UNISON Calls for Schools to Be Allowed to Close Early to Fight Omicron Spread

2 min read

The trade union group UNISON has said that allowing schools to close early will halt the transmission of the Omicron variant. While the union has stopped short of demanding that schools be closed, it has called for more measures to be imposed on the classroom, such as mask mandates. The Express has the story.

Schools have been at the centre of countless restrictive measures over the past two years, with pupils suffering major disruption to their education thanks to decisions made by the Government and promoted by key unions. The emergence of the Omicron variant has reignited calls for measures that would further such disruption.

UNISON insists that schools should be allowed to close early “without the fear of Government criticism” to reduce the spread of the variant.

It has argued allowing schools to shut ahead of schedule in the run-up to the end of term would benefit both parents and teachers.

It said: “Allowing schools to close early this week would reduce the risk of Omicron transmission, make Christmas less stressful for families and give staff more time to get their boosters.”

UNISON claims to represent more education staff than any other U.K. trade union.

A spokesperson for the group told the Express that while “we don’t want to see schools close”, new measures are needed to prevent further disruption.

It has called for the return of face masks in secondary school classrooms, as well as the return of “bubbles”.

The union is also pushing ministers to send air filtration devices to all schools before the New Year to help temper the spread of the virus when – or if – pupils return to the classroom.

UNISON’s Head of Education, Mike Short, said in a statement: “Stopping the virus in its tracks and keeping pupils and communities safe should be a top priority.

“Action now will help cut family stress levels this Christmas.”

Short added that, along with the other measures proposed by the union, the return to schools after Christmas should be staggered.

He said: “Bubbles must come back, and pupils shouldn’t all return at once on the same day in January.”

This came as England’s Chief Medical Officer branded Omicron a “really serious threat”.

Chris Whitty told a press conference on Wednesday: “The how big a threat – there are several things we don’t know, but all the things that we do know are bad.”

Worth reading in full.

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145 Comments
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Newman20
Newman20
4 years ago

Another excuse for the teaching profession to be on full pay while doing bugger all.

David Beaton
David Beaton
4 years ago

Whitty’ s last comment is just pure BS – like everything else we have had from him for 18 months.

He should talk to the shocked South African doctor who say he is over-reacting and this ‘OMICRON” whatever it is, is not dangerous and no -one ought to act in panic like Whitty is advocating. .

Whitty works for the WHO an oganisation now ‘owned’ and bankrolled by Bill Gates. ( easily verified)

He is not an objective commentator

Mac57
Mac57
4 years ago

What Omicron spread?
See this latest for 16 Dec.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-omicron-daily-overview
11,700 Omicron confirmed cases
16 Omicron confirmed in hospital
1 (dubious) death
These are real, official government figures. Why not report them instead of the rubbish I see all around?
Where is the MSM hysteria coming from? Models, projections and guesswork? Most of the country has gone mad!

annepassman
annepassman
4 years ago

The next, hopefully not inevitable step , is for the unions, so called experts and government to insist that schools open a few weeks later in January “to avoid spreading the virus”. What utter cobblers. A child gets covid, is not ill but passes it to parents, who are young enough to fight it off, gaining valuable antibodies in the process. They pass it on to older relatives like me, who have been boosted – and we probably have armfuls of antibodies from all sorts of previous viruses. Or they pass it on to neighbours who are also boosted or young enough to fight it off. The childrens’ future has already been compromised. Maybe the so called experts will be happy for their own children to not go to school and have their futures ruined. The PM needs to tell the “experts” to take a running jump and say that ALL schools will be back FULLY and forever in January. As a former teacher, now, alas, too old to go into class, I’d be happy to help out if I were younger.

VAX FREE IanC
VAX FREE IanC
4 years ago

Round and round we go. I’m getting bloody dizzy.

Simon MacPhisto
Simon MacPhisto
4 years ago

Mike Short is scum and should be taken out the back, lined up against the wall alongside Whitty, Valance, Hancock, Javid, and BoJo. There are plenty of others. Line them all up. Then shoot the bastards. They are a cancer on our country. The sooner they are dispatched, the better for us all.

Horse
Horse
4 years ago

And forcing anyone, but especially children, to wear masks is a disgusting abuse of inalienable rights. The virus is 5000 times smaller than the smallest hole in the mask. Idiots and bastards.

rayc
rayc
4 years ago
Reply to  Horse

The absolute size of virus particles does not matter since they are embedded in much larger droplets of liquid, and those droplets stick to the mask. At least in theory.

