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As I eat lunch in my car I have a few questions for @GovMurphy. Yesterday he spoke about how great schools are doing and used my favorite 
line aboot how some Covid transmission in school is just to be expected. Cool. So here’s a thread.
line aboot how some Covid transmission in school is just to be expected. Cool. So here’s a thread.
The state is adamant that in school transmission isn’t occurring. Teachers I’ve spoken to all over the state are adamant it is. Some of those teachers have gotten Covid in school. Who is right? My inclination is teachers are right. Let me explain why.
We know that many young people with Covid are asymptomatic. We know masks aren’t infallible and kids struggle with social distancing. Most schools aren’t providing enough PPE or other mitigation methods for staff.
We also know that families have pandemic fatigue. They are traveling, participating in extracurriculars, eating at restaurants, gathering indoors, and then sending kids to school.
Symptomatic students aren’t required to get tested. Families can keep their child home, never get tested, and then send them back. Staff can be exposed this way.
Asymptomatic students can spread Covid during unmasked lunch, mask breaks, and just the general school day. Staff and students can get sick. Staff will be more likely to be symptomatic.
In both of those cases, the cases would not be considered “transmission in school”. And this is what is happening according to teachers who have reached out to me.
The state knows this is happening, but they also know that most teachers won’t speak out because of fears they will lose their job. It’s easy to take advantage of school staff.
Education is essential. But during a pandemic we can’t send millions of staff and students to school while also keeping every business open. We need to determine what is actually essential.
We should be taking schools remote during the upcoming holiday season. We can take that time to develop real metrics for tracking Covid. When we reopen after the holidays we can take a surgical approach to keeping schools open.
