Coronavirus: A parents first duty is to their child and to keep them safe.

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“Schools must reopen for sake of children”, claims Gavin Williamson.

Williamson’s statement to the nation’s parents claimed to have the best interest of our children at heart. He hoped that his title of ‘Secretary of State for Education‘ would give credibility to his diktat. The reality is parents cannot trust the lives of their children to the words of this recently disgraced minister.

“It is not titles that honour men, but men that honour titles.”- Niccolo Machiavelli

The same minister who little over a year ago was sacked from his former position as Defence Secretary. A ‘Defence minister’ irresponsible enough in his job to create a scandal, the most important job of not only defending the people of this nation and keeping them safe but a job of keeping sensitive information away from those that would do us harm. Sensitive information that Williamson either leaked himself or allowed that information to be leaked on his watch. A minister with a history that shows he clearly cannot be trusted.

Williamson said, “We owe it to the children” to get pupils back in school, as he reassured parents it would be safe. But the reality is Williamson cannot guarantee our children’s safety neither can the schools, education authority’s or the government.

Williamson claims that School is the safest place for children from difficult or unhappy homes, the Education Secretary has said, as he urged teachers to return to the classroom.

Lockdown has meant that many children have not played with or even spoken to another child of their own age for two months, Gavin Williamson said.

Reopening schools is vital to ensure that the poorest and most disadvantaged pupils don’t fall behind, he added.

But where is the science to back his claims?

Williamson sounded more like the Child catcher children to their doom.

Williamson fake concern for our children is sickening. He sounded more like the Child catcher coercing children to their doom. The ‘Secretary of State for Education’ paints a picture of tragic family life and school is a sanctuary. Again anyone from the working class would tell you that school was never a sanctuary for children of difficult or unhappy homes, school was just another brick in the wall and for many children, it represented being part of the problem, not the solution.

Children have the right to be safe

However, setting aside the out of touch speech and attempt to gain some form of empathy to make Williamson and his diktat more palatable. Parents are the people ultimately responsible for their children. The governments own website talks about ‘parental responsibility’

Children have the right to be safe, to be treated with affection, to be educated, to have medical care and to be protected against cruelty and abuse. Parents have the duty to protect their children’s rights until they are old enough to make their own way in the world.

The authority to make decisions concerning and affecting the care, welfare and proper development of the child is known as ‘parental responsibility’

If you have parental responsibility, your most important roles are to:

  • provide a home for the child
  • protect and maintain the child

Unless the government can guarantee your child’s safety, home and social distancing is the safest place for children at this moment in time.

The latest ONS show that at least 65 education sector workers with COVID-19 have died

Data published by the Office for National Statistics provides information on deaths involving COVID-19 across England and Wales, broken down by occupation.

It shows at least 65 education staff have died with coronavirus, of which 43 were women and 22 were men, as of April 20.

That includes 17 secondary school teachers, seven primary and nursery teachers, two SEND teachers, ten teaching assistants, six school lunchtime supervisors and school crossing patrols and two school secretaries.

You do not have to be a scientist or Doctor to understand that children pick up and carry germs

A survey, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, allowed scientists to quantify social contact patterns and how these varied with age and job for the first time. The finding proved categorically that children are placed in danger of either contracting diseases are carrying the germs that do.

A social contact is defined as a face-to-face conversation within two meters or skin-on-skin physical touch with another person.

Children were top of the table for social contacts, making them most at-risk for catching and transmitting infection.

Among adults, those working in schools, in the health sector, and in client-facing service jobs such as shop workers or commercial roles had among the highest number of social contacts.

Students, unemployed people, and retired people had among the lowest levels of social contacts.

During a working day a teacher sees on average 62.1 different people, a retired person only sees around 19.3.

If this was not enough to cause the greatest concern for parents then the tragedy of children that have contracted Kawasaki syndrome should remove any doubts.

3 Alexander Parsons
This picture was taken of Alexander Parson just hours before he died

Most right minded people find it difficult to read about tragedy that involves children. Any hack will tell you it is even harder to comment on those tragedies bearing in mind the pain and loss felt by the family. But the sad death of Alexander Parsons is also a warning to every parent that the ‘science is not there’ and cannot grantee the life of such precious people like baby Alexander or any other child.

Alexander Parsons is believed to be UK’s youngest victim of Kawasaki syndrome as his heartbroken mum begs ‘don’t let more suffer like my boy’

Alexander’s heartbroken mum told how her baby son died in her arms after being struck down by a rare childhood illness linked to Covid-19.

