It's hard to believe that the UK government did not know this

 it's hard to believe that the UK government did not know this as schoolchildren are well known as asymptomatic carriers of flu

Largest COVID-19 contact tracing study to date finds children key to spread, evidence of superspreaders

Morgan Kelly, Princeton Environmental Institute

Sept. 30, 2020

A study of more than a half-million people in India who were exposed to the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 suggests that the virus’ continued spread is driven by only a small percentage of those who become infected.

Furthermore, children and young adults were found to be potentially much more important to transmitting the virus — especially within households — than previous studies have identified, according to a paper by researchers from the United States and India published Sept. 30 in the journal Science.

Researchers from the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI), Johns Hopkins University and the University of California, Berkeley, worked with public health officials in the southeast Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh to track the infection pathways and mortality rate of 575,071 individuals who were exposed to 84,965 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. It is the largest contact tracing study — which is the process of identifying people who came into contact with an infected person — conducted in the world for any disease.

Lead researcher Ramanan Laxminarayan, a senior research scholar in PEI, said that the paper is the first large study to capture the extraordinary extent to which SARS-CoV-2 hinges on “superspreading,” in which a small percentage of the infected population passes the virus on to more people. The researchers found that 71% of infected individuals did not infect any of their contacts, while a mere 8% of infected individuals accounted for 60% of new infections.

“Our study presents the largest empirical demonstration of superspreading that we are aware of in any infectious disease,” Laxminarayan said. “Superspreading events are the rule rather than the exception when one is looking at the spread of COVID-19, both in India and likely in all affected places.”

The findings provide extensive insight into the spread and deadliness of COVID-19 in countries such as India — which has experienced more than 96,000 deaths from the disease — that have a high incidence of resource-limited populations, the researchers reported. They found that coronavirus-related deaths in India occurred, on average, six days after hospitalization compared to an average of 13 days in the United States. Also, deaths from coronavirus in India have been concentrated among people aged 50-64, which is slightly younger than the 60-plus at-risk population in the United States.

The researchers also reported, however, the first large-scale evidence that the implementation of a countrywide shutdown in India led to substantial reductions in coronavirus transmission.

The researchers found that the chances of a person with coronavirus, regardless of their age, passing it on to a close contact ranged from 2.6% in the community to 9% in the household. The researchers found that children and young adults — who made up one-third of COVID cases — were especially key to transmitting the virus in the studied populations.

“Kids are very efficient transmitters in this setting, which is something that hasn’t been firmly established in previous studies,” Laxminarayan said. “We found that reported cases and deaths have been more concentrated in younger cohorts than we expected based on observations in higher-income countries.”

Children and young adults were much more likely to contract coronavirus from people their own age, the study found. Across all age groups, people had a greater chance of catching the coronavirus from someone their own age. The overall probability of catching coronavirus ranged from 4.7% for low-risk contacts up to 10.7% for high-risk contacts.

The study, “Epidemiology and transmission dynamics of COVID-19 in two Indian states,” was published Sept. 30 by the journal Science. The work was supported by the National Science Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

Keep the children out of schools

No schools, it is so obvious, for the sake of a month before the holidays - whether the children are good or bad at lessons in school or at home, one thing that we and the Government know is that children are an excellent way of spreading viruses to adults without showing any or many symptoms themselves. It's almost as if the UK Government wants to infect people in large numbers through children, care homes, public transport and the workplace.

Worthing school calls in police because of drugs, police search, find nothing - there is something wrong here.

"A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “No drugs were found and no further action was taken. The matter has now been left in the hands of the school.” "

So, another waste of police time and taxpayer's money - school calls in police because of drugs, police search, find nothing - there is something wrong here.

Whilst of course most of us don't want schoolkids taking drugs, it is time that we realised that it is the unlawfulness of cannabis possession and cultivation that has made it highly profitable for an endless line of people itching to make money, completely outside of the law - and the minimum "age" for customers is more like a ten pound note.

Legalise and license commercial cultivation and supply to adults and let people grow their own at home without interference, that will take the supply out of the hands of street dealers and help keep it out of the hands of schoolchildren.

The present system is clearly not working.

Drugs reported at school in Worthing but police find none

The Argus, October 29 2012

Education bosses have vowed to take a “strong stance” after reports of pupils bringing drugs into school.

Police were called to Durrington High School in The Boulevard, Worthing, last week after reports of youngsters having cannabis with them.

While no drugs were found by officers a cannabis grinder, which is used to shred the bud of the plant so it can be smoked, was confiscated.

Sussex Police said the matter had been left with the school to deal with.

Head teacher Sue Marooney said: “Student wellbeing and safety is our priority.

“We always take a strong stance against anything which threatens this and when appropriate will involve the police.

“We would not wish to comment on individual students.”

According to the Government cannabis is the most widely-used illegal drug in Britain, although the number of people using it is believed to be falling.

It is a class B drug, which means it is illegal to possess, give away or sell.

The maximum penalty for possession is five years in jail while supplying someone can result in a fourteen year prison term and an unlimited fine.

More common actions include a police warning, a reprimand, a formal caution or a fixed penalty fine.

A spokesman for West Sussex County Council, which runs the school, said: “Safety and wellbeing of young people is at the centre of the county council approach to all matters.

“All schools have robust policies on drugs and the county council encourages its schools to have a well planned drug education programme, a drug policy developed in consultation with the whole school community, which outlines the school’s response to all drug matters.

“We also encourage strategies in place to identify and support young people for whom drugs may be a problem and staff who are confident and skilled in addressing drug issues.”

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “No drugs were found and no further action was taken.

The matter has now been left in the hands of the school.”

Earlier this year officers in Worthing and Adur carried out an education drive and leaflet drop in a bid to curb the rising use of class B mephedrone by young adults aged between 17 and 25.

Within a month seven people were arrested for possession of the drug with intent to supply.