Teacher fears she will catch Covid-19 again as schools prepare to re-open

A LONDON teacher is worried she could catch Covid-19 for a third time when schools re-open on March 8.

The ‘rule of six’ will also return on March 29 when the school Easter holidays begin, allowing larger groups to gather once again in gardens and parks.

While teachers know better than anyone the importance of getting their pupils back into classrooms, two London educators, who spoke anonymously, have their doubts about the return happening all at once.

As someone who has already contracted coronavirus twice, one of the teachers says she does not feel fit enough to risk a full return to school, but has little option after the announcement.

She said: “I’m certainly not fit enough, I’m not like I was. I’m having to try much harder than I used to try to maintain a certain level of fitness. So I’m really anxious and worried about getting it for a third time. It can happen.”

On vaccinations, the teacher feels that the working population who cannot work from home should be prioritised for the next round of vaccines, before those under the age of 65 who can work from home.

“It’s more important that they [the workers] can go to work, than that they [the under-65s working from home] can socialise with friends,” she added.

“I would really like families and children to test themselves [at home]. Many families are not getting tests at my school because they can’t afford to be off [work].

“It’s really important for children’s mental health, [to go back to school]. It’s good for parents too, so I do think schools should open in some capacity.”

However, she does not think the announcement that all schools will return for all pupils on March 8 is a sensible one: “Schools are not ready for that. It will be the exact same safety measures we had September to December, which is all we can possibly do, but that’s not social distancing.”

The teacher says re-opening schools to all pupils will put teachers, pupils and their families at risk, potentially resulting in another rapid increase in infection rates like the one which occurred between September and December.

“The rates among teaching staff and teaching assistants are far higher than the average portion of the population who go out to work,” she said.

“Obviously it’s really important that the elderly and the vulnerable have had the vaccine, but we know from first hand experience that working people – young, fit people – are having their health severely impacted for a long time [because of long Covid].”

A second teacher said: “I think throughout [the pandemic] NHS staff have very deservedly been seen as our nation’s heroes and it’s absolutely right that they were vaccinated in the first round. But as teachers, we are also frontline workers and it feels frustrating that the Government does not seem to be recognising that, which is demonstrated by not offering us the vaccine before we are back in school.”

The teacher is torn on whether the re-opening is a good idea because though she is worried about a rise in infection rates, she has seen the impact school closures have had on children’s learning.

“It’s evident from having taught at home since the new year that children are falling further behind – even the ones who show up to the virtual lessons and complete the work.

“However, I have become extremely cynical of anything the Government is calling for and their motivations behind their actions. Are they simply sending us back to signal that the UK landscape is ‘safe’ again in order to restart the economy?”

An online petition on the UK Parliament website has stormed past the 100,000 signatures required for it to secure a debate in the House of Commons.

It calls for schools to be kept closed until all priority groups have been vaccinated, including all those with underlying health conditions. The petition claims that students do not feel safe and fears infection rates will rise again when schools return, with pupils worried they will pass the virus on to their parents.