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SCHOOL THREAD
So, R. Weingarten, President of the AFT and future recipient of TIME’s inaugural Worst Person of the Year award, is out gloating about how the new CDC school “reopening” guidelines are similar to what the AFT proposed in April 2020. Yes…one year ago. 1/20
So, R. Weingarten, President of the AFT and future recipient of TIME’s inaugural Worst Person of the Year award, is out gloating about how the new CDC school “reopening” guidelines are similar to what the AFT proposed in April 2020. Yes…one year ago. 1/20
First, it is obviously preposterous to look to guidelines (from a labor union) issued in the early stages of a pandemic (including raw case numbers despite 70x testing volume now) prior to much better data/science/studies being made available. But I’ll play along.
2/20
2/20
What did we know in April ‘20 about child/school transmission? Here are 15 studies/articles along w a key quote/synopsis from each.
Again, all of this has only been further solidified over the last 10 months. I’m just pretending we're stuck in April 2020 like the AFT-CDC.
3/20
Again, all of this has only been further solidified over the last 10 months. I’m just pretending we're stuck in April 2020 like the AFT-CDC.
3/20
1. April 14, 2020 – Iceland.
“Children…are less likely to get infected than adults...[E]ven if children do get infected, they are less likely to transmit the disease." "We have not found a single instance of a child infecting parents.”
https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/blog/hunting-down-covid-19/
4/20
“Children…are less likely to get infected than adults...[E]ven if children do get infected, they are less likely to transmit the disease." "We have not found a single instance of a child infecting parents.”
https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/blog/hunting-down-covid-19/
4/20
2. March 1, 2020 –Sweden
“None of the outbreaks...are linked to schools...also no clear scientific evidence that suspending healthy schoolchildren or closing schools would reduce the risk of contagion in society even if schoolchildren were infected”
5/20 https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/nyheter-och-press/nyhetsarkiv/2020/mars/avstangning-av-friska-skolbarn-ingen-effektiv-atgard/
“None of the outbreaks...are linked to schools...also no clear scientific evidence that suspending healthy schoolchildren or closing schools would reduce the risk of contagion in society even if schoolchildren were infected”
5/20 https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/nyheter-och-press/nyhetsarkiv/2020/mars/avstangning-av-friska-skolbarn-ingen-effektiv-atgard/
3. April 1, 2020 –Netherlands
“Data from the Netherlands also confirms the...understanding: that children play a small role in the spread of the novel coronavirus. The virus is mainly spread between adults and from adult family members to children.”
6/20
https://childcarecanada.org/documents/research-policy-practice/20/05/children-and-covid-19
“Data from the Netherlands also confirms the...understanding: that children play a small role in the spread of the novel coronavirus. The virus is mainly spread between adults and from adult family members to children.”
6/20
https://childcarecanada.org/documents/research-policy-practice/20/05/children-and-covid-19
4. Netherlands (cont)
“There are no clusters in which schools would appear to be a hot spot” “And the closure of the schools has had no impact on the spread”
7/20 https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/04/dutch-reopen-primary-schools-and-daycare-but-ban-events-to-september/
“There are no clusters in which schools would appear to be a hot spot” “And the closure of the schools has had no impact on the spread”
7/20 https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/04/dutch-reopen-primary-schools-and-daycare-but-ban-events-to-september/
5. April 17 and 29, 2020 – Switzerland
“It seems that it is adults who infect children, not the other way around.”
8/20 https://www.rts.ch/info/sciences-tech/medecine/11255942-en-suisse-104-enfants-de-moins-de-10-ans-ont-ete-testes-positifs-au-covid-19.html
“It seems that it is adults who infect children, not the other way around.”
