MCPS Community COVID update

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I would have hoped that by now we would mention air ventilation, air filtration and masking as things that would actually help reduce transmission in the classrooms. Covid is Airborne, we fight it by concentrating on keeping it out of the air, diluting it, or removing it from the air.

If you want your kid to have more time in the classroom, think about masking at least some of the time during this uptick in cases, so it doesn't increase to a full surge.

Ask your schools to make sure their ventilation is bringing in fresh air. The CDC recommends 5 air changes an hour. Fans and open windows help. Air filters help when bringing in more fresh air is impossible.

We know the tools to keep kids healthy and in the classroom. We just need to use them

So open the windows and let the 100 degree air into the classroom?

.

Yes. Rooms are still air conditioned and windows only have to be opened a crack to improve ventilation.

You should review thermodynamics again.

If you're relying on opened windows to give you six air changes per hour, the AC certainly isn't going to be able to keep up during 90F+ days.

Just relying on better air exchange alone isn't going to help given the studies about how far airborne viruses can go. You need multiple levels of mitigation from air quality to masking to distancing, just as a start. For colds and flu, MCPS needs to do daily cleanings, especially in MS and HS where kids go between 7-8 classes a day and lunch plus extra activities.

Its stilly to argue about better ventilation when its not going to do anything when kids are sitting very close and the halls are jammed packed.

And that is when improved ventilation can have the biggest impact. Amazing isn’t it?

What on earth are you talking about? They cannot improve ventilation enough to stop covid given there is no social distancing, no masking and people send in their kids sick as they are too selfish to stay home and care for them. Please show us the studies where improved ventilation alone will stop covid. I have googled and cannot find any.

Too bad your google is broken.
Yes, improving ventilation stops covid transmission. Mcps knows this that is why they have spent millions to monitor indoor air. They just aren’t going to tell you what their data shows because Mcknight is not a fan of open communication.

DP- if you really cared about the kids and teachers health you’d help us with our broken google skills so we could be more informed and help advocate. But sadly it sounds like you are making things up.

Exactly, please show us where air quality alone will stop transmission in HS of 2400-3400 students, especially in the halls and other tighly packed areas during class exchanges? Monitoring the air quality is different than monitoring if Covid is transmitted. Many of the schools at best have portable air filters, but not all the schools, classrooms and halls have them.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Unless my kid is exhibiting symptoms, my kid going to school. At this point, it's no worse than the flu, and we should treat it as such.

It is no worse than influenza except for when it is worse than influenza.

For the vast vast majority of people, it is not worse than the flu.

If you didn't quarantine for 5 days after being exposed to the flu but had no symptoms, then you don't need to with covid.

Every year, some people die from complications from the flu, yet we didn't force kids to quarantine for just being exposed.

I get that we needed to quarantine when covid first hit because we didn't know enough about the virus, and also we did not have a vax, but we do now, and it's no worse than the flu.

Except for the people for whom it is worse than influenza.

C’mon. You know we’re talking about the vast vast majority of people. Why do you keep saying that?

I guess you don’t drive either. Because driving is relatively safe - most people don’t die in an accident. I know I know - except for the people who have died in a car accident

Do you use seatbelts? Airbags? Drive the speed limit? Obey traffic lights? Use car seats? Layered mitigation does wonders. We are g doing the same for covid

Part of layered mitigation, for covid, is staying home when you're sick, to reduce the possibilities of infecting other people with an infectious disease. Masks are another part of layered mitigation, especially in health care settings.

High-quality masks are used as personal protective equipment to protect staff from acquiring illnesses from patients known to have highly infectious diseases.

There wasn’t universal masking in health care settings before covid, and there isn’t now. If you’re worried, wear a mask to protect yourself— just like doctors and nurses who did so while directly treating unmasked patients with covid.

There's a lot more now, and it really ought to be standard, just like gloves are standard in health care settings. As you know, masks are more effective when everyone is wearing a mask.

Gloves aren’t standard in every health care setting or interaction. And there certainly isn't universal "gloving" for providers and patients. Like masks, gloves are primarily personal protective equipment to protect health care workers from acquiring infections from bodily fluids.

