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COVID General Discussion thread #5


Darryl

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9 minutes ago, purplekitty said:

What do you mean just the one school?

 

Lemon myrtle mentioned 50% of surgeons in the one school.  I meant that it wasn’t just from one school.  

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purplekitty
1 hour ago, Sancti-claws said:

 

My nephew is at a different fancy pants school on the other side of town - most boarders have headed home to isolate there, because if it does end up being an extended lockdown with home-based learning, the last place you would want your child is 100s of kms away in a boarding house.

 

On the wrong side of the river do you mean?

 

37 minutes ago, purplekitty said:

What do you mean just the one school?

 

Oh sorry I misread,I thought you were saying they were from just one school.

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I don't understand the rational of vaccinating year 12 students in NSW, can someone explain what this is to achieve?  It feels a little like shuffling deckchairs.

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Wonderstruck
6 minutes ago, RomeoVoid said:

I don't understand the rational of vaccinating year 12 students in NSW, can someone explain what this is to achieve?  It feels a little like shuffling deckchairs.

A lot of them in South West/West  Sydney would have part time jobs at supermarkets and food outlets (like in most places but obviously this is a highly affected area), would be providing care or assistance to elderly relatives and to get them back to school. 

They're focusing the efforts there but ultimately the CHO has said that that age group to 40 who haven't had access to Pfizer open give it to young and old groups given they have children, care for elderly relatives and are the ones out working or studying. 

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1 hour ago, Wonderstruck said:

A lot of them in South West/West  Sydney would have part time jobs at supermarkets and food outlets (like in most places but obviously this is a highly affected area), would be providing care or assistance to elderly relatives and to get them back to school. 

They're focusing the efforts there but ultimately the CHO has said that that age group to 40 who haven't had access to Pfizer open give it to young and old groups given they have children, care for elderly relatives and are the ones out working or studying. 

More so than Uni students?  I don't know...it seems like a weird demographic to single out. I would have thought Uni students would be more inclined to be out partying as well.

Edited by Romeo Void
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Over and out
1 minute ago, RomeoVoid said:

More so than Uni students?  I don't know...it seems like a weird demographic to single out.

Exactly. Or 17-18 yos who are not at school.

Edited by JRA
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Moomintroll
1 hour ago, RomeoVoid said:

I don't understand the rational of vaccinating year 12 students in NSW, can someone explain what this is to achieve?  It feels a little like shuffling deckchairs.

It's so they can send them back to school face to face before the lockdown is over. The HSC exams are high stakes and have to be face to face, and I guess because the HSC as a whole is high stakes they want kids to have a chance to get some face to face time with their teachers before the exams in October. Some students also need access to their school labs, workshops etc.

Edited to add - HSC is like the end of the world in NSW, more so than in some other states. 

Edited by Moomintroll
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LemonMyrtle
Just now, RomeoVoid said:

More so than Uni students?  I don't know...it seems like a weird demographic to single out. I would have thought Uni students would be more inclined to be out partying as well!

I agree, it’s weird to prioritise them.

someone did mention that it was to level the playing field, since rural students in NSW are still having face to face classes. So to make end of year scoring fair, I guess they need all year 12s back to school. 

But I’m sure there are other ways they can balance that without using vaccines that could go to essential workers.

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Wonderstruck
6 minutes ago, RomeoVoid said:

More so than Uni students?  I don't know...it seems like a weird demographic to single out. I would have thought Uni students would be more inclined to be out partying as well!

They wanted to get the back into school before their HSC. I think they are also a demographic that might struggle to study from home for a number of reasons. 

There was a big enough opposition to shuffling vax for them, I doubt they could get the volume for uni students in the area. After all Western Sydney Uni has several campuses in affected LGAs.

I should also mention the essential workers are also being prioritised in those LGAs. 

Edited by Wonderstruck
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They are justifying why they can send Year 12s back to a non-COVID safe environment when they clearly fit into the spreader category. Cause HSC.