8/20 https://www.rts.ch/info/sciences-tech/medecine/11255942-en-suisse-104-enfants-de-moins-de-10-ans-ont-ete-testes-positifs-au-covid-19.html
6. Switzerland (cont) “Swiss children under 10 allowed to hug grandparents as they 'do not transmit COVID-19'” “The country's coronavirus lead says scientists ‘now know young children don't transmit the virus’”
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-swiss-children-under-10-allowed-to-hug-grandparents-as-they-do-not-transmit-covid-19-11980568
9/20
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-swiss-children-under-10-allowed-to-hug-grandparents-as-they-do-not-transmit-covid-19-11980568
9/20
7. April 11, 2020 – France
Case study of a boy with Covid-19 who, despite attending three different schools and a ski club, and interacting with 172 classmates and teachers while symptomatic, did not transmit the virus to anyone
https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/71/15/825/5819060
10/20
Case study of a boy with Covid-19 who, despite attending three different schools and a ski club, and interacting with 172 classmates and teachers while symptomatic, did not transmit the virus to anyone
https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/71/15/825/5819060
10/20
8. France (cont)
Another study confirms children are not efficient carriers. If they catch it, it is almost always by an infected adult. And the risk of the disease in children is "extremely low, we can say a thousand times lower than in adults”
11/20 https://www.bfmtv.com/sante/peu-porteurs-peu-transmetteurs-une-etude-confirme-le-role-minime-des-enfants-dans-l-epidemie-de-covid-19_AV-202005120233.html
Another study confirms children are not efficient carriers. If they catch it, it is almost always by an infected adult. And the risk of the disease in children is "extremely low, we can say a thousand times lower than in adults”
11/20 https://www.bfmtv.com/sante/peu-porteurs-peu-transmetteurs-une-etude-confirme-le-role-minime-des-enfants-dans-l-epidemie-de-covid-19_AV-202005120233.html
9. April 26, 2020 – Australia
Among 735 students and 128 staff members in close contact with initial cases, just 2 children became infected. Even more strikingly, “no teacher or staff member contracted Covid-19 from any of the initial school cases”
12/20
http://ncirs.org.au/sites/default/files/2020-04/NCIRS%20NSW%20Schools%20COVID_Summary_FINAL%20public_26%20April%202020.pdf
Among 735 students and 128 staff members in close contact with initial cases, just 2 children became infected. Even more strikingly, “no teacher or staff member contracted Covid-19 from any of the initial school cases”
12/20
http://ncirs.org.au/sites/default/files/2020-04/NCIRS%20NSW%20Schools%20COVID_Summary_FINAL%20public_26%20April%202020.pdf
10. Australia (cont)
"COVID-19 is not the flu. Far fewer children are affected by COVID-19, and the number of transmissions from children to children and children to adults is far less." “evidence does not support avoiding classroom learning"
13/20 https://www.health.gov.au/news/getting-our-kids-back-to-school-a-matter-of-trust
"COVID-19 is not the flu. Far fewer children are affected by COVID-19, and the number of transmissions from children to children and children to adults is far less." “evidence does not support avoiding classroom learning"
13/20 https://www.health.gov.au/news/getting-our-kids-back-to-school-a-matter-of-trust
11. April 20, 2020 – Norway (Date Schools Began Reopening; Article is from May)
“Getting young people back to school … has a positive effect on limiting the spread of infection compared to keeping schools closed.”
14/20 https://www.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/norska-folkhalsoinstitutet-liten-effekt-av-skolstangningar/
“Getting young people back to school … has a positive effect on limiting the spread of infection compared to keeping schools closed.”
14/20 https://www.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/norska-folkhalsoinstitutet-liten-effekt-av-skolstangningar/
12. April 3, 2020 – Canada
“There is no documented evidence of child-to-adult transmission. There are no documented cases of children bringing an infection into the home, from school or otherwise."
15/20
http://www.bccdc.ca/Health-Professionals-Site/Documents/Caring-for-children.pdf
“There is no documented evidence of child-to-adult transmission. There are no documented cases of children bringing an infection into the home, from school or otherwise."
15/20
http://www.bccdc.ca/Health-Professionals-Site/Documents/Caring-for-children.pdf
13. April 6, 2020 – Lancet: Child & Adolescent Health
“We know...that school closures are likely to have the greatest effect if the virus has low transmissibility and attack rates are higher in children. This is the opposite of COVID-19”
16/20 https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2020/apr/school-closures-play-marginal-role-containing-covid-19-are-key-restarting-society
“We know...that school closures are likely to have the greatest effect if the virus has low transmissibility and attack rates are higher in children. This is the opposite of COVID-19”
16/20 https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2020/apr/school-closures-play-marginal-role-containing-covid-19-are-key-restarting-society
14. April 18, 2020 – Italy
“We found that none of the children...in the study tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection...despite at least 13 of them living together with infected family members. This is particularly intriguing”
17/20 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.17.20053157v1
“We found that none of the children...in the study tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection...despite at least 13 of them living together with infected family members. This is particularly intriguing”
17/20 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.17.20053157v1
15. April 17, 2020 –CDC
“short to medium closures do not impact the epi curve" "modelling also shows that other mitigation efforts...have more impact on both spread of disease and health care" "Those places who closed school…have not had more success"
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/considerations-for-school-closure.pdf
“short to medium closures do not impact the epi curve" "modelling also shows that other mitigation efforts...have more impact on both spread of disease and health care" "Those places who closed school…have not had more success"
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/considerations-for-school-closure.pdf
*Bonus: Notice something? Other than the ignored CDC guidance, these are all outside the US. You might also be interested in knowing that the US just fell out of the Top 10 most innovative global economies, primarily due to education scores. 
19/20 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-03/south-korea-leads-world-in-innovation-u-s-drops-out-of-top-10
19/20 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-03/south-korea-leads-world-in-innovation-u-s-drops-out-of-top-10
Anecdotally, my 2 daughters attend separate schools. Both schools have had cases. Each time it was a parent that infected the child and the child served as a "dead-end" with no further spread to other kids, faculty, or staff.
20/20 @kerpen @KelleyKga @karenvaites @angrybklynmom
20/20 @kerpen @KelleyKga @karenvaites @angrybklynmom
