Commenting on the publication by the Office for National
Statistics of Covid-19 School Infection Survey Round 1,
England: November 2020 (1), the joint general
secretaries of the National Education Union,
Kevin Courtney and Dr Mary Bousted, said:
“The National Education Union is committed to following the
science and we welcome the publication of the School Infection
Survey (SIS) by the Office for National Statistics.
“For us, the central finding of the School Infection Survey is
that the rates amongst pupils in schools and the staff, who work
with them, are very close. This is what you would expect if
pupils were transmitting to and receiving from staff. This
finding should not come as a surprise given the difficulty of
social distancing in our crowded classrooms and the absence of
PPE in the classroom setting.
“Combined with the higher rates amongst school age students this
is a significant finding which requires action by the Government
to ensure the safety of school staff.
“We are writing to the Secretary of State today outlining action
that we believe he must take, including the inclusion of school
staff on the priority list for vaccination alongside their NHS
and social care colleagues.
“We believe that the interpretation being put on the survey by
the media, that it shows that coronavirus rates simply mirror
those in the community is unsupported by the facts in the report
itself - as well as by more recent evidence.
“The ONS Coronavirus Infection Survey published weekly shows that
cases are rising in school aged children whilst declining in all
other age groups, so schools are not simply a mirror of the
community.
“Indeed, last week introduced mass testing into some schools
in London, Kent, and Essex precisely because they were centres of
viral transmission.
“The SIS report itself acknowledges that it understates the
number of school aged children, and staff, who have the virus -
because it only looks at children and staff who were actually in
school that week. Background information to the report states, ‘A
direct comparison between the CIS and the unweighted Schools
Survey is complex. The CIS data includes information from
randomly selected members of the population and who may or may
not be exhibiting symptoms. There is a presumption those
individuals who are selected for the SIS will not be showing
symptoms, as they would then not be attending school.’
“In the weeks the SIS was carried out, around 8% of pupils were
absent from school because they had a confirmed case of
coronavirus, a suspected case or had been in contact with a case.
In addition, about 8% of teachers were absent.”
The full text of our letter to follows:
17 December 2020
Dear Gavin
We are deeply concerned by the initial findings of the School
Infection Survey, which show a close correlation in infection
rates between pupils and school staff.
This is yet further evidence that schools are one community, and
that coronavirus is passing between staff and pupils and vice
versa. The survey’s findings challenge all the previous
reassurances that children do not transmit the virus. Children
are transmitting COVID to school staff as well as their parents.
This is no surprise given the difficulty of social distancing in
our crowded classrooms and the absence of effective PPE in school
settings.
Further, since the School Infection Survey was conducted, the
regular ONS Coronavirus Infection Survey shows that there have
been increases in infection rates amongst school age children
compared with the general population. Secondary pupils, Year 7 to
Year 11, have higher rates than any other segment of the
population, primary pupils the third highest after only the
university age group.
Taking these two facts together we have reason to believe that
school staff will also have amongst the highest rates of
infection in the population.
Therefore, caution must be exercised over the health of school
staff.
Consequently, we are now calling on you to ensure the safety of
school staff, and as a by-product to help secure continuity of
education, by including school staff on the vaccination priority
order alongside health and social care staff. We believe it would
be practical to vaccinate all pupil-facing education staff aged
over 45, as well as all those with other vulnerabilities, in the
first few weeks of next term.
Until vaccination does happen, we believe clinically extremely
vulnerable staff, at least, must be allowed to work from home. In
addition, clinically vulnerable staff, at least should be allowed
and encouraged to wear medical grade face masks.
We would like to discuss this with you as a matter of urgency,
and we repeat to you our demand that you publish the number of
education staff that have tested positive, the number who have
been hospitalised and the number who have died since the wider
opening of schools in September.
The issues raised in this letter are so important to our members
that we are making it public.
With best wishes
Mary Bousted Kevin Courtney
Joint General Secretary Joint General Secretary
ENDS
Editor’s Note
-
https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/covid19schoolsinfectionsurveyround1englandnovember2020
