K-12 Schools & COVID

[pacearrow02]

1. False
2. Masks don't work?

I explained better what I meant....I believe masks work, I don’t think a federal mandate increases compliance to mask wearing.

What else would he do different?

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

I explained better what I meant....I believe masks work, I don’t think a federal mandate increases compliance to mask wearing.

What else would he do different?

I’ll bite even though this is a school thread.

Coordinated national response as it relates to
1. PPE
2. Testing
3. Data transparency with public/municipalities
4. Leveraging the CDC
5. More consistency of strategy and communication

Probably no impact to vaccine development.  Potentially impact to vaccine distribution.  Potential impact to treatment/therapy investment. 

[Pakuni]

I explained better what I meant....I believe masks work, I don’t think a federal mandate increases compliance to mask wearing.

What else would he do different?

1. Not hold superspreader events
2. Not encourage people to violate safety protocols
3. Not attack those who impose safety protocols
4. Not lead people to question the credibility and intentions of the scientific experts
5. Not try to strip people of health care coverage
6. Provide additional funding to increase testing and contact tracing
7. Stop pushing herd immunity as a strategy
8. Stop making false statements that a vaccine is coming any day now
9. Offer emergency paid leave for those infected, ensuring they won't be punished economically for staying home when sick

[pacearrow02]

1. Not hold superspreader events
2. Not encourage people to violate safety protocols
3. Not attack those who impose safety protocols
4. Not lead people to question the credibility and intentions of the scientific experts
5. Not try to strip people of health care coverage
6. Provide additional funding to increase testing and contact tracing
7. Stop pushing herd immunity as a strategy
8. Stop making false statements that a vaccine is coming any day now
9. Offer emergency paid leave for those infected, ensuring they won't be punished economically for staying home when sick

🤦‍♂️

[Uncle Rico]

🤦‍♂️

🙄

[The Lens]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/health/coronavirus-schools-children.html

[Skatastrophy]

LOL what?  Our school just finished week 8 of 100% face to face and we've had zero cases.  ZERO.  And we're in Wisconsin which is on fire right now.

Two nights ago in a field report from Milwaukee, NBC's Gabe Gutierrez talked about how spread is coming much more from multi household gatherings than from schools or restaurants. 

You won't find me in a bar or gathering in a friends home but I do think its ridiculous that schools are not in session.  Wear a mask, keep distance, limit room switching, temp check each morning, stay home with greater precaution than normal.   

We are in a country with mask mandates that vary by county, limited PPE in hospitals leading to extensive reuse, and no federal/state effective contact tracing. Students of all economic strata, geographic location, mental ability, and home politics returned to school at the same time. The only way that there would be no kids getting sick at school is if kids aren't able to get sick, which we know isn't true.

I'm glad your kid is okay though.

[GooooMarquette]

No you’re absolutely right about masked making a difference.  I should have explained better that a federal mask mandate won’t age a lick of difference.  I believe 80-85% of Americans are very good at wearing masks.  The other 15% won’t wear one no matter what state or federal mandate is in place.

So they wouldn’t wear them even if it was required by law?

So much for the ‘law and order’ party.

[Pakuni]

🤦‍♂️

[pacearrow02]

Strangely Joe didn’t reference anything from your list tonight.  He did say he would require social distant dining with plexiglass surrounding tables.

[Pakuni]

Strangely Joe didn’t reference anything from your list tonight.  He did say he would require social distant dining with plexiglass surrounding tables.

Wrong.
And, wrong.

[pacearrow02]

Wrong.
And, wrong.

I know you are but what am I 😛

[Pakuni]

I know you are but what am I 😛

You're someone who is wrong. Thought we'd established that already.
Good night.

[The Lens]

We are in a country with mask mandates that vary by county, limited PPE in hospitals leading to extensive reuse, and no federal/state effective contact tracing. Students of all economic strata, geographic location, mental ability, and home politics returned to school at the same time. The only way that there would be no kids getting sick at school is if kids aren't able to get sick, which we know isn't true.

I'm glad your kid is okay though.

Yeah, that’s the point.  Mandate masks and let USA run wild.  Would totally help if you signed on. 

[Skatastrophy]

Yeah, that’s the point.  Mandate masks and let USA run wild.  Would totally help if you signed on. 

Or invest in randomized testing and contact tracing so that we can get real data on this and get it under control. Your assumptions based on an 8-week school anecdote are silly.

[🏀]

Yeah, that’s the point.  Mandate masks and let USA run wild.  Would totally help if you signed on. 

Mandate masks and go wild?

70.6% of positive cases in a CDC study were ALWAYS wearing masks in restaurants and bars.

[Chili]

Mandate masks and go wild?

70.6% of positive cases in a CDC study were ALWAYS wearing masks in restaurants and bars.

How does one eat and or drink if they have a mask on?

[🏀]

How does one eat and or drink if they have a mask on?

Exactly.

