A professor didn't say it, a Daily Mail journalist did. The professor said the old and vulnerable should have been protected, but the young and healthy should have been allowed to get on with things, not that nothing should have been done. In fact, he mainly thought lockdowns were unnecessary as people would have reduced contact of their own volition - “You can see from the UK data that people were reducing their contacts with each other as cases rose and before lockdown was imposed. That, coupled with Covid-safe measures, such as masks and testing, would have been sufficient to control spread.”
The article is quite sensible, the headline is not representative of the article. Usual sensationalism.
Just a little food for thought, during the early stages of lockdown and the pandemic, my sister in law who works at a funeral parlour was suggesting that pretty much all bodies being brought in had covid on the death certificate asthe cause of death. This was questioned by the undertaker at the time, and was told by a number of doctors that they had been instructed that if the patient had contracted Covid within 2 weeks of their death this is what they had to put, despite many suffering from numerous other fatal illnesses. No wonder the figures are somewhat skewed, for the record she works on the outskirts of London.
Wasn’t hard to predict was it Pandemic has delayed social skills of young children, says Ofsted chief Rising numbers unable to understand facial expressions and have communication and self-care delays Rachel Hall please log in to view this image An increasing number of young children have been left unable to understand facial expressions after having fewer opportunities to develop their social and emotional skills during the pandemic, the education watchdog for England has said. Amanda Spielman, Ofsted’s chief inspector, said the worst affected were the most vulnerable children, with those living in smaller homes without gardens typically spending more time on screens during successive lockdowns, which also resulted in delays in learning to walk and crawl. She said it was clear from four briefings on education recovery published by Ofsted that the pandemic had created “lingering challenges”. She said: “I’m particularly worried about younger children’s development, which, if left unaddressed, could potentially cause problems for primary schools down the line.” In the briefing on early years, based on inspections of 70 providers in January and February 2022, some said children had “limited vocabulary” while some babies had “struggled to respond to basic facial expressions”, partly due to interacting with people wearing face masks. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Spielman said the pandemic and lockdowns had resulted in delays in learning speech and language; problems with social interaction and confidence, such as not knowing how to take turns and struggling to make friends; and delays in walking and crawling, with more obesity as a result. Children were also not at the expected level in developing vital self-care skills, such as being potty trained, tying their shoelaces and taking their coats off, she added. She said: “Children have had less time in early education, less time interacting with others outside the family. For some children they’ve not much interaction at all if they’ve spent all their time looking at screens. Children have been talking in the funny voices of cartoons they’ve been spending enormous amounts of time watching.” To assist their child’s development, Spielman advised parents to speak to their children as much as possible and take them out for walks to the shops and to the park so they could see the world and take exercise. “Those basic parenting things are more important than delaying their entrance to school,” she said. She said schools were well-prepared to deal with children at a range of developmental levels, noting that the most effort would be put into children who have had the worst experiences over the pandemic. The inspectorate has seen “lots of really good work” across early years, schools and further education, including on catchup strategies to close gaps in knowledge and skills. But Ofsted found that funded places for two-year-olds had not been used as much as before the pandemic, which Spielman said she hoped she “will see reversed” as normal life returns. The reports showed that some staff members at nurseries have come up with innovative ways to help young children catch up, such as through a “chatter group” with a diary to record activities, or encouraging children to express their feelings through “emotion cards” with images of children displaying different facial expressions. In schools, Ofsted found the pandemic was continuing to affect pupils’ knowledge and mental health, with leaders reporting lower resilience and confidence, and increased anxiety and disruptive behaviour. Headteachers also raised particular concerns about children in reception year, who they said had delayed speech and language development, as well as disadvantaged pupils and those with special needs. Some schools reported that safeguarding disclosures had increased, especially around domestic abuse. For older secondary pupils in years 11 and 13, teachers are struggling to help pupils catch up on content they had missed while simultaneously preparing them for exams. Some headteachers observed that certain GCSEs, such as triple science, had become less popular. James Bowen, director of policy for school leaders’ union the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “Schools work incredibly hard to give pupils the extra support they need but they cannot do it alone – the government must also invest in early years services for disadvantaged families, as well as vital services like speech and language therapy, so that those children who need specialist support receive it as early as possible.” A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Our ambitious recovery plan continues to roll out across the country, with nearly £5bn invested in high-quality tutoring, world-class training for teachers and early years practitioners, additional funding for schools, and extending time in colleges by 40 hours a year. “We have simplified the national tutoring programme to reach as many pupils as possible, with funding going directly to schools from next year. The Nuffield early language intervention programme is also being used by the majority of schools to improve language skills of reception-age children.”
But now the list of symptoms includes a further nine: shortness of breath feeling tired or exhausted aching body headache sore throat blocked or runny nose loss of appetite diarrhoea feeling sick or being sick (so being over 50, with a hangover, having ran upstairs whilst experiencing the symptoms of a cold...)
Hi I reported I had mild covid last August and a very bad chest infection in January - others reported similar . I have days now where I get up early as normal am ok but if I sit down to watch ten mins news at 9 I fall asleep !! Sometimes up to an hour , same can happen at lunch too - I know food can do this . It seems if I stop working or doing things I will just sleep - plus I sleep so heavy at night . I’ve been a crap sleeper for 30 years . Please say if you do the same - ta Noddy
When you say you 'sleep heavy' how are you sure? One thing that could possibly be happening is that your infection means you are not getting quality sleep, hence the need to sleep more often/longer. As ever, the best thing to do is get proper medical advice, although I'm terrible at following that myself.
Cheers for that - at docs today for something unconnected will ask but have done that a few times before with no real solution - I have a blood disorder that may be creating a slow change-so am hoping it was a post covid issue to be honest
Wonder if you might have symptoms of Long Covid* - mention everything to your Doc as there is a Local Covid Hub - where you can be referred for things like specialist physiotherapy etc. * https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-60708123
