MCPS will now send kids home for ten days based on symptoms only

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes McKnight look petty and incompetent. She has the power to question the policy provided to her. She either chose not to or rushed and did not care to read, now she’s fingerpointing. My hopes for her just went downhill.

MCPS is following CDC guidelines so you feel the super who doesn't make health policy is petty and incompetent? These anti-masker types are nuts.

If you’d read the latest update it clearly admits they are not following CDC guidelines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently the new “guidance” confirms what we’ve been hearing. If a child has “symptoms” associated with COVID (could be a runny nose) their close contacts (this has been interpreted as the entire class in many schools) are quarantined for ten days.

This is completely ludicrous and not based in science or CDC guidelines.

NOT with the new rapid tests that will be given to all schools by the end of the week.
Kids with symptoms can be rapid tested.

Is there a reason why you are quoting the OP several days after it was posted and since circumstances have changed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently the new “guidance” confirms what we’ve been hearing. If a child has “symptoms” associated with COVID (could be a runny nose) their close contacts (this has been interpreted as the entire class in many schools) are quarantined for ten days.

This is completely ludicrous and not based in science or CDC guidelines.

NOT with the new rapid tests that will be given to all schools by the end of the week.
Kids with symptoms can be rapid tested.

Is there a reason why you are quoting the OP several days after it was posted and since circumstances have changed?

Have the circumstances changed? The issue is that everyone is beholden to the kids parents opting into testing. If they don’t, everyone is still quarantined. Doesn’t make McKnight or Gayles look any better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently the new “guidance” confirms what we’ve been hearing. If a child has “symptoms” associated with COVID (could be a runny nose) their close contacts (this has been interpreted as the entire class in many schools) are quarantined for ten days.

This is completely ludicrous and not based in science or CDC guidelines.

NOT with the new rapid tests that will be given to all schools by the end of the week.
Kids with symptoms can be rapid tested.

Well, they can be if their parents agree. If their parents decline, they and their unvaccinated classmates will continue to be quarantined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So everyone who doesn't opt in now gets their kids sent hope with symptoms.

Better opt in if you want your kid staying in school.

No, because the way the current system works is that people are released from quarantine only when the person who had symptoms tests negative. They can't release themselves from quarantine from a negative test. So if the current guidance stays, and the symptomatic student hasn't opted into tested, then everyone is forced to quarantine.

They still need to rescind the guidance and go back to CDC/MD standard.

Majority of parents don't want testing or they'd opt in. So, these are the rules. Deal with it. Many parents will send their sick kids to school.

You’re not making any sense. No one is saying to send a sick kid to school or not get them tested. Also you’re misunderstanding what the random surveillance program is all about- that’s more to get a feel for the overall covid rate in schools, not root out symptomatic kids. I suspect there will be more buy in for testing symptomatic kids. But now it’s going to take weeks to set that up and get consent from parents. What a mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes McKnight look petty and incompetent. She has the power to question the policy provided to her. She either chose not to or rushed and did not care to read, now she’s fingerpointing. My hopes for her just went downhill.

You go to war with the army you have. Not the one you wish you had.

DHHS has been running roughshod over MCPS for a year and a half. About time they got called out for the absurdity.

It’s not DHHS, it’s Gayles. Let’s be clear here. He’s basically just given the county a big F-U on the way out the door. He’s probably hoping this generates hate messages that he can point to as justification.

McKnight isn't playing 12th-dimensional chess here. I'd have to assume that she believed that Gayles was operating in good faith. He wasn't, it's operationally foolish policy, there was already huge blowback, and she quickly levied all the blame on him in this update. However, by saying she's following DHHS guidance, she's effectively laid the groundwork to work with DHHS to start fixing his intentional messes next week. I'd expect some ongoing course corrections over the next few weeks until they land on something that's regionally/nationally consistent.

The problem is, once it was put out there publicly it’s going to be hard to walk back. She jumped the shark here, isn’t Gayles leaving next week? Why not just say thanks for the guidance but not actually announce anything yet. Is there someone else at DHHS taking up his mantle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They were hoping, like Biden, that covid will just go away. Its not.

You're confusing Biden with Trump.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So everyone who doesn't opt in now gets their kids sent hope with symptoms.

Better opt in if you want your kid staying in school.

No, because the way the current system works is that people are released from quarantine only when the person who had symptoms tests negative. They can't release themselves from quarantine from a negative test. So if the current guidance stays, and the symptomatic student hasn't opted into tested, then everyone is forced to quarantine.