Eight-month-old Alexander Parsons is believed to be the youngest victim of Kawasaki disease, and illness which inflames blood vessels.

One leading paediatrician, President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Prof Russell Viner, was so worried he wrote to the NHS about the danger on April 25 – the day Alex died.

It’s believed the illness could be triggered by a reaction to coronavirus. Medics have given the deadly condition a new name, PIMS-TS, in the fight against Covid-19.

Alex had no underlying health conditions and was pictured smiling and playing just two hours before suffering a ruptured aneurysm.

His devastated mum Kathryn Rowlands, 29, said: “I can’t believe I carried him for longer than he was alive. I will never be whole again.

“And more parents will be in the same unimaginable position unless the Government starts to listen to the advice of scientists and stops gambling with people’s lives.

“The doctors and nurses who fought to save Alex were incredible – but if they’d known more about the Covid-Kawasaki link, they possibly could have done more.”

Again the facts are we do not know enough about either COVID-19 or the related Kawasaki syndrome to risk our children’s lives.

Sometimes choices in life can be hard but when it comes to children putting their safety first makes it easier.

The PMIS syndrome, first discovered in London, has since appeared in the US and five other countries, with the US seeing more than 130 cases so far. It affects children of all ages and all ethnicities – and Italian research suggests that it hits around one in a thousand children infected with the virus.

Doctors and world leaders need “to be on the alert” for cases of a rare inflammatory disease in children that may be linked to the coronavirus, the World Health Organization said Friday.

World health officials are increasingly hearing about cases of an inflammatory disease similar to Kawasaki disease in a few countries, including the United States and Italy, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said during a news conference at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva.

The WHO said initial reports hypothesised that this syndrome, which can cause high fever and swelling in blood vessels, may be related to Covid-19.

“We need more information collected in a systematic way because with the initial reports, we’re getting a description of what this looks like, which is not always the same,” Kerkhove said. “And in some children, they tested positive for Covid-19 and other children have not. So we do not know if this is associated with Covid-19.”

Scores of UK and US children have been affected by a rare inflammatory disease linked to coronavirus.

In a tiny number of children it can cause serious complications, with some needing intensive care.

Up to 100 children in the UK have been affected and studies suggest the same reaction is being seen in children elsewhere in Europe.

It is likely to be caused by a delayed immune response to the virus which looks like Kawasaki disease.

In April, NHS doctors were told to look out for a rare but dangerous reaction in children.

This was prompted by eight children becoming ill in London, including a 14-year-old who died.

They all had similar symptoms when they were admitted to Evelina London Children’s Hospital, including a high fever, rash, red eyes, swelling and general pain.

Most of the children had no major lung or breathing problems, although seven were put on a ventilator to help improve heart and circulation issues.

Doctors are describing it as a “new phenomenon” similar to Kawasaki disease shock syndrome – a rare condition that mainly affects children under the age of five. Symptoms include a rash, swollen glands in the neck and dry and cracked lips.

But this new syndrome is also affecting older children up to the age of 16, with a minority experiencing serious complications.

Dr Liz Whittaker, clinical lecturer in paediatric infectious diseases and immunology, at Imperial College London, said the fact that the syndrome was occurring in the middle of a pandemic, suggests the two are linked.

“You’ve got the Covid-19 peak, and then three or four weeks later we’re seeing a peak in this new phenomenon which makes us think that it’s a post-infectious phenomenon,” she said.

This means it is likely to be something related to the build up of antibodies after infection.

‘Exceptionally rare’

Prof Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said the majority of children who have had the condition have responded to treatment and are getting better and starting to go home.

The syndrome is “exceptionally rare”, he said.

“This shouldn’t stop parents letting their children exit lockdown,” Prof Viner added.

He said understanding more about the inflammatory disease “might explain why some children become very ill with Covid-19, while the majority are unaffected or asymptomatic”.

NO one should have to gamble with their children’s health. No one should gamble that their child will not be one of the children lost to this disease.

In antibody tests on the children, eight appeared to have already had the coronavirus while the other two had not. But the researchers said the tests were not 100% accurate. Swab tests to detect the virus are not thought to be useful because the reaction tends to occur many weeks after infection.

Dr Lucio Verdoni, report author and doctor at the Hospital Papa Giovanni XXIII in Bergamo, said: “Although this complication remains very rare, our study provides further evidence on how the virus may be affecting children.”

Child health experts in the UK say it may not be something which just affects children.

They are now working with researchers in the US and across Europe to find out more about what they have called paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome or (PIMS-TS).

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