Are masks more effective at preventing transmissions when everyone wears them? Intuitively you would expect so, but there really isn't good data demonstrating a practical effect at reducing transmissions in real-world settings. Even if we assume there is a benefit, we very regularly make choices that are less than the best available protection. Did you install a five-point harness in your car for yourself, or do you continue to use a three-point seat belt?

I'm really, really tired of the argument that we should accept easily-mitigable risks in health care, on grounds that we accept uniquely (compared to other wealthy countries) high risks in driving.

At the basis of all of these arguments against masks, in limited settings, to prevent transmission of communicable things, is: "I don't wanna wear a mask." Which, ok, you don't wanna wear a mask. So say so. Don't dress it up. We know that masks would work, if people would wear them.

no we do not know that masks would work in a classroom of kindergarteners. nobody is going to put 5 year olds in fit-tested n95s that stay on 100% of the day. and we also know that covering up kindergarteners and their teacher’s faces has repercussions on learning and socializing. and we also know that covid is low risk now. ignoring all this and insisting that “masks work!!!” is idiotic.

A teacher masking in a classroom is just fine. Covid is not low risk for many. It may be low risk for you, but not for the rest of us.

It is a fact that the population that is at risk of severe consequences is in fact the minority, and not the majority. You cut into your credibility and message when you pretend otherwise.

Despite being in the numerical minority, I think my life is important enough that other people should GAF. Same goes for the life of the teacher.

Sorry, but you don’t make policies based on the numerical minority. Public health doesn’t work that way.

LOL hey how many people ever got polio? You might want to check those numbers.

The vaccine was developed so no one would get polio. It wasn’t developed to protect a few who were most vulnerable. That’s the whole point of vaccines.

With polio everyone was vulnerable.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless my kid is exhibiting symptoms, my kid going to school. At this point, it's no worse than the flu, and we should treat it as such.

It is no worse than influenza except for when it is worse than influenza.

For the vast vast majority of people, it is not worse than the flu.

If you didn't quarantine for 5 days after being exposed to the flu but had no symptoms, then you don't need to with covid.

Every year, some people die from complications from the flu, yet we didn't force kids to quarantine for just being exposed.

I get that we needed to quarantine when covid first hit because we didn't know enough about the virus, and also we did not have a vax, but we do now, and it's no worse than the flu.

Except for the people for whom it is worse than influenza.

C’mon. You know we’re talking about the vast vast majority of people. Why do you keep saying that?

I guess you don’t drive either. Because driving is relatively safe - most people don’t die in an accident. I know I know - except for the people who have died in a car accident

Do you use seatbelts? Airbags? Drive the speed limit? Obey traffic lights? Use car seats? Layered mitigation does wonders. We are g doing the same for covid

Part of layered mitigation, for covid, is staying home when you're sick, to reduce the possibilities of infecting other people with an infectious disease. Masks are another part of layered mitigation, especially in health care settings.

High-quality masks are used as personal protective equipment to protect staff from acquiring illnesses from patients known to have highly infectious diseases.

There wasn’t universal masking in health care settings before covid, and there isn’t now. If you’re worried, wear a mask to protect yourself— just like doctors and nurses who did so while directly treating unmasked patients with covid.

There's a lot more now, and it really ought to be standard, just like gloves are standard in health care settings. As you know, masks are more effective when everyone is wearing a mask.

Gloves aren’t standard in every health care setting or interaction. And there certainly isn't universal "gloving" for providers and patients. Like masks, gloves are primarily personal protective equipment to protect health care workers from acquiring infections from bodily fluids.

Are masks more effective at preventing transmissions when everyone wears them? Intuitively you would expect so, but there really isn't good data demonstrating a practical effect at reducing transmissions in real-world settings. Even if we assume there is a benefit, we very regularly make choices that are less than the best available protection. Did you install a five-point harness in your car for yourself, or do you continue to use a three-point seat belt?

I'm really, really tired of the argument that we should accept easily-mitigable risks in health care, on grounds that we accept uniquely (compared to other wealthy countries) high risks in driving.

