Fluffmonster

Just read this article In the guardian posted on the Early Years Alliance twitter feed. I think it sums things up perfectly. Please take a look. A few quotes - “Nurseries are now the second most common location for people contracting the virus, behind supermarkets.“ ” Early education is apparently so essential that it must continue even when schools are closed – but not essential enough to be run as a universal public service, or for the government to step in as private providers implode.” “The incredible people who wipe away my son’s tears deserve so much better than this.“

31,000 nursery staff tested positive since 1st December or 1 in 10 staff. ITV News.

The Public Health England report 'Weekly National Influenza and Covid 19 Surveillance Report - Week 53 report(up to week 52 data) 31 December 2020' also shows the levels of infections in the different age groups. The under 5s are not far off the 5-9 age groups in case numbers. Sorry, again the file is too large to attach.

The file is too big to upload - I cannot find the other one I read about the younger age of staff, I thought it was in the same article - it is a BBC News report entitled 'Covid: How Long Will Nurseries Stay Open?' from 2 days ago

The figures for transmission rates in education settings - prior to the new strain - shows that Early Years settings accounted for 10% of outbreaks. It would be nice, to say the least, to see what it might be now as it is more transmittable. Also the same discussion on the news stated that because most Early Years staff are young there is a reduced risk of staff developing severe symptoms if they do catch the virus. In all my time in Early Years I would sat tgat the average age of staff I have worked with was 40+ with a good bunch nearing 60 or more.