The Times - UK (2020-09-05)

the times | Saturday September 5 2020 2GM 13

News

Children going to primary school or nursery are at no greater risk of picking up Covid-19 than those staying at home, according to the first results of a national surveillance programme. Public Health England said that it had picked up only three positive cases — two staff and one pupil — out of more than 12,000 people tested in English primary and pre-schools in June and early July. All three were mild or asymptomatic, and researchers found no additional cases when their households, class bubbles and wider schools were tested. The results were seized upon by the government as part of its efforts to reas- sure parents that schools are safe, although scientists involved warned that the results could not be extrapolated to children in secondary education. Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, said: “I am hugely encour- aged by the findings of this report, which support what the UK’s chief medical officers have already made clear — that the risk of catching coronavirus at school is low, meaning that the risk to children being out of school is, in fact, far greater.” Initial evidence suggests that parents have been happy to send their children

students required to isolate, to prevent the virus spreading in halls of residence and house shares. Sage says compliance with self-isola- tion instructions by people with symptoms of Covid-19 is low in England generally, and worst in people with incomes less than £20,000 or savings under £10,000, a group who could include many university contract staff and students in part-time employment. It says: “A critical risk is a large number of infected students seeding outbreaks across the UK, influencing national transmission.” Measures being undertaken by most universities to separate students, keep- ing those in the same year groups and subjects together, were needed to avoid “relatively few infections” resulting in “the majority of an institution needing to isolate/quarantine”, Sage said. Julia Buckingham, president of Uni- versities UK, said: “Universities have always, and will continue to, follow the government and public health advice at a minimum, adapting their plans in light of new guidance.” Jo Grady, of the lecturers union UCU, which had called for campuses to stay shut this autumn, said: “This report brings the dangers associated with reopening campuses into sharp focus.”

Many former students will fondly remember the sweaty raves, boozy house parties and new friends that accompanied the start of university life. But for the thousands starting their degrees this autumn, freshers week will be very different. Packed nightclubs will give way to treasure hunts, outdoor food festivals, laser tag, bingo, and online raves. One university has developed avatars to help newcomers explore, and pub quizzes will be held remotely with students participating from their flats. Liverpool University has given a stark reminder on its website about the consequences of such normal events as house parties: “Those facilitating or organising gatherings of 30 people or more may face a £10,000 police fine as the government seeks to deter breaches that put the public most at risk.” Many new students have already missed rites of passage because of the coronavirus. A-level results, proms and gap years have all been disrupted. Keza Nganga, 18, is about to start medicine at Cardiff. “So much has been taken away from young people,” she said. “We’ve been really good at adapting but you can’t deny that we’ve drawn the short straw.” As well as wondering how new friendships will be formed, Ms Nganga said she was “stressed” about studying after six months away from her books. “In the back of everyone’s mind, we realise it’s not going to be the same experience as those in the years above. But we need to make do with what we’ve got. What else can we do, really?” Georgie Beavis, 19, is going to Hart- pury University in Gloucestershire to study sport science. “Apprehensive is really the only word,” she said. “You’re

Freshers swap their parties for picnics

are coming to university for, and what they need from their freshers week to succeed,” she said. Events companies are also finding creative solutions. Dom Matcham is the founder of Invades, which provides access to sports events for clients including 87 British universities. Because of the size and type of venues it works with, Invades hopes to be one of the few providers able to offer large events within the restrictions. “I think we could do really well this autumn based on the fact that there is less competition,” Mr Matcham said. At the University of Sunderland students will “have their own avatar and be able to move around the virtual campus, using virtual-reality technology to do things a bit differently”. The Uni- versity of Bedfordshire will host film nights, quizzes and treasure hunts as well as bingo, and live DJ sets. Birmingham City University has made masks mandatory on campus for both students and staff, and will supply hy- giene equipment. Victoria Bennett-Salvador, president of the student union, said it would host socially distanced events, such as a film night and walking tours of the city. A virtual quiz night will be broadcast from the campus pub. Derby University will have a freshers village on its sports fields. Much of its teaching will be online but students will be offered at least three hours on-site teaching time in small groups.

putting your faith in complete strangers to do their part with social distancing.” Although things will be “very different”, however, Ms Beavis said she was trying to see the positives. Many social events have been planned at her accommodation block, from picnics and movie nights to virtual escape rooms. “At least to start with you get to know who you are living with really well.” Universities are doing their best to adapt and create memorable experien- ces. Leeds is planning an outdoor food festival with bookable tables, outdoor society performances, and laser tag. The city was put on the Public Health England’s coronavirus watchlist this week but Isobel Walter, its union affairs officer, said that “priorities would not change”. The focus, she said, would still be on “giving as many opportunities to have fun and socialise in the safest way possible”. Students are increasingly looking for more than boozy nights out, she said. “There is higher demand for more alcohol-free events, or at least events where alcohol isn’t the focus.” Goldsmiths University of London will host a “love in the time of Covid” online dating event, and send out beers for a virtual tasting. Dr Kathryn Woods, dean of students, said universities had been moving away from the old freshers format for some time. “In some ways we’ve viewed this as an opportunity to reflect what students