At the basis of all of these arguments against masks, in limited settings, to prevent transmission of communicable things, is: "I don't wanna wear a mask." Which, ok, you don't wanna wear a mask. So say so. Don't dress it up. We know that masks would work, if people would wear them.

no we do not know that masks would work in a classroom of kindergarteners. nobody is going to put 5 year olds in fit-tested n95s that stay on 100% of the day. and we also know that covering up kindergarteners and their teacher’s faces has repercussions on learning and socializing. and we also know that covid is low risk now. ignoring all this and insisting that “masks work!!!” is idiotic.

A teacher masking in a classroom is just fine. Covid is not low risk for many. It may be low risk for you, but not for the rest of us.

It is a fact that the population that is at risk of severe consequences is in fact the minority, and not the majority. You cut into your credibility and message when you pretend otherwise.

Despite being in the numerical minority, I think my life is important enough that other people should GAF. Same goes for the life of the teacher.

Sorry, but you don’t make policies based on the numerical minority. Public health doesn’t work that way.

LOL hey how many people ever got polio? You might want to check those numbers.

The vaccine was developed so no one would get polio. It wasn’t developed to protect a few who were most vulnerable. That’s the whole point of vaccines.

Neither were the covid vaccines. We just got lucky with the polio vaccines. Vaccines that are effective at reducing severity of illness are still vaccines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless my kid is exhibiting symptoms, my kid going to school. At this point, it's no worse than the flu, and we should treat it as such.

It is no worse than influenza except for when it is worse than influenza.

For the vast vast majority of people, it is not worse than the flu.

If you didn't quarantine for 5 days after being exposed to the flu but had no symptoms, then you don't need to with covid.

Every year, some people die from complications from the flu, yet we didn't force kids to quarantine for just being exposed.

I get that we needed to quarantine when covid first hit because we didn't know enough about the virus, and also we did not have a vax, but we do now, and it's no worse than the flu.

Except for the people for whom it is worse than influenza.

C’mon. You know we’re talking about the vast vast majority of people. Why do you keep saying that?

I guess you don’t drive either. Because driving is relatively safe - most people don’t die in an accident. I know I know - except for the people who have died in a car accident

Do you use seatbelts? Airbags? Drive the speed limit? Obey traffic lights? Use car seats? Layered mitigation does wonders. We are g doing the same for covid

Part of layered mitigation, for covid, is staying home when you're sick, to reduce the possibilities of infecting other people with an infectious disease. Masks are another part of layered mitigation, especially in health care settings.

High-quality masks are used as personal protective equipment to protect staff from acquiring illnesses from patients known to have highly infectious diseases.

There wasn’t universal masking in health care settings before covid, and there isn’t now. If you’re worried, wear a mask to protect yourself— just like doctors and nurses who did so while directly treating unmasked patients with covid.

There's a lot more now, and it really ought to be standard, just like gloves are standard in health care settings. As you know, masks are more effective when everyone is wearing a mask.

Gloves aren’t standard in every health care setting or interaction. And there certainly isn't universal "gloving" for providers and patients. Like masks, gloves are primarily personal protective equipment to protect health care workers from acquiring infections from bodily fluids.

Are masks more effective at preventing transmissions when everyone wears them? Intuitively you would expect so, but there really isn't good data demonstrating a practical effect at reducing transmissions in real-world settings. Even if we assume there is a benefit, we very regularly make choices that are less than the best available protection. Did you install a five-point harness in your car for yourself, or do you continue to use a three-point seat belt?

I'm really, really tired of the argument that we should accept easily-mitigable risks in health care, on grounds that we accept uniquely (compared to other wealthy countries) high risks in driving.

At the basis of all of these arguments against masks, in limited settings, to prevent transmission of communicable things, is: "I don't wanna wear a mask." Which, ok, you don't wanna wear a mask. So say so. Don't dress it up. We know that masks would work, if people would wear them.

no we do not know that masks would work in a classroom of kindergarteners. nobody is going to put 5 year olds in fit-tested n95s that stay on 100% of the day. and we also know that covering up kindergarteners and their teacher’s faces has repercussions on learning and socializing. and we also know that covid is low risk now. ignoring all this and insisting that “masks work!!!” is idiotic.

A teacher masking in a classroom is just fine. Covid is not low risk for many. It may be low risk for you, but not for the rest of us.

It is a fact that the population that is at risk of severe consequences is in fact the minority, and not the majority. You cut into your credibility and message when you pretend otherwise.

