JUST 0.01 per cent of kindergartens and primary schools in England had a coronavirus outbreak and no children needed hospital treatment, a study has revealed.
A Public Health England (PHE) report has reopened schools after reducing lockdown was associated with 198 confirmed coronavirus cases – 70 in children and 128 in staff.
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There were 67 single confirmed cases, four “co-primary” cases and 30 outbreaks, of two or more cases, of Covid-19 in schools in June.
Co-primary cases are defined as two or more confirmed cases of Covid-19 with a common epidemiological link at the time diagnosed.
Outbreaks were defined as two or more epidemiologically linked cases in which subsequent cases were diagnosed within 14 days.
A total of 121 cases were linked to the outbreaks with 30 infections detected in children and 91 in staff, the study said.
Schools in England were asked to reopen for children in daycare, reception, year 1 and year 6 at the beginning of June, and extend to year 10 and 12 students from 15 June.
The PHE report found outbreaks at schools were normally small in magnitude and more than half involved but one secondary case with PHE which said all were “successfully contained”.
The analysis said further school flu may be necessary in regions with increasing community infection, but this should only be considered “in extremism”.
It said: “The potential for proliferation within educational institutions, as observed by the wider swabbing of some schools in our oversight and from recent reports from other countries, suggests that school closure may be necessary as part of lockdown in regions with increasing infection of “community, although given what is known about the damaging effects of lack of access to education on child development, these should probably only be considered in extremism by comparison with other lockdown measures.”
‘INTREDYLY SMALL RISK’
The analysis comes the day after UK chief medical officers warned children are more at risk of harm in the long run if they do not go to school, than if they return to class despite coronavirus.
In a “consensus statement”, all 12 Chief and Deputy Chief Medical Officers agreed that “very few, if any, teens will suffer long-term damage from Covid-19, simply by attending school”.
The report comes the day after UK chief medical officials warned that children are more at risk for long-term harm if they do not go to school, than if they return to class despite coronavirus.
They said that small risk had to be compensated against “a certainty of long-term harm to many children not out of school”.
The medical officers concluded “teachers have no increased risk of dying from Covid-19” compared to other workers, saying the evidence from other countries is that schools are again not linked to a spike in cases.
They concluded: “There is an exceptionally small risk that children of primary and secondary school age will die from Covid-19”.
They said the death toll for infected children aged five to 15 was just 14 in a million, “lower than for most seasonal flu infections”, and although every death of a child is a tragedy, “almost all deaths [from Covid] are in children with significant pre-existing health conditions ”.
The experts said that only one in a thousand children under nine who show Covid symptoms would need hospital treatment, a figure that rises to three in a thousand for ten to 19-year-olds.
THIRTY EruptionS IN SCHOOLS
Against this least risk, the scientists said, “We are convinced that multiple sources of evidence show that a lack of schools increases inequality, reduces the life chances of children and can increase physical and mental health problems.”
England Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty added the “incredibly small” health risks must be balanced against the evidence “that not going to school harms children in the long run and that it encompasses their chances in the long run.”
He said: “It increases the risks of inequality, it deepens problems with deep roots, it increases the risk of mental and physical ill health in the long run.”
He cited the transmission figures in the UK broadly flat, saying: “The evidence from other parts of the world is that, when schools are open, this has not led to a sudden increase in transmission which seems to be the case. is because of the schools opening. “
Kevin Courtney, co-secretary general, of the National Education Union, said schools and colleges needed to know what should happen if an outbreak of the virus occurs at individual schools or through national, regional or local spikes.
He said the government would need to issue manuals on moving to education rotas as limited openings and hire more teachers to continue education as infection rates increase.
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Mr. Courtney added: “Government advice should cover the possible self-isolation of bubbles and, in extremism, move to rotas or to more restricted openings.
“It should cover advice to heads about the protections needed for staff in high-risk categories as infection rates increase.
“The government would need to deploy more teachers and seek additional learning spaces to continue education in a Covid-protected manner as infections increase.”
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