In practice they fly around the mask just as if it wasn’t there. Unless it’s a personalized FFP2 mask and you spend time fitting it around your nose every time you put it on. And, of course, never take it off in presence of anyone else.

Star
Star
4 years ago
Reply to  rayc

FFP2, FFP3 – pah! Get a 3M 7500 for when there’s a real killer pandemic. It lasts for months with daily use.

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Arfur Mo
Arfur Mo
4 years ago
Reply to  Star

They have a one-way vent valve that allows the wearer’s breath to pass freely to the outside. An ideal way for a really infected person to spread the disease with total plausible deniability.

Horse
Horse
4 years ago

A recent German study, of their country of 83 million people, found zero healthy kids between 4 and 12 died of covid at all. Ever. And a Scottish study showed teachers had a reduced risk of severe disease, likely due to massive low exposure. Sweden also shows school should remain open. Closing schools is either about teachers wanting (yet) more time off, or causing disruption and mayhem. It is not driven by any healthcare data at all, from anywhere in the world.

rayc
rayc
4 years ago
Reply to  Horse

And that is despite the age group below 15 years old is having the highest incidence right now. About 50% of all the reported positives are detected in this age group!

Arfur Mo
Arfur Mo
4 years ago
Reply to  rayc

Highest incidence, lowest death rate – arrrrrgh, they are all going to not die!

Horse
Horse
4 years ago

The usual stock photo of foreign children going off to class in some global nowhere.

Boomer Bloke
Boomer Bloke
4 years ago

Well they would wouldn’t they. Most of them are guardian reading parasites who have never done a proper days work in their life. Who moan and bitch if they lose their free periods because one of their work shy colleagues is having a duvet day, and who whinge continually about how their holidays are too short and how it’s so expensive because they have to take them during the school holidays.

bringbacksanity
bringbacksanity
4 years ago

Not sure where to post this – but anyone seen Amazon are now selling self branded PCR kits. It’s beyond a piss take.

Think Harder
Think Harder
4 years ago

It’s for the kids, honest, would I lie to you?

bringbacksanity
bringbacksanity
4 years ago

Chris Whitty told a press conference on Wednesday: “The how big a threat – there are several things we don’t know, but all the things that we do know are bad.”

define bad Chris. Please define bad.

Arfur Mo
Arfur Mo
4 years ago

If an Englishman says things are bad, you know the End Of The World Is Nigh.

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bringbacksanity
bringbacksanity
4 years ago

Are unions relevant for anything other than media stories these days ? I’d wager you get sod all, not even a diary from the bastards in return for giving them money, so what’s the point ?

Cecil B
Cecil B
4 years ago

Why don’t they go the full hog and execute all the pupils

Problem solved

They know they want to

Horse
Horse
4 years ago
Reply to  Cecil B

I think the vax-induced myocarditis and sterilisation takes care of that.

LonePatriot
LonePatriot
4 years ago

MSM is trying to make fun of people wanting to protect themselves with cheap and proven drugs. Ivermectin has been FDA approved for human use since 1996. It also beats Pfizer’s new wonder drug hands down, and costs next to nothing. Ivermectin doesn’t make tons of money. So they know the Covid shot is on its final gasp, so they take it add something different to it, rebrand under another name and charge 20 times what they would for ivermectin. I cannot wrap my head around this nonsense. When I explain this to my relatives they label me as crazy and ask me if I know better than science. I don’t make up these information out of my ass. All this information is true and proven. For some people it is near impossible for them to wake up. They are comfortable in their clown world life. If you want to get Ivermectin you can visit https://ivmpharmacy.com

Arfur Mo
Arfur Mo
4 years ago
Reply to  LonePatriot

Poor countries can’t afford Pfizer et al as they can’t afford the costs arising from the demanded total legal immunity. They can afford Ivermectin which actually works and is used for endemic parasitic disease. Those dissing Ivermectin are the real #White-Supremecists. They are also #Medical-Imperialists.

DanClarke
DanClarke
4 years ago

It appears that it has nothing to do with anything but crashing the economies of democratic countries to bring in vaccine passports and control, Whitty said it will take another 18 months

Deborah T
Deborah T
4 years ago

Confused. All the schools in our area are finishing at 12 tomorrow anyway. Normal end-of-term day.

Deborah T
Deborah T
4 years ago
Reply to  Deborah T

Now see that others have pointed this out.

rtaylor
4 years ago

How’s Sweden getting on? Heard no Swedish schoolchildren died from Covid when deaths were higher. Enjoy the lower IQ conversations in 20 years folks.

BS665
BS665
4 years ago

Covidianism. In case you didn’t realise, this is what it means for man to ‘play God’.

