Thank you for correcting this. I find it a harmful narrative; especially given what we know now about the prevalence of long covid, also among children. It would be great if these types of news outlets would report more on long covid (it’s often not even mentioned) and the steps we should be taking now to reduce its prevalence, such as better ventilation in schools.
I am sure there was an occasion when UK schools were closed then opened for a single day, then rapidly closed again. It's almost as though the government wanted COVID to spread.
The quote " The first casualty of war is the truth" would seem to apply to pandemics as well.
There was, I think, under Gavin Williamson. The incompetence at that time, including Eat Out to Help Out, was staggering. We used to sit & listen to Covid updates fuming and in disbelief.
Thanks for this Christina. A similar narrative is prevalent in the media here in Ireland, where I'm currently seeing if I can help Long Covid Advocacy Ireland.
The flaw in your otherwise convincing argument is that it is rational and fact based. The public health policies of Trump/Kennedy Administration find science based facts largely irrelevant and often inconvenient. .
Thank you - as always clear and forensic analysis of still very important Covid issues.
Horrifying how few schools installed air filtering. With no technical training I built a powerful Corsi–Rosenthal Box with high grade filters for about £80. All schools should have them, not only for infection, but to reduce effects of pollen, traffic pollution and increasingly, smoke from fires as well.
We have so badly let down our children's current and future health, we could at least fix this problem at an affordable cost.
Isn’t there evidence that the level of ill-health absenteeism in schools has been significantly higher since the pandemic than it was before—possibly suggesting long-term effects of Covid infections among children?
Thanks for this analysis which hopefully will be shared more widely. It is disappointing if not surprising that some of the hoped-for beliefs - eg 'we can deal with pandemics in future by not closing schools' - miss the nuances of such decisions as well as the facts. Unfortunately these beliefs have taken root in the population at large and politicians seem uninterested in addressing them since it's a medium-/long-term concern rather than immediate. This makes us less ready for future challenges and shows we have not only not learned from experience, we have collectively reinforced inaccurate beliefs by rejecting or lacking interest in the evidence.
I find it extraordinary that there has been so little attention paid to air quality. The information was available very early on - I know because I was following tweets from the excellent Prof Catherine Noakes, a member of both Sage and Independent Sage, and her international colleagues. They were all demonstrating exactly how viral particles spread through the air and how masking offers protection. So we knew this stuff THEN. Even now, when the Tories' New Hospitals Programme still exists to some extent, there also appears to be no mention of serious air filtration being added to ventilation in new healthcare facilities (if someone tells me I'm wrong about this I will be genuinely delighted!). Yet, I also believe that the air is filtered in Parliament (both the Houses and Portcullis House?) This stuff is known - and the Government (of various hues) is protecting itself - but not the rest of us. Get air filtration into schools - and hospitals.
Thanks for a rationale evaluation. The nature of a pandemic is that we learn as we go. The lesson is to constantly evaluate what is working rather than pick a dogma and stick to it...no politics should be relevant just the well-being of all citizens. While relatively rare we also saw a fair amount of Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children MIS-C so children did have a risk.
What are your thought about establishing a physical and organizational infrastructure for remote schooling as one possible 'plan B' in certain situations, including war?
And we shouldn't forget the traditional public health approach to limiting or slowing spread. Normally, when a serious infectious disease arises in a few pupils, we would close the part of the school in which cases are most likely to be incubating: a class; a year group; maybe siblings. In Covid-19 we gave that advice but we're overruled by Department for Education, only to have to watch the infection - possibly preventably - spread to the rest of the staff and pupils in the school. Sadly, some teachers died as a result. I blogged about this at the time. https://peterenglish.blogspot.com/2021/02/schools-ventilation-and-risk-of-covid.html
Very clearly presented Christina. Are the Public Health docs and Department of Health listening? IT is incredibly frustrating to have so many public health policies broadly accepted and then pushed into the long grass.
I completely agree with all of this. It is appalling that most schools (and many other public spaces) still don't have adequate ventilation or air-cleaning - this would be beneficial during normal times (to protect children from viruses that cause them to miss days of school) and especially so during something more serious (which I hope we don't have again, not least because we seem to be even less prepared now than we were before covid). And I also don't understand why younger kids have no access to covid vaccines - if it flares up again, they will be totally unprotected from it.
Yes, kids, and any adults too under 75. They can pretend Covid isn’t a thing anymore but it hasn’t gone away. No lessons seem to have been learned, no real investment made. Ignoring something has never been a successful policy.
You can do tests but you can’t report to the NHS either. They work on £25 per vax yet privately they cost c£80 - a lot for many in a cost of living crisis. Am I alone in dreading the winter again?
I notice the author doesn't promote mask/respirator wearing or engage with comments promoting mask wearing so your comment may fall on deaf ears. Would of course love to be proven wrong!
Yes, interesting isn't it. Also a little baffling. I'm immunocompromised through treatment for lymphoma, and I wear a respirator to keep myself safe. A virus could put me in hospital where I'd be at further risk through HAIs.
It's a no brainer to me; I have worn a mask throughout the pandemic (prior to my diagnosis also) and intend to keep doing so; I value my brain, heart and other organs and intend to keep them intact.
Clean air as infrastructure is ideal, but it doesn't protect the child with an infected classmate (perhaps asymptomatic) sitting next to them in the classroom.
Brilliant! Thanks, Christina. You describe perfectly the reason the "show trial" here in the US was a political stunt and not an honest conversation.