[mu_hilltopper]

LOL what?  Our school just finished week 8 of 100% face to face and we've had zero cases.  ZERO.  And we're in Wisconsin which is on fire right now.

Two nights ago in a field report from Milwaukee, NBC's Gabe Gutierrez talked about how spread is coming much more from multi household gatherings than from schools or restaurants. 

First .. I think I saw that same NBC report .. he interviewed a lady in her car waiting at Miller Park for a COVID test.  She used to teach with my wife in (our) village, lived at the end of our block.

I think of your experience often, that your school has zero cases.  I pay attention to the two closest school districts to us (and you.)  One is all virtual, one is hybrid.  Both have incidents, cases, quarantines of staff and students.  The village district can't go 5 days without a new case.  (They give out zero point zero zero information, so other than "a case" it is unknown who, where, and how.)

I think all three of these schools/districts are doing 99% of the right things.  That your school has been untouched is .. just flat out miracle.    TBH, your time will come.  It's impossible for ~300 families and staff to keep a perfect bubble forever.

[The Lens]

First .. I think I saw that same NBC report .. he interviewed a lady in her car waiting at Miller Park for a COVID test.  She used to teach with my wife in (our) village, lived at the end of our block.

I think of your experience often, that your school has zero cases.  I pay attention to the two closest school districts to us (and you.)  One is all virtual, one is hybrid.  Both have incidents, cases, quarantines of staff and students.  The village district can't go 5 days without a new case.  (They give out zero point zero zero information, so other than "a case" it is unknown who, where, and how.)

I think all three of these schools/districts are doing 99% of the right things.  That your school has been untouched is .. just flat out miracle.    TBH, your time will come.  It's impossible for ~300 families and staff to keep a perfect bubble forever.

Of course we won't stay at zero, but it appears to me that we also won't be a spread agency.  It seems that science is saying masking up and going to school is safe.  If I were in charge, every school would be open and every bar would be closed.

[GooooMarquette]

Of course we won't stay at zero, but it appears to me that we also won't be a spread agency.  It seems that science is saying masking up and going to school is safe.  If I were in charge, every school would be open and every bar would be closed.

While I am not in favor of opening up every school quite yet...I would take the underlined tradeoff in a heartbeat. Whatever the rate of spread we have in schools with mask mandates, we know it is lower than in bars.

[MU82]

My daughter-in-law is a 5th-grade teacher in the Glenview Northbrook district. She sees students in person every day but the kids are on a hybrid system. I think half go 3 days one week and 2 the next, while the other half go 2 days one week and 3 the next. They have teachers dedicated to doing online stuff so that those in the classrooms, like my DIL, can focus on the in-person teaching.

Everybody wears masks, the desks are social distanced, the kids eat at their desks at lunchtime to minimize lingering in hallways, etc.

I don't believe they've had any outbreaks. It's still not "normal," of course, but she says it seems to be working OK.

If I were a parent of a school-aged kid, I think I'd be open to something like this. We're going to start something similar any day now here in NC.

These are unprecedented times. Baby steps.

[Marquette Fan]

The Elementary School near me that my 3rd grader should go to (choiced to somewhere else now) just went from 1 case and about 18 quarantined students yesterday to 7 student cases and 112 quarantined students and 17 staff members quarantined.  That's just about half their enrollment this year.  They have moved to virtual for two weeks now and one other elementary and one high school in the District are virtual for the next week.  I worry about the secondary schools in the District as they just switched from hybrid to everyone face to face for 4 days a week - the one high school has had an issue with cases recently with just the hybrid schedule.  The administration and school board were pushing to vote on a return to face to face for 5 days for everyone at the 11/11 board meeting but I don't see that happening.  The overall student cases and students quarantined in the District is by far the highest its been so far this school year right now.

[MU82]

The Elementary School near me that my 3rd grader should go to (choiced to somewhere else now) just went from 1 case and about 18 quarantined students yesterday to 7 student cases and 112 quarantined students and 17 staff members quarantined.  That's just about half their enrollment this year.  They have moved to virtual for two weeks now and one other elementary and one high school in the District are virtual for the next week.  I worry about the secondary schools in the District as they just switched from hybrid to everyone face to face for 4 days a week - the one high school has had an issue with cases recently with just the hybrid schedule.  The administration and school board were pushing to vote on a return to face to face for 5 days for everyone at the 11/11 board meeting but I don't see that happening.  The overall student cases and students quarantined in the District is by far the highest its been so far this school year right now.

Wow, that sucks.

[MU82]

From the Charlotte Observer:

Private schools from kindergarten to 12th grade across North Carolina have more COVID-19 clusters than public schools and have generally had more confirmed cases in those clusters.

As of Friday, there were 14 active coronavirus clusters reported at private K-12 schools across the state with 138 confirmed cases, according to data from the state Department of Health and Human Services.

At K-12 public schools, 11 active coronavirus clusters had been reported with a total of 79 cases.