Salford has had no new confirmed cases of coronavirus, staying on 930, but this could be to do with delayed weekend reporting more than anything. There have also been no new deaths announced by Salford Royal Hospital.
Tomorrow, June 1st, will see 33 out of 79 primary schools in Salford begin taking more pupils, representing around ten per cent of the school population. This will then increase the following week, when more schools return from half term, to twenty per cent.
This comes as four members of the Government's own scientific advisory body, SAGE, have expressed concerns about the safety of wider school opening so soon...
On the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme, Professor Peter Horby, who is chair of the Government's New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), said that SAGE had always been very clear that test, trace, isolate must be fully running before lockdown is relaxed. The system needs to be tracking most new cases, he explained, following them up within 48 hours.
He added that SAGE does not have a good handle on the role of children and schools in transmission and stated that returning to another lockdown would be much worse than delaying another two or three weeks until contact tracing is fully up and running.
Professor John Edmunds, who specialises in infectious disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, added: "There are still 8,000 new infections every day in England without counting those in hospitals and care homes…If you look at it internationally, it's a very high level of incidence.
"I think many of us would prefer to see the incidence driven down to lower levels because that then means that we have fewer cases occurring before we relax the measures" he said, while Professor Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Institute, tweeted: "Covid-19 spreading too fast to lift lockdown in England. TTI [test, trace and isolate] has to be in place, fully working, capable [of dealing with] any surge immediately."
And Professor Calum Semple, specialising in Child Health and Outbreak Medicine, insisted that "We're lifting the lid on a boiling pan and it's just going to bubble over… We need to get it down to simmer before we take the lid off, and it's too early."
He also said that levels of transmission and hospital admissions are still too high. "I think a political decision has been made to tie in with when school was due to start, were everything normal, but it's not normal."
National Education Union joint general secretaries Kevin Courtney and Dr Mary Bousted argue that the professors' response underlines its own position..."This public break by four prominent of the Government's SAGE committee changes everything" they say "No-one can now confidently assert that it is safe to open schools more widely from Monday.
"All four of these independent members of SAGE agree that there must a lower number of cases and an efficient system of contact tracing working before there is a relaxation of lockdown measures" they add "Both these measures are included in the NEU's Five Tests. Opening schools more widely runs the risk of increasing the R rate and therefore the level of risk to staff and to parents. That risk can only be mitigated if contact tracing is running successfully.
"We have made that case strongly to Government – and we have been supported by the BMA and by the Independent SAGE group in our concerns" they explain "Government replies that it is following the science. But this public break by senior members of SAGE, including by the chair of the NERVTAG committee, undermines that claim. School leaders, their staff and pupils' families deserve better than this..."
Salford City Council's own Director of Public Health, Dr Muna Abdel Aziz, who hasn't said much since the pandemic began, backed the Council's stance in admitting more primary school pupils from tomorrow...
"We have not seen sustained transmission of the coronavirus in schools in Salford as we have seen in other settings" she says "Schools have put in place the necessary measures for frequent hand hygiene, social distancing where possible and personal protective equipment for staff where necessary.
"As a precaution, we have advised that if a child or staff member becomes unwell with any symptoms, then they should not attend the school until they are well again and at least 48 hours clear" she adds "We have also reminded schools to contact public health if anybody who attends the school is tested positive for coronavirus."
Councillor John Merry, Deputy Salford Mayor and Children's Lead Member, also backed the move, while doing a bit of fence sitting... "We have supported schools to follow the best way forward for children and the workforce, listening to expert advice and working in partnership. The first of June has never been set in stone for Salford schools and any consideration to extend school provision has been on a safety first basis.
"We're grateful to the dedicated teaching staff who have been in schools during the coronavirus pandemic for those children and parents who needed it" he added "The majority of our schools will not re-open fully for the four full year groups to meet the request by Government on 1 June. And we are supportive of their assessments made after consultation with parents, governing bodies and trade unions.
"All risk assessments are specific to each individual school as the school environment, layout, capacity and challenges are different in each setting" he added "We are very clear about this – the safety of our children and teachers comes first and our head teachers have our full support with their decisions. The local authority has quality assured all of the risk assessments and we have consulted with the Director of Public Health who is satisfied all five government tests are met in Salford at this time.
"It is important that we are able to meet the welfare needs of children in the city – and steps taken have been in consultation with parents and trade unions" he said "Schools will not be rushed into decision making that is not safe and we are fully supportive of their considered approach and will be supportive of any school not able to meeting the Government's requirements and timescales for nursery, reception and year 6 classes."
Salford Council added that it would be "supportive of parent choice at the current time, as classes are re-opened in June..."
The current rate of virus infection in Salford is 365.6 per 100,000 population, one of the highest in Greater Manchester.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
(3).jpeg)
.png)
(1).JPG)
