I think it's fearmongering to go 'xx cases, schools are unsafe' as if there had ever been the chance that there wouldn't be cases found in schools when they reopened. Especially when that comes from a link explicitly calling the return to school unsafe and using this number with no context as some kind of proof of that. It's meaningless to put up a number like that up without context or analysis and use it to support a particular position, such as 'schools are unsafe'. And that irritates me. So there we go. We're both irritated.
But I can give you some more context. 18 cases found in Scottish schools in their first week back, none transmitted at school. Multiply that by about 11 for the rest of the country going back and the equivalent figure for England/Wales last week would be 200. Add in those cases found in schools in Scotland since its first week, and it would appear that England/Wales have not been so different from Scotland so far.
The post didn't contain anything other than the number? And a link to a site that shows where the current cases are (I get - which
happen to be in schools - that it's not illustrative of spread
within schools).
But y'know what - my bezzer has worked throughout in a primary school which has been very stressful but has now significantly changed again (she's a SEN TA and has spent her entire first week back taking kids to the toilet and cleaning, missing breaks etc). And I work in a large secondary kitchen/canteen and am also finding it pretty fucking stressful - and I have to tell you that the mood
within schools is that it WILL change and that what we do this week will not be the same as next etc - but obvs we're still
doing it.
From my pov, it's not
scaremongering to continue to be watching numbers, it's common sense.
I have a child back at school, too, who is feeling exactly the same - it's good to be back, when being at home is the only other option, but it's not working like it's supposed to, because there's not the space or the time or the money to make it work as it should - so maybe you should hear all of that, to start with? I don't know why you think there's any position being pushed - just the current experience of staff and kids and parents back in educational settings.
It's way more patronising to have someone dictating how any recent data should be read (or not) than to just acknowledge it, in it's bare bones, as we're all having to do atm.
There's no surprises yet but it doesn't mean it's wrong to anticipate later rises and also, to feel a little fearful about that, when you're literally mixing with hundreds of people for the first time in months (and honestly, I don't feel like this at work - it's just lovely to see them all back - but you have no idea how different it is and also how easy it is to reflect back on so MUCH mixing/the lack of SD, after the day is done).