Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2020-09-06 00:38
rmk54 - yes that is a tricky one. My son goes back to school the day after tomorrow and we're in unknown territory after that. We've already lost a grandparent to covid, and I was very unwell with covid (lost 19lbs in a week, barely able to stand for 6 weeks, unable to pay clarinet for 4+ months), so I take it very seriously indeed.
The flipside is that the medics in this country (the UK) seem extremely clear that missing school is *much* more harmful to children than getting covid, so we have this huge balancing act to manage in the coming year. To solve the problem, our kids here are being taught in isolated "bubbles" with each class of 30 kids totally isolated from all other classes. Logically, in such groups, I think they could probably play musical instruments safely, unmasked (maybe?). The bubble system breaks rather badly once you take sibling relationships into account, especially in large families, but that is what we are trying in this country and I think we will find out quite fast whether it works.
However, that only all sort-of works if there is a really comprehensive testing system in place. It's really hard to tell if a kid has covid. I know because my son had it, and for him it just looked like any normal cough. So any time a child shows signs of possible covid, they need to be tested, and if the test is positive, then contacts need to be informed and all need to isolate.
That doesn't solve the problem you raise of vunerable relatives who may live with the child. I have no idea how that problem is meant to be solved, but our medics here seem very certain that it is more dangerous for kids to remain out of school than to go back. The families who have two shielding parents or live-in elderly relatives must find that extremely difficult.
I don't think that there is any chance of restoration of the economy without rigorous testing and tracing of contacts of people who have confirmed infection, and I get the impression that we do somehow need to get the children back into school and the economy going again somehow. I'm not an economist, so I don't know so much about that. Waiting for a vaccine doesn't seem to be an option.
Chris - I'm so sorry that you are having to shield and miss your music. It's such a hard situation this. If I were in your shoes, I would do the same and stay home in safety. I'm only having clarinet lessons over skype just now, though I'm glad to have two people (horn players) to live with.
I hope this is all okay, what I have said. It's a very difficult situation to discuss this, but I feel as though we can't solve the problems unless we at least try.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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