It never ends well.

Ergo, time to find the real God.

Annie
Annie
4 years ago
Reply to  BS665

Many of us have found Him.

BS665
BS665
4 years ago
Reply to  Annie

We have indeed. So let’s pray, hope and not worry.

Susan
Susan
4 years ago
Reply to  BS665

Amen.

Moderate Radical
Moderate Radical
4 years ago

‘Won’t somebody please think of the children!’

-Helen Lovejoy, The Simpsons

I watched a ‘discussion’ yesterday between Steve Kirsch and some nonentity who refused to commit himself on any issue other than the issue of intentions, and he said he assumes that everyone in the debate has the children’s best interests at heart. I disagree. He appears to have a deficient anthropology which presupposes that all men are fundamentally ‘good’ at heart. This view cannot hold up under scrutiny. But regardless, he fails to confront/consider the fact that, statistically speaking, this virus poses children zero risk, and so when there is zero risk from inaction, any risk from intervention is unacceptable, which means he needs to ask himself why there is such a disproportionate focus on children with regard to ‘Covid measures’ including ‘vaccination’ with a novel and experimental technology. 

The only potentially logical answer, one we often hear from those who acknowledge the virus poses children no risk, is that ‘we’re all in it together’ and we need to protect the elderly. 

First of all, if you’re elderly and you believe this, then you’re a disgrace and you need to grow up. Immediately. Never before have we sacrificed children… Read more »

Smelly Melly
Smelly Melly
4 years ago

The inventor of mRNA Robert Malone has raised concerns about injecting children.

https://lorphicweb.com/before-you-inject-your-child-dr-robert-malone/

He’s saying don’t do it.

X - In Search of Space
X - In Search of Space
4 years ago

The unfortunate reality is that these sorts of people, who shriek the loudest about having other people’s welfare at heart, actually care only for themselves. Utterly selfish. Utterly hypocritical. Utter parasites.

Mike Oxlong
Mike Oxlong
4 years ago

It’s such a pity that those blokes who filmed themselves accosting baggy-eyed, bald twat Whitty, didn’t do more than push him around a bit. Pity they weren’t carrying a portable gallows or something.

Star
Star
4 years ago

The Liberal Democrats think they’ve taken North Shropshire. The betting market appears to agree with them. The result is due in some time around 5am.

Let’s hope Graham Brady’s postman is hale and hearty.

Gotta admit, I’d like to know who Rishi Sunak has been meeting in California.

Some will be going mental at the thought that not only was Boris Johnson at a lockdown party in May 2020, but pizza was consumed. We’re one compromising photo away from goodbye Johnson. About 7am is when I’d aim to release it.

TheyLiveAndWeLockdown
TheyLiveAndWeLockdown
4 years ago
Reply to  Star

Boris career has always been pepperonied with scandal, however you slice it, he’s not been a steady hand on the cutter. Since he allegedly got covid he’s not been on topping of his game. The Tory base has never been thinner.

/TryTheFish

Arfur Mo
Arfur Mo
4 years ago
Reply to  Star

“Gotta admit, I’d like to know who Rishi Sunak has been meeting in California.”

Some honcho from the US ‘health industry’ at a guess.

Annie
Annie
4 years ago

Yes, take it out on the kids yet again, why not?
Brutes.

BS665
BS665
4 years ago

Only a madman tortures himself to death to avoid dying while knowing he is not going to die from the ‘threat’.

This agony is primordial; it is evil incarnated.

We are living in Aztec times.

Sacrifices must be offered.

Their god is PRIDE.

DanClarke
DanClarke
4 years ago

Hate those dystopian pictures, the schools enforcing them are a disgrace

TheyLiveAndWeLockdown
TheyLiveAndWeLockdown
4 years ago

Robert Peston knows masks are for show only (He just didn’t know his lack of one was on show).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl9_FFlPrOo

twinkytwonk
twinkytwonk
4 years ago

Can someone with some fucking common sense get control of this situation? We can’t be far off from seeing these people just running around the streets screaming.

BS665
BS665
4 years ago
Reply to  twinkytwonk

They’ll scream, they’ll shout, they’ll dash themselves with flints, if told to do so. I fear most are irretrievably lost.

BS665
BS665
4 years ago

Paper rags with holes. Sitting at a distance. ‘Boosters’.

Dear God this is just canting superstition.

Nothing can prevent you getting a cold eventually.

Death is the only certain thing in life. But extremely unlikely from “covid”.

You are abusing the kids and ruining society. Get a grip!

Live free TODAY or quake in fear eternally.

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