Boris Johnson to be Questioned at UK Covid-19 Inquiry
Clinically Vulnerable Families Demand Urgent Action
Clinically Vulnerable Families are one of a number of organisations that includes Long Covid Kids, Long Covid SOS and PIMS Hub that I have an incredible amount of respect for. They represent many individuals and families who have paid the cost of the dire judgement of our political class, and because they are an inconvenience for those wishing to write a false narrative of the pandemic they have had to work so much harder to make their voices heard compared to those astroturf organisations who supported the mass infection of children.
Below is a press release from Clinically Vulnerable Families regarding the Children’s Module of the Covid Inquiry.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
As Boris Johnson faces questioning next Tuesday over his role as a major decision-maker in pandemic school policies, Clinically Vulnerable Families (CVF) is calling for urgent protection of children’s rights to safe education and life.
Yesterday, Susan Acland-Hood (DfE Permanent Secretary) seemed to align with Johnson's "Let the bodies piled high in their hundreds of thousands" approach, stating "There are some things so great that they genuinely need to be weighed up against mass fatalities."
The impacts of not managing safety and Boris Johnson demanding "ALL children MUST be in school" were considerable for those in high-risk families. The Inquiry education expert witness, Prof Gillean McCluskey from Edinburgh University, recognised concerns around the "strict punitive" approach to school attendance and stated that "Clinical vulnerability would be an absolutely understandable concern."
As a consequence, many thousands of children were excluded from school, denied access to online learning, and faced threats of fines or prosecution when families followed medical advice to protect the lives of household members at clinical risk from Covid-19.
Lara Wong, founder of CVF, explained “Many families had to remove their children from school where the risks were too great, this has had a serious, and long-term impact on education outcomes.”
The opening of the module included the story from Seren, Northern Ireland, who tried to protect her extremely vulnerable sister by continuing to wear a mask and asking for windows to stay open in class.
Seren explained, "I was coughed at, sworn at, verbally abused, physically abused, had windows slammed shut and experienced targeted abuse on social media. It only got worse over time. I tried explaining the risk to my sister, but people said things like, ’you and your sister should kill yourselves’ and, ‘I don’t care if your sister dies’. I was devastated. One of the staff even asked, ‘what would you do if someone ripped the mask off your face?’ School became terrifying."
Seren was ultimately forced to leave school halfway during her A-levels.
The Inquiry has also heard stories like Lana Collie-James, a bright child who was refused access to online education unlike other children who had Covid. She was forced to teach herself at home, Lana achieved a Grade 7 (equivalent to an A) in English, missing a Maths pass by just one or two marks. Her story is just one example of the many children left to learn alone after being locked out of classrooms.
CVF found that persistent and severe school absences among children in Clinically Vulnerable households were higher than in any other otherwise "vulnerable" group, yet their situation went unrecognised in government attendance policy. Many of these absences were the result of schools being unable or unwilling to provide safe environments for medically at-risk families.
Families reported being threatened with fines and prosecutions for following clinical advice to shield vulnerable members
In some cases, this pressure led to illegal off-rolling, the removal of children from school rolls, forcing parents into unsupported home education.
"In September 2020... the consultant said [my child] should continue to shield... the school threatened fines of £60/parent/day" "We had to off-roll" one parent told CVF.
CVF highlighted how mask-wearing by children became politicised and stigmatised, despite being an evidence-based measure of protection.
CVF is calling on government and education leaders to ensure that, in any future health emergency, policies uphold both the right to education and the right to life.
Reasonable adjustments such as hybrid and remote learning, ventilation, and safe attendance options must be guaranteed to prevent further harm.
“Children should have been given a safe choice - either clean air through affordable air filters in classrooms, or access to remote and hybrid learning,” said CVF founder Lara Wong. “The government must now improve air quality in schools as a matter of urgency, and establish a dedicated remote school to support children not only during pandemics, but also in future epidemics and for those facing long-term absences due to health needs. Our children were failed - but no child should ever again have to choose between the human rights of education and life.”