Despite being in the numerical minority, I think my life is important enough that other people should GAF. Same goes for the life of the teacher.

Sorry, but you don’t make policies based on the numerical minority. Public health doesn’t work that way.

LOL hey how many people ever got polio? You might want to check those numbers.

The vaccine was developed so no one would get polio. It wasn’t developed to protect a few who were most vulnerable. That’s the whole point of vaccines.

With polio everyone was vulnerable.

In children, 70% of polio cases were asymptomatic, and another 24% of polio cases were a minor illness (low fever, sore throat, and complete recovery in less than a week). 94% of children recovering from polio with no problems! What was all the fuss about? We don't make policies based on the numerical minority! Public health doesn't work that way!

/s

data source: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/polio.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless my kid is exhibiting symptoms, my kid going to school. At this point, it's no worse than the flu, and we should treat it as such.

It is no worse than influenza except for when it is worse than influenza.

For the vast vast majority of people, it is not worse than the flu.

If you didn't quarantine for 5 days after being exposed to the flu but had no symptoms, then you don't need to with covid.

Every year, some people die from complications from the flu, yet we didn't force kids to quarantine for just being exposed.

I get that we needed to quarantine when covid first hit because we didn't know enough about the virus, and also we did not have a vax, but we do now, and it's no worse than the flu.

Except for the people for whom it is worse than influenza.

C’mon. You know we’re talking about the vast vast majority of people. Why do you keep saying that?

I guess you don’t drive either. Because driving is relatively safe - most people don’t die in an accident. I know I know - except for the people who have died in a car accident

Do you use seatbelts? Airbags? Drive the speed limit? Obey traffic lights? Use car seats? Layered mitigation does wonders. We are g doing the same for covid

Part of layered mitigation, for covid, is staying home when you're sick, to reduce the possibilities of infecting other people with an infectious disease. Masks are another part of layered mitigation, especially in health care settings.

High-quality masks are used as personal protective equipment to protect staff from acquiring illnesses from patients known to have highly infectious diseases.

There wasn’t universal masking in health care settings before covid, and there isn’t now. If you’re worried, wear a mask to protect yourself— just like doctors and nurses who did so while directly treating unmasked patients with covid.

There's a lot more now, and it really ought to be standard, just like gloves are standard in health care settings. As you know, masks are more effective when everyone is wearing a mask.

Gloves aren’t standard in every health care setting or interaction. And there certainly isn't universal "gloving" for providers and patients. Like masks, gloves are primarily personal protective equipment to protect health care workers from acquiring infections from bodily fluids.

Are masks more effective at preventing transmissions when everyone wears them? Intuitively you would expect so, but there really isn't good data demonstrating a practical effect at reducing transmissions in real-world settings. Even if we assume there is a benefit, we very regularly make choices that are less than the best available protection. Did you install a five-point harness in your car for yourself, or do you continue to use a three-point seat belt?

I'm really, really tired of the argument that we should accept easily-mitigable risks in health care, on grounds that we accept uniquely (compared to other wealthy countries) high risks in driving.

At the basis of all of these arguments against masks, in limited settings, to prevent transmission of communicable things, is: "I don't wanna wear a mask." Which, ok, you don't wanna wear a mask. So say so. Don't dress it up. We know that masks would work, if people would wear them.

no we do not know that masks would work in a classroom of kindergarteners. nobody is going to put 5 year olds in fit-tested n95s that stay on 100% of the day. and we also know that covering up kindergarteners and their teacher’s faces has repercussions on learning and socializing. and we also know that covid is low risk now. ignoring all this and insisting that “masks work!!!” is idiotic.

A teacher masking in a classroom is just fine. Covid is not low risk for many. It may be low risk for you, but not for the rest of us.

It is a fact that the population that is at risk of severe consequences is in fact the minority, and not the majority. You cut into your credibility and message when you pretend otherwise.

Despite being in the numerical minority, I think my life is important enough that other people should GAF. Same goes for the life of the teacher.

Sorry, but you don’t make policies based on the numerical minority. Public health doesn’t work that way.

LOL hey how many people ever got polio? You might want to check those numbers.

The vaccine was developed so no one would get polio. It wasn’t developed to protect a few who were most vulnerable. That’s the whole point of vaccines.