Charlotte Wace, Neil Johnston

Georgie Beavis, 19, said she was trying to see the positives

News

office, civil servants told

Study finds primary school is no

more risky than staying at home

prior infection than those who did not attend at all or went less often. Antibodies were, however, more likely to be detected in pupils and staff from black and minority ethnic back- grounds, and those who lived with a healthcare worker. The study also found similar levels of antibodies in both staff and students, adding to suggestions that children are as likely to become infected as adults and indicating that low numbers of confirmed infections in children were due to those cases going undetected because they did not show symptoms. Shamez Ladhani, consultant epi- demiologist at Public Health England, said: “As has been found in previous re- search, infection within educational settings is extremely low, and while it appears that children do contract Covid-19, the overwhelming majority experience mild or no symptoms, and are unlikely to pass it on.” Separate figures released yesterday suggested that the UK’s outbreak was likely to be growing, with estimates sug- gesting the rate of change in case numbers somewhere between -1 per cent and +2 per cent per day. The R rate, or how many people on average each infected person will pass the virus to, was between 0.9 and 1.1. Giles Coren, page 28

back to school. The National Associa- tion of Headteachers said yesterday that most schools had pupil and staff at- tendance of between 91 and 100 per cent on their first day back. Heads were more likely to report pupils failing to attend due to quarantine following a trip abroad or still being away on holiday than cases of pupils staying away due to fears over Covid-19. However, one secondary school closed to pupils after a confirmed case of Covid-19. Jenny McGuirk, principal of the JCB Academy in Rocester, Staf- fordshire, said that the move was a “pre- caution” and after working with local health officials, about 100 students had been asked to self-isolate for a fort- night, and would be taught online. The results come from the sKids programme, which took swab tests from 12,026 adults and children in 131 primary and pre-schools shortly before the summer holidays. Participants in five regions were also given blood tests to check for antibodies to the virus. Those results were in line with levels detected in the general population. PHE said that this suggested “infections at school may simply mirror those outside the school gates”. Those children and staff who attend- ed school more often were no more likely to have antibodies indicating

Kat Lay Health Correspondent

Choristers at Salisbury Cathedral rehearse in bubbles for the first time yesterday in preparation for the return of Evensong services

CORRIN MESSER/BNPS

Call to focus

on wellbeing

Lord Rose of Monewden, a former executive chairman of Marks & Spencer, cited his mother’s suicide as he stressed the need to protect mental health during the crisis. In an interview to be broadcast at 7pm tonight on Times Radio, he said: “The whole issue of suicide is looked at as something we don’t talk about and it should be talked about. I think as we go through this crisis we’re going to find an awful lot of people are going to find they’ve got mental problems as a result of being locked up.” Lord Rose, 71, was a 26-year-old management trainee at M&S when his mother died and has said that it gave him drive to succeed. “I didn’t feel the effects of it until quite a long time later. I did that classic thing: stuck it in a box, tied the box up, stuck the box under the bed,” he said, adding that he still felt “the black dog” of depression. “My boss wrote me a nice letter and when I went back to work nobody mentioned it. Every time I know anybody is bereaved, I spit it out straight away: I say, ‘I’m really sorry to hear someone’s died’. I think to put it under the carpet is a bad thing.”

Train mask row arrest

Police arrested a man and dragged him off a train at Liverpool Central station after he allegedly coughed at passengers. He was not wearing a mask and claimed that he was exempt due to medical reasons. Police said the man was charged with threatening behaviour and assaulting a police officer. The force added that Anthony Baldwin, 34, would appear before magistrates in January.

Bereaved ‘feel isolated’

People who experience a bereavement should be allowed to form a support bubble with another household in the event of another lockdown, Sue Ryder, the healthcare charity, said. It commissioned a survey which showed that the biggest challenges felt by those who had lost a relative were feeling isolated and alone, and that their grief had been forgotten in the global crisis.

National Trust appeal

The National Trust has launched a six-week Everyone Needs Nature campaign that aims to build on the connection developed during lockdown between people and the environment in an effort to stimulate donations.The charity has said it is facing a “devastating” possible £ million loss this year. Funds raised will be used for a variety of nature conservation work programmes.

Men asked to donate

The NHS is urgently appealing for more men who had coronavirus to donate blood plasma because they make better donors than women. Since the convalescent plasma programme started, 73,369 women (63 per cent of the total) and 42,809 men have offered to donate through the NHS Blood and Transplant website. Men are far more likely to donate a unit of plasma with a high antibody level.

coronavirus in brief

The Times - UK (2020-09-05)

Get our desktop app

Company

Features

Documentation

Resources