A 12 year old schoolgirl has written to Michelle McIIveen regarding the safety of schools in Northern Ireland.
In December 2021 the child wrote to the Education Minister of NI, Michelle McIIveen about her concerns of transmission of Covid in schools (see full letter at end of this article). In a passionate letter, she stresses that as a child with autism, she prefers and requires in-school learning but believes the current mitigations in schools are not adequate to keep children safe.
She also highlights the negative attention some children are receiving for choosing to wear masks. She believes that those in power have prioritised the economy over the health of children. The letter concludes with the child wondering how a safe Christmas will be possible.
This powerful plea for greater action comes amidst rapidly rising cases over the past few weeks due to the Omicron variant.
Dr Connor Barnford, Virologist, advises that more could be done to control transmission amongst children, emphasizing the importance of vaccination, ventilation, filtration and mask wearing. Children have been asked to take a lateral flow test 24 hours before returning to school from the Christmas break but he believes that this is unlikely to be enough to avoid a spike in cases resulting from schools opening back up.
Professor Ian Young, Chief Scientific Advisor, warned that official case numbers are not reliable as the demand for testing has exceeded capacity so many positive cases are currently going unrecorded. He advised that before Christmas, the largest number of cases was amongst those under 18.
It would seem clear then that this young girl's concerns are well founded. Many people might feel reading her letter that she is demonstrating more sense than the adults currently in charge of the decisions that effect her and all other young people in Northern Ireland!
By Sarah O'Connell
LCK Ireland Lead Rep
10th January 2022
Long Covid Kids & Friends is a UK based international charity (Charity Number: 1196170) supporting and advocating for families, children and young people living with Long Covid. Our story started with a short film on the long-lasting symptoms of Covid in children.
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