They still need to rescind the guidance and go back to CDC/MD standard.

Majority of parents don't want testing or they'd opt in. So, these are the rules. Deal with it. Many parents will send their sick kids to school.

Nah. People are just lazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes McKnight look petty and incompetent. She has the power to question the policy provided to her. She either chose not to or rushed and did not care to read, now she’s fingerpointing. My hopes for her just went downhill.

You go to war with the army you have. Not the one you wish you had.

DHHS has been running roughshod over MCPS for a year and a half. About time they got called out for the absurdity.

It’s not DHHS, it’s Gayles. Let’s be clear here. He’s basically just given the county a big F-U on the way out the door. He’s probably hoping this generates hate messages that he can point to as justification.

McKnight isn't playing 12th-dimensional chess here. I'd have to assume that she believed that Gayles was operating in good faith. He wasn't, it's operationally foolish policy, there was already huge blowback, and she quickly levied all the blame on him in this update. However, by saying she's following DHHS guidance, she's effectively laid the groundwork to work with DHHS to start fixing his intentional messes next week. I'd expect some ongoing course corrections over the next few weeks until they land on something that's regionally/nationally consistent.

I'm sure MCPS pushed back on DHHS before publishing DHHS's quarantine protocol. It was asinine on its face and worse on close inspection. MPCS may have problems, but that guidance was unworkable and MCPS generated the blowback needed to get it removed. Pointing a finger at (or giving the finger to) DHHS/Gayles was entirely appropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes McKnight look petty and incompetent. She has the power to question the policy provided to her. She either chose not to or rushed and did not care to read, now she’s fingerpointing. My hopes for her just went downhill.

You go to war with the army you have. Not the one you wish you had.

DHHS has been running roughshod over MCPS for a year and a half. About time they got called out for the absurdity.

It’s not DHHS, it’s Gayles. Let’s be clear here. He’s basically just given the county a big F-U on the way out the door. He’s probably hoping this generates hate messages that he can point to as justification.

McKnight isn't playing 12th-dimensional chess here. I'd have to assume that she believed that Gayles was operating in good faith. He wasn't, it's operationally foolish policy, there was already huge blowback, and she quickly levied all the blame on him in this update. However, by saying she's following DHHS guidance, she's effectively laid the groundwork to work with DHHS to start fixing his intentional messes next week. I'd expect some ongoing course corrections over the next few weeks until they land on something that's regionally/nationally consistent.

The problem is, once it was put out there publicly it’s going to be hard to walk back. She jumped the shark here, isn’t Gayles leaving next week? Why not just say thanks for the guidance but not actually announce anything yet. Is there someone else at DHHS taking up his mantle?

Gayles seems to be very good at getting sympathetic attention for himself, despite being obviously incompetent. The risk of not following his guidance after the county lionized him is that he would tell everyone that MCPS is not trusting his expert advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So everyone who doesn't opt in now gets their kids sent hope with symptoms.

Better opt in if you want your kid staying in school.

No, because the way the current system works is that people are released from quarantine only when the person who had symptoms tests negative. They can't release themselves from quarantine from a negative test. So if the current guidance stays, and the symptomatic student hasn't opted into tested, then everyone is forced to quarantine.

They still need to rescind the guidance and go back to CDC/MD standard.

Majority of parents don't want testing or they'd opt in. So, these are the rules. Deal with it. Many parents will send their sick kids to school.

Nah. People are just lazy.

+1. Opt in requires effort. There are also many who don’t see the value in asymptomatic testing, but do see the value in testing symptomatic students. The problem is that now there is a lot of confusion with two different testing programs and procedures, and policies that seem to change every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently the new “guidance” confirms what we’ve been hearing. If a child has “symptoms” associated with COVID (could be a runny nose) their close contacts (this has been interpreted as the entire class in many schools) are quarantined for ten days.

This is completely ludicrous and not based in science or CDC guidelines.

NOT with the new rapid tests that will be given to all schools by the end of the week.
Kids with symptoms can be rapid tested.

Is there a reason why you are quoting the OP several days after it was posted and since circumstances have changed?

Have the circumstances changed? The issue is that everyone is beholden to the kids parents opting into testing. If they don’t, everyone is still quarantined. Doesn’t make McKnight or Gayles look any better.

