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Fair point, and you're right something had to give on that score. Classroom pods for young kids seem to work fairly well overall, it just ups the risk for visit

Fair point, and you're right something had to give on that score. Classroom pods for young kids seem to work fairly well overall, it just ups the risk for visiting the grandparents. The university side didn't seem to work out as well - possibly partly because uni staff are (understandably) less willing to work crunch hours to meet duty of care than primary school staff.

sgt101 6y ago
I think it's quite simple, there is good evidence that younger children (U14s) get covid less than adults, and spread it less when they do have it. So schools - especially primary schools are not the issue. Reopening universities was - students do get it, and they all live together in shared accommodation so as soon as one got it lots of them did.
- iainmerrick 6y ago
  Yes, agreed on all points with both of you! During the summer, when they talked about opening schools and claimed that young children weren’t major vectors for the virus, I was very skeptical and assumed it was mostly just an excuse -- but it does actually seem to have worked out! If primary school children were spreading the virus en masse, the current spike would be vastly bigger. (It’s very unfortunate in the US that school opening has been so strongly politicized.) Opening the universities is another matter entirely. That definitely shouldn’t have been done. I was going to say “in hindsight” but in fact that was pretty obvious right away.
- socialdemocrat 6y ago
  Pretty sure the latest research showed there was no difference. It only looked like they spread it less because they get less symptoms.
  - sgt101 6y ago
    I read this : https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02973-3 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02973-3 "Young children transmit less Researchers suspect that one reason schools have not become COVID-19 hot spots is that children — especially those under the age of 12–14 — are less susceptible to infection than adults, according to a meta-analysis4 of prevalence studies. And once they are infected, young children, including those aged 0–5 years, are less likely to pass the virus on to others, says Haas. In an analysis5 of German schools, Haas’s team found that infections were less common in children aged 6–10 years than in older children and adults working at the schools. “The potential to transmit increases” with age, and adolescents are just as likely to transmit the virus as adults, he says. Teenagers and teachers should be the focus of mitigation measures, such as wearing masks or a return to online lessons when community transmission is high, says Haas."

sgt101 6y ago

I think it's quite simple, there is good evidence that younger children (U14s) get covid less than adults, and spread it less when they do have it. So schools - especially primary schools are not the issue. Reopening universities was - students do get it, and they all live together in shared accommodation so as soon as one got it lots of them did.

iainmerrick 6y ago
Yes, agreed on all points with both of you! During the summer, when they talked about opening schools and claimed that young children weren’t major vectors for the virus, I was very skeptical and assumed it was mostly just an excuse -- but it does actually seem to have worked out! If primary school children were spreading the virus en masse, the current spike would be vastly bigger. (It’s very unfortunate in the US that school opening has been so strongly politicized.) Opening the universities is another matter entirely. That definitely shouldn’t have been done. I was going to say “in hindsight” but in fact that was pretty obvious right away.
socialdemocrat 6y ago
Pretty sure the latest research showed there was no difference. It only looked like they spread it less because they get less symptoms.
- sgt101 6y ago
  I read this : https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02973-3 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02973-3 "Young children transmit less Researchers suspect that one reason schools have not become COVID-19 hot spots is that children — especially those under the age of 12–14 — are less susceptible to infection than adults, according to a meta-analysis4 of prevalence studies. And once they are infected, young children, including those aged 0–5 years, are less likely to pass the virus on to others, says Haas. In an analysis5 of German schools, Haas’s team found that infections were less common in children aged 6–10 years than in older children and adults working at the schools. “The potential to transmit increases” with age, and adolescents are just as likely to transmit the virus as adults, he says. Teenagers and teachers should be the focus of mitigation measures, such as wearing masks or a return to online lessons when community transmission is high, says Haas."