Thank you for correcting this. I find it a harmful narrative; especially given what we know now about the prevalence of long covid, also among children. It would be great if these types of news outlets would report more on long covid (it’s often not even mentioned) and the steps we should be taking now to reduce its prevalence, such as better ventilation in schools.
I am sure there was an occasion when UK schools were closed then opened for a single day, then rapidly closed again. It's almost as though the government wanted COVID to spread.
The quote " The first casualty of war is the truth" would seem to apply to pandemics as well.
yes in early january 2021
There was, I think, under Gavin Williamson. The incompetence at that time, including Eat Out to Help Out, was staggering. We used to sit & listen to Covid updates fuming and in disbelief.
Thank you! That’s incredibly disappointing from The News Agents 😔 I too hope that they invite you on to correct them!
Thanks for this Christina. A similar narrative is prevalent in the media here in Ireland, where I'm currently seeing if I can help Long Covid Advocacy Ireland.
The flaw in your otherwise convincing argument is that it is rational and fact based. The public health policies of Trump/Kennedy Administration find science based facts largely irrelevant and often inconvenient. .
Thank you - as always clear and forensic analysis of still very important Covid issues.
Horrifying how few schools installed air filtering. With no technical training I built a powerful Corsi–Rosenthal Box with high grade filters for about £80. All schools should have them, not only for infection, but to reduce effects of pollen, traffic pollution and increasingly, smoke from fires as well.
We have so badly let down our children's current and future health, we could at least fix this problem at an affordable cost.
Isn’t there evidence that the level of ill-health absenteeism in schools has been significantly higher since the pandemic than it was before—possibly suggesting long-term effects of Covid infections among children?
Thanks for this analysis which hopefully will be shared more widely. It is disappointing if not surprising that some of the hoped-for beliefs - eg 'we can deal with pandemics in future by not closing schools' - miss the nuances of such decisions as well as the facts. Unfortunately these beliefs have taken root in the population at large and politicians seem uninterested in addressing them since it's a medium-/long-term concern rather than immediate. This makes us less ready for future challenges and shows we have not only not learned from experience, we have collectively reinforced inaccurate beliefs by rejecting or lacking interest in the evidence.
I find it extraordinary that there has been so little attention paid to air quality. The information was available very early on - I know because I was following tweets from the excellent Prof Catherine Noakes, a member of both Sage and Independent Sage, and her international colleagues. They were all demonstrating exactly how viral particles spread through the air and how masking offers protection. So we knew this stuff THEN. Even now, when the Tories' New Hospitals Programme still exists to some extent, there also appears to be no mention of serious air filtration being added to ventilation in new healthcare facilities (if someone tells me I'm wrong about this I will be genuinely delighted!). Yet, I also believe that the air is filtered in Parliament (both the Houses and Portcullis House?) This stuff is known - and the Government (of various hues) is protecting itself - but not the rest of us. Get air filtration into schools - and hospitals.
Thanks for a rationale evaluation. The nature of a pandemic is that we learn as we go. The lesson is to constantly evaluate what is working rather than pick a dogma and stick to it...no politics should be relevant just the well-being of all citizens. While relatively rare we also saw a fair amount of Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children MIS-C so children did have a risk.
Thank you for this illuminating post.
What are your thought about establishing a physical and organizational infrastructure for remote schooling as one possible 'plan B' in certain situations, including war?
Well said, Christina!
And we shouldn't forget the traditional public health approach to limiting or slowing spread. Normally, when a serious infectious disease arises in a few pupils, we would close the part of the school in which cases are most likely to be incubating: a class; a year group; maybe siblings. In Covid-19 we gave that advice but we're overruled by Department for Education, only to have to watch the infection - possibly preventably - spread to the rest of the staff and pupils in the school. Sadly, some teachers died as a result. I blogged about this at the time. https://peterenglish.blogspot.com/2021/02/schools-ventilation-and-risk-of-covid.html
Very clearly presented Christina. Are the Public Health docs and Department of Health listening? IT is incredibly frustrating to have so many public health policies broadly accepted and then pushed into the long grass.
I completely agree with all of this. It is appalling that most schools (and many other public spaces) still don't have adequate ventilation or air-cleaning - this would be beneficial during normal times (to protect children from viruses that cause them to miss days of school) and especially so during something more serious (which I hope we don't have again, not least because we seem to be even less prepared now than we were before covid). And I also don't understand why younger kids have no access to covid vaccines - if it flares up again, they will be totally unprotected from it.
Yes, kids, and any adults too under 75. They can pretend Covid isn’t a thing anymore but it hasn’t gone away. No lessons seem to have been learned, no real investment made. Ignoring something has never been a successful policy.
You can do tests but you can’t report to the NHS either. They work on £25 per vax yet privately they cost c£80 - a lot for many in a cost of living crisis. Am I alone in dreading the winter again?
Wearing a respirator mask should also be encouraged when faced with airborne pathogens. They have been proven to be effective.
I notice the author doesn't promote mask/respirator wearing or engage with comments promoting mask wearing so your comment may fall on deaf ears. Would of course love to be proven wrong!
Yes, interesting isn't it. Also a little baffling. I'm immunocompromised through treatment for lymphoma, and I wear a respirator to keep myself safe. A virus could put me in hospital where I'd be at further risk through HAIs.
It's a no brainer to me; I have worn a mask throughout the pandemic (prior to my diagnosis also) and intend to keep doing so; I value my brain, heart and other organs and intend to keep them intact.
Clean air as infrastructure is ideal, but it doesn't protect the child with an infected classmate (perhaps asymptomatic) sitting next to them in the classroom.