Seems much more likely parents will opt in if that keeps their kids from being quarantined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This makes McKnight look petty and incompetent. She has the power to question the policy provided to her. She either chose not to or rushed and did not care to read, now she’s fingerpointing. My hopes for her just went downhill.

You go to war with the army you have. Not the one you wish you had.

DHHS has been running roughshod over MCPS for a year and a half. About time they got called out for the absurdity.

It’s not DHHS, it’s Gayles. Let’s be clear here. He’s basically just given the county a big F-U on the way out the door. He’s probably hoping this generates hate messages that he can point to as justification.

McKnight isn't playing 12th-dimensional chess here. I'd have to assume that she believed that Gayles was operating in good faith. He wasn't, it's operationally foolish policy, there was already huge blowback, and she quickly levied all the blame on him in this update. However, by saying she's following DHHS guidance, she's effectively laid the groundwork to work with DHHS to start fixing his intentional messes next week. I'd expect some ongoing course corrections over the next few weeks until they land on something that's regionally/nationally consistent.

I'm sure MCPS pushed back on DHHS before publishing DHHS's quarantine protocol. It was asinine on its face and worse on close inspection. MPCS may have problems, but that guidance was unworkable and MCPS generated the blowback needed to get it removed. Pointing a finger at (or giving the finger to) DHHS/Gayles was entirely appropriate.

But McKnight should take no responsibility for announcing and implementing what you note is an obliviously unworkable guidance from Gayles? MCPS is not some hapless bystander to events.

[Anonymous]

Several school district and county officials, including Wolff and Gayles, said the new guidelines were implemented after a conversation with MCPS, Gayles and health department officials last week. The recommendations were not given to MCPS in writing until Tuesday, five days after they were announced publicly.

On Wednesday, Gayles said that about 25% of students placed in quarantine during the first week of school were determined to be “true close contacts” of someone who tested positive for the virus.

He said he has worked with MCPS to “provide clarifications” about how the guidelines are applied, including in how to determine who is a close contact.

“In the last week, we have worked with our school health staff and disease control staff to make sure that folks are doing the due diligence in terms of reading investigations to find out more, and find out if there are alternative diagnoses that can explain those symptoms, and getting a fuller picture before that further advice is given,” Gayles said.

Wolff and Onijala explained in interviews on Wednesday morning that the testing could not be implemented sooner because the in-school health employees had been previously deployed to support the county’s vaccination and testing efforts. The employees were not available to administer the tests, as required.

“They were needed around the county in order to support vaccination and testing programs to get our numbers in a decent range, so we could open the schools,” Wolff said.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/mcps-will-use-rapid-covid-19-tests-when-students-have-possible-symptoms/

So basically DHHS and MCPS had a meeting in which Dr. Gayles said they needed to quarantine close contacts of kids with symptoms, MCPS went ahead and started sending vague guidance to schools and and everyone freaked out, then last Friday MCPS sent out written guidance which they drafted based on the verbal guidance from Dr. Gayles while quarantining entire classes of children because they didn't know how to determine close contacts (WTAF?!?!? WHAT HAVE THEY BEEN DOING ALL SUMMER?), then on Tuesday, Dr. Gayles got around to sending the written guidance? In the meantime DHHS made no plans to implement rapid testing in schools before school started and when people complained now they are scrambling? Honestly these people are truly, truly incompetent. I would expect this from a low-income jurisdiction but this is Montgomery County. We have money to pay for competent people. JFC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So everyone who doesn't opt in now gets their kids sent hope with symptoms.

Better opt in if you want your kid staying in school.

No, because the way the current system works is that people are released from quarantine only when the person who had symptoms tests negative. They can't release themselves from quarantine from a negative test. So if the current guidance stays, and the symptomatic student hasn't opted into tested, then everyone is forced to quarantine.

They still need to rescind the guidance and go back to CDC/MD standard.

Majority of parents don't want testing or they'd opt in. So, these are the rules. Deal with it. Many parents will send their sick kids to school.

Nah. People are just lazy.

+1. Opt in requires effort. There are also many who don’t see the value in asymptomatic testing, but do see the value in testing symptomatic students. The problem is that now there is a lot of confusion with two different testing programs and procedures, and policies that seem to change every day.

Yes. I do want my symptomatic kid to be tested before the entire class gets quarantined (assuming I actually sent him to school, which I wouldn't!). I do not see value in testing asymptomatic kids.