Neither were the covid vaccines. We just got lucky with the polio vaccines. Vaccines that are effective at reducing severity of illness are still vaccines.

Lucky? Polio was around a long time before a successful vaccine was developed. The polio virus is also a different type of virus than the one that causes covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless my kid is exhibiting symptoms, my kid going to school. At this point, it's no worse than the flu, and we should treat it as such.

It is no worse than influenza except for when it is worse than influenza.

For the vast vast majority of people, it is not worse than the flu.

If you didn't quarantine for 5 days after being exposed to the flu but had no symptoms, then you don't need to with covid.

Every year, some people die from complications from the flu, yet we didn't force kids to quarantine for just being exposed.

I get that we needed to quarantine when covid first hit because we didn't know enough about the virus, and also we did not have a vax, but we do now, and it's no worse than the flu.

Except for the people for whom it is worse than influenza.

C’mon. You know we’re talking about the vast vast majority of people. Why do you keep saying that?

I guess you don’t drive either. Because driving is relatively safe - most people don’t die in an accident. I know I know - except for the people who have died in a car accident

Do you use seatbelts? Airbags? Drive the speed limit? Obey traffic lights? Use car seats? Layered mitigation does wonders. We are g doing the same for covid

Part of layered mitigation, for covid, is staying home when you're sick, to reduce the possibilities of infecting other people with an infectious disease. Masks are another part of layered mitigation, especially in health care settings.

High-quality masks are used as personal protective equipment to protect staff from acquiring illnesses from patients known to have highly infectious diseases.

There wasn’t universal masking in health care settings before covid, and there isn’t now. If you’re worried, wear a mask to protect yourself— just like doctors and nurses who did so while directly treating unmasked patients with covid.

There's a lot more now, and it really ought to be standard, just like gloves are standard in health care settings. As you know, masks are more effective when everyone is wearing a mask.

Gloves aren’t standard in every health care setting or interaction. And there certainly isn't universal "gloving" for providers and patients. Like masks, gloves are primarily personal protective equipment to protect health care workers from acquiring infections from bodily fluids.

Are masks more effective at preventing transmissions when everyone wears them? Intuitively you would expect so, but there really isn't good data demonstrating a practical effect at reducing transmissions in real-world settings. Even if we assume there is a benefit, we very regularly make choices that are less than the best available protection. Did you install a five-point harness in your car for yourself, or do you continue to use a three-point seat belt?

I'm really, really tired of the argument that we should accept easily-mitigable risks in health care, on grounds that we accept uniquely (compared to other wealthy countries) high risks in driving.

At the basis of all of these arguments against masks, in limited settings, to prevent transmission of communicable things, is: "I don't wanna wear a mask." Which, ok, you don't wanna wear a mask. So say so. Don't dress it up. We know that masks would work, if people would wear them.

no we do not know that masks would work in a classroom of kindergarteners. nobody is going to put 5 year olds in fit-tested n95s that stay on 100% of the day. and we also know that covering up kindergarteners and their teacher’s faces has repercussions on learning and socializing. and we also know that covid is low risk now. ignoring all this and insisting that “masks work!!!” is idiotic.

A teacher masking in a classroom is just fine. Covid is not low risk for many. It may be low risk for you, but not for the rest of us.

It is a fact that the population that is at risk of severe consequences is in fact the minority, and not the majority. You cut into your credibility and message when you pretend otherwise.

Despite being in the numerical minority, I think my life is important enough that other people should GAF. Same goes for the life of the teacher.

Sorry, but you don’t make policies based on the numerical minority. Public health doesn’t work that way.

LOL hey how many people ever got polio? You might want to check those numbers.

The vaccine was developed so no one would get polio. It wasn’t developed to protect a few who were most vulnerable. That’s the whole point of vaccines.

Neither were the covid vaccines. We just got lucky with the polio vaccines. Vaccines that are effective at reducing severity of illness are still vaccines.

Lucky? Polio was around a long time before a successful vaccine was developed. The polio virus is also a different type of virus than the one that causes covid.

Agreed, we also got lucky with the covid vaccines, and it's ironic (and depressing) that so many vaccinated people are all ho-hum about them. To say nothing about the vaccine deniers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless my kid is exhibiting symptoms, my kid going to school. At this point, it's no worse than the flu, and we should treat it as such.

