Coronavirus: Teachers spread virus more than their pupils

Scientist warns over staff-to-staff transmission

Teachers have been warned that theyare spreading Covid-19 after a leading government scientist said they were far more likely to transmit the virus than children.

New  research  from  Public  HealthEngland  revealed  that  two  thirds  ofoutbreaks   arose   from   staff-to-staff transmission, or staff-to-pupil.

In June the number of schools open was between 20,500 and 23,400, withpupil numbers increasing from 475,000 to  1,646,000.  In  June  and  last  month 200 children and staff were affected by the illness. Over the same period 25,470 cases were recorded across England as a whole.

Thirty outbreaks, defined as two or more linked cases in one school, were recorded between the start of June and the  end  of  last  month.  These  represented 0.01 per cent of preschools and primary schools in England.

The figures will encourage those whohave argued that school is a safe placefor children during the pandemic.

Shamez Ladhani, a paediatric infectious  diseases  specialist  at  PHE,  wholed    the    monitoring    of    England’s schools, said: “We need to educate the educators.  There’s  a  clear  need  for  aduty of care outside the school setting,so staff need to protect themselves andin turn other staff and pupils.

“Staff are very good at social distancing   and   infection   control   in   the classroom, but upon leaving the school environment these measures are more likely to be broken, potentially putting themselves   and   their   colleagues at risk.

”Last  night  Boris  Johnson  exhorted parents to send their children back to school  next  week,  declaring  that  a return  to  the  classroom  was  “vitally important” to their life chances.

The  prime  minister  paid  tribute  to staff who had spent time over the summer devising plans to ensure that their schools  were  “Covid-secure”.  He  has previously emphasised the moral duty to reopen schools safely.

Ministers   now   understood   more about the virus, Mr Johnson said, with evolving  guidance  from  medical  and scientific experts. “As the chief medical officer has said, the risk of contracting Covid-19 in school is very small and it is far more damaging for a child’s development and their health and well being to be away from school any longer.

“This is why it’s vitally important that we get our children back into the classroom  to  learn  and  to  be  with  theirfriends.  Nothing  will  have  a  greater effect on the life chances of our children than returning to school.”

In  a  joint  statement,  the  UK’s  chief medical officers said that the evidence “reinforces the need to maintain social distancing  and  good  infection  control inside and outside classroom settings, particularly   between   staff   members and between older children and adults”. The study also found that outbreaks in schools were more likely in areas that had a high rate of cases in the community — raising the chances that shops or restaurants may need to close in such areas to allow schools to remain open.

#thetimesUK