Hospitalisation rates unaffected by schools policy
The latest government paper on COVID-19 in children clearly shows the number of cases tracking the rates in the general population, with no effect of schools opening or closing, even on the rates at which children were admitted to hospital with COVID-19.
It is worth noting that the blue bars represent pre-school children; it is the pink bars which represent school children. No rise was seen in September 2020 after schools returned, a jump was seen in January when a fall would be expected from schools having shut, and no rise was seen in March 2021 when schools returned.
There should never again be any suggestion of closing schools in order to mitigate the spread of a respiratory virus. It clearly does not work. This policy was extremely harmful, with the country’s most disadvantaged children suffering the most. It is possibly one of the most misguided health policies in living history when one considers the epidemiological data.