It is no worse than influenza except for when it is worse than influenza.

For the vast vast majority of people, it is not worse than the flu.

If you didn't quarantine for 5 days after being exposed to the flu but had no symptoms, then you don't need to with covid.

Every year, some people die from complications from the flu, yet we didn't force kids to quarantine for just being exposed.

I get that we needed to quarantine when covid first hit because we didn't know enough about the virus, and also we did not have a vax, but we do now, and it's no worse than the flu.

Except for the people for whom it is worse than influenza.

C’mon. You know we’re talking about the vast vast majority of people. Why do you keep saying that?

I guess you don’t drive either. Because driving is relatively safe - most people don’t die in an accident. I know I know - except for the people who have died in a car accident

Do you use seatbelts? Airbags? Drive the speed limit? Obey traffic lights? Use car seats? Layered mitigation does wonders. We are g doing the same for covid

Part of layered mitigation, for covid, is staying home when you're sick, to reduce the possibilities of infecting other people with an infectious disease. Masks are another part of layered mitigation, especially in health care settings.

High-quality masks are used as personal protective equipment to protect staff from acquiring illnesses from patients known to have highly infectious diseases.

There wasn’t universal masking in health care settings before covid, and there isn’t now. If you’re worried, wear a mask to protect yourself— just like doctors and nurses who did so while directly treating unmasked patients with covid.

There's a lot more now, and it really ought to be standard, just like gloves are standard in health care settings. As you know, masks are more effective when everyone is wearing a mask.

Gloves aren’t standard in every health care setting or interaction. And there certainly isn't universal "gloving" for providers and patients. Like masks, gloves are primarily personal protective equipment to protect health care workers from acquiring infections from bodily fluids.

Are masks more effective at preventing transmissions when everyone wears them? Intuitively you would expect so, but there really isn't good data demonstrating a practical effect at reducing transmissions in real-world settings. Even if we assume there is a benefit, we very regularly make choices that are less than the best available protection. Did you install a five-point harness in your car for yourself, or do you continue to use a three-point seat belt?

I'm really, really tired of the argument that we should accept easily-mitigable risks in health care, on grounds that we accept uniquely (compared to other wealthy countries) high risks in driving.

At the basis of all of these arguments against masks, in limited settings, to prevent transmission of communicable things, is: "I don't wanna wear a mask." Which, ok, you don't wanna wear a mask. So say so. Don't dress it up. We know that masks would work, if people would wear them.

no we do not know that masks would work in a classroom of kindergarteners. nobody is going to put 5 year olds in fit-tested n95s that stay on 100% of the day. and we also know that covering up kindergarteners and their teacher’s faces has repercussions on learning and socializing. and we also know that covid is low risk now. ignoring all this and insisting that “masks work!!!” is idiotic.

A teacher masking in a classroom is just fine. Covid is not low risk for many. It may be low risk for you, but not for the rest of us.

It is a fact that the population that is at risk of severe consequences is in fact the minority, and not the majority. You cut into your credibility and message when you pretend otherwise.

Despite being in the numerical minority, I think my life is important enough that other people should GAF. Same goes for the life of the teacher.

Sorry, but you don’t make policies based on the numerical minority. Public health doesn’t work that way.

LOL hey how many people ever got polio? You might want to check those numbers.

The vaccine was developed so no one would get polio. It wasn’t developed to protect a few who were most vulnerable. That’s the whole point of vaccines.

Neither were the covid vaccines. We just got lucky with the polio vaccines. Vaccines that are effective at reducing severity of illness are still vaccines.

Lucky? Polio was around a long time before a successful vaccine was developed. The polio virus is also a different type of virus than the one that causes covid.

Agreed, we also got lucky with the covid vaccines, and it's ironic (and depressing) that so many vaccinated people are all ho-hum about them. To say nothing about the vaccine deniers.

To be fair, I think some of this can be blamed on how the vaccines were initially marketed. The companies were touting the effectiveness at preventing illness altogether. There wasn't a great discussion, aimed at laypeople anyway, about how virus mutations would change the effectiveness of illness prevention. If it had been marketed more