Teenage Covid stats whizz calls on Welsh Government to reinstate school restrictions

A teenage stats whiz who has been keeping Wales updated with the latest Covid-19 stats since the pandemic began is calling for changes to restrictions in schools

Lloyd Warburton, the teenager from Aberystwyth tweeted a thread yesterday summarising the recent changes in Covid figures which, he says, demonstrate that school age children currently represent the highest infection risks.

THREAD: Having done my usual weekly Covid analysis, there are some figures that I think need to be discussed. Infections in children.

In the last week, 9,428 cases have been reported among under-20s in Wales. The vast majority of these are in people aged 10-19. 1/7 pic.twitter.com/fwMTIDuknI

— Lloyd Warburton🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@LloydCymru) September 25, 2021

He said that schools are not “objectively safe” places and that the trajectory is “unsustainable” and called on the Welsh Government to bring back most of the rules that were in place last summer.

Lloyd, who became an internet “statistics sensation”, after spending the pandemic creating a coronavirus stats website, has close to 24k followers on Twitter and posts his analysis and updates every Saturday.

He began yesterday with: “Having done my usual weekly Covid analysis, there are some figures that I think need to be discussed. Infections in children. In the last week, 9,428 cases have been reported among under-20s in Wales. The vast majority of these are in people aged 10-19.”

“In fact, 1.9% (around 1 in 50) of that entire age group has tested positive in the last week. That is 2,424 more than the previous week, and over 3 times more than the peak in December. Those figures are astronomical.”

“This graph from PHW is up to last week, but it illustrates exactly where the problem is. In school-aged children. With infections this high, it absolutely baffling that the rules that worked to keep schools safe through the spring have been torn up and thrown out the window.”

“Schools are objectively not safe under the current rules, and this trajectory is not sustainable, so I would like to ask @Jeremy_Miles and @Eluned_Morgan what their plan is to bring these numbers down. Please make schools safe again.

“If I was in charge, I would: • Make masks mandatory in class again. It worked in the spring, so why was it stopped? • Bring back self-isolation for the entire household of a confirmed Covid case. • Require close contacts (NOT whole bubbles) to self-isolate again.

“I find it difficult to look at these numbers and not think that the Welsh (and UK) Government are deliberately infecting children. I get that the new rules are designed to minimise disruption to education, but education is being severely distupted by children catching Covid.

“Schools at the moment are huge spreading vectors for the virus, but they don’t have to be. If the Welsh Government brings back most of the rules we had before summer, schools will be made safer, and less disrupted, than they are now. Sort it out.”

In his GCSEs, the Ysgol Penglais pupil received 6 A* grades, 4 As, 1 B and a P2 for his Welsh Baccalaureate,

In December, Lloyd was honoured for his efforts to record Covid statistics on the S4C show, Dathlu Dewrder (Celebrating Bravery). The special programme, responding to calls from the public to recognise his efforts, expressed gratitude to young heroes in our society, by honouring those who have been through the mill, but had shown great courage, often when their days were very dark.