I kinda get it. Given the LGAs affected, some of these kids may not have a parent who finished Year 12  (left in Year 10 or migrated to Australia as an adult), have dodgy internet etc etc. And we know education is a key to social mobility. 

The Uni students have already made it past the HSC hurdle. They can get it in with the other 20 year olds who aren't at Uni. 

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LemonMyrtle
3 minutes ago, Wonderstruck said:

They wanted to get the back into school before their HSC. I think they are also a demographic that might struggle to study from home for a number of reasons. 

There was a big enough opposition to shuffling vax for them, I doubt they could get the volume for uni students in the area. After all Western Sydney Uni has several campuses in affected LGAs.

One thing that was mentioned here or on the Victoria thread, is that a lot of senior school kids didn’t return to school after lockdown, they just lost interest and dropped out. Which was news to me. And rather shocking and sad.

so if their aim is to avoid that, and keep kids interested in school, then im all for it. 

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Wonderstruck

Also keep in mind they are already prioritising essential workers in those LGAs too (supermarket etc). We haven't opened Pfizer to under 40s (I've seen WA and ACT do it recently) but in those areas they've given priority to super market workers etc. 

They're doing what they can with constrained supply and given the socioeconomic issues in the area affected. I know we can't do anything right in NSW despite but they are the ones privy to the data behind it all. Our CHO knows the area well and we are doing what we can with constrained supply. 

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4 minutes ago, LaFoom said:

They are justifying why they can send Year 12s back to a non-COVID safe environment when they clearly fit into the spreader category. Cause HSC.

I kinda get it. Given the LGAs affected, some of these kids may not have a parent who finished Year 12  (left in Year 10 or migrated to Australia as an adult), have dodgy internet etc etc. And we know education is a key to social mobility. 

The Uni students have already made it past the HSC hurdle. They can get it in with the other 20 year olds who aren't at Uni. 

 

3 minutes ago, LemonMyrtle said:

One thing that was mentioned here or on the Victoria thread, is that a lot of senior school kids didn’t return to school after lockdown, they just lost interest and dropped out. Which was news to me. And rather shocking and sad.

so if their aim is to avoid that, and keep kids interested in school, then im all for it. 

They're my thoughts, too.

Low SES communities need all the leg-ups they can get, and if this keeps those year 12 students engaged, then it's a good move.   Just a shame others have to miss out, thanks Scomo.

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Wonderstruck
3 minutes ago, LemonMyrtle said:

One thing that was mentioned here or on the Victoria thread, is that a lot of senior school kids didn’t return to school after lockdown, they just lost interest and dropped out. Which was news to me. And rather shocking and sad.

so if their aim is to avoid that, and keep kids interested in school, then im all for it. 

I think that's it. Some of those kids would be potentially in part time work and school whilst possibly helping out with elderly relatives etc. The temptation not to return to school would be great in those circumstances or if you feel going back to school will risk the health of those relatives. 

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MintyBiscuit

This is nothing but gut feeling, but I also think part of vaccinating year 12s to get them back face to face is because they don’t think the rest of the school cohort is going back any time soon. If schools are empty of everyone but year 12 students, and they’re vaccinated, and there’s some sort of rapid testing going on it’s about as safe as you can make it. The vaccination option doesn’t exist for most other cohorts so even if it was some sort of staggered return with testing it’s a big risk. I can understand year 12 being prioritised, they’re already at a huge disadvantage because of the last 18 months and the ramifications of it won’t be known for years, much like any of the missed schooling across the country 

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Julie3Girls
18 minutes ago, RomeoVoid said:

More so than Uni students?  I don't know...it seems like a weird demographic to single out. I would have thought Uni students would be more inclined to be out partying as well.

Uni students, by this time of year, will be pretty much guaranteed to be 18 and over. Which means they qualify for the AZ vaccine. They can go and get a vaccine at any time in NSW now, due to the changes. And it’s a lot easier to get an AZ shot.  They aren’t being singled out but they are included in the EVERYBODY eligible should get a vaccination.

Yr12 students have that massive risk factor with part time work etc etc. plus they have 5 and half weeks of school left - NSW yr12 graduate at the end of this term. They only come back to school next term for their hsc exams.  Getting them back to school for some sort of face to face before HSC is pretty important, and affects not only the lockdown kids, but yr12 across the whole state. Any massive changes such as cancelling hsc would need to implemented to the entire state.

So vaccinating them is probably a good step in getting them to those exams. Get them back to school, in empty schools where they can distance, easier to enforce rules when you are dealing with just a one year cohort at the school. 

As a lot of yr12 kids are only 17, they have to have Pfizer. And need to be singled out as vaccination is not open to 17 yr olds yet.

is it crappy that means taking vaccines from places like the Hunter, who have the lowest vaccinations rates in the state with no appts available? Hell yes, but that’s on the feds and their stuff up more than anything.

 

Edited by Julie3Girls
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Wow, HSC students don't have a term 4 at all? That surprises me. I mean I did VCE, and it was 20 years ago, but still.

 

Anyway, younger kids can catch up even with lots of missed school. I don't mean that to sound unsympathetic to people who are struggling, but broadly speaking, it's true. If you're finishing school you can't catch up next year - there is no next year.

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Julie3Girls
9 minutes ago, Lurker said:

Wow, HSC students don't have a term 4 at all? That surprises me. I mean I did VCE, and it was 20 years ago, but still.

 

Anyway, younger kids can catch up even with lots of missed school. I don't mean that to sound unsympathetic to people who are struggling, but broadly speaking, it's true. If you're finishing school you can't catch up next year - there is no next year.

Basically, they only get 3 terms of yr11. So when we had home schooling for 10 weeks last year, they lost a third of their foundation year for their hsc. Then yr12 course begin in term 4, so they still get a full 4 terms of yr12. Hsc exams start early term4 but no classes. 

Which is why they are trying so hard to work out ways to get the yr12 kids back to school.  Majority still have at least one final assessment - the trial exams. Which counts for a large part of the school assessment, which in turn is 50% of your hsc.

I’ve already accepted that I won’t get to go to my dd2s graduation at the end of term, due to the school restrictions in regional. We are all just holding our breath, waiting for an outbreak which would lock us down, and waiting to see what they decide for the poor kids in lockdown, and how that will flow through the state. They have already pushed the hsc exams back by a week, and made changes to all the practical exams.

Edited by Julie3Girls
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Has it been communicated what will happen once the year 12s are back in school if there’s a positive case? Like if a child gets a positive via rapid testing on a Tuesday, will it be assumed he was potentially infectious on Monday as well, and everyone at the school on Monday would need to isolate for 14 days? Or would they assume the student was only infectious on the day they receive a positive test and carry on (and what about people the student had already interacted with that day?)? Sounds like it could get quite disruptive. 

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LemonMyrtle
6 minutes ago, JRA said:

OMG, a guy in his 20s passed away at home with COVID in NSW.

We are a first world nation.  How.

That’s so shocking. And someone else was in the house too, also sick. So tragic. That’s one problem when every household member gets sick, there is no one to look after you. :( 

a check-in once a day by authorities isn’t the same as someone there, making sure you’re ok, drinking enough, eating enough, taking panadol for fevers, etc. lots of people would say “I’m doing ok” to a stranger on the phone. Especially a young person. 

so sad. 

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nightmarish

I received my follow up call regarding the cancelled vaccinations. They can't rebook phizer, there is no confirmed date that we will start receiving allocations again, but the estimate is 4-5 weeks. Basically switch to AZ or be put on a list to get priority booking when that stock comes through.

Now I have managed to get a booking through my GP, but for all the people that can't... what a bloody joke of a system.

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