySafeUG
#CovidIsReal

How many parents here are aware of the Covid protocols related to children/staff with symptoms? Are these protocols, if they exist, being enforced?
Do schools have compliance staff for Covid protocols?

#StaySafeUG
#CovidIsReal

Do our children need to go back to school, having missed out on much of 2020? Absolutely!

Have we done enough to make schools safe for children to resume in-person classes?

Have we done more than hand-washing stations and temperature checks (all useless btw)???

Resuming in person schooling cannot be business as usual! Schools need to tighten their Covid prevention protocols and there should be some enforcement mechanism, voluntary or otherwise
#StaySafeUG
#CovidIsReal

Ultimately we, as parents should also be ready for our kids to lose a little (a few days or weeks of missed classes) for us to gain more (no cases, no deaths, no school closures, no waves, no lockdowns…..).
#StaySafeUG
#WearAMask - PROPERLY
#StayHome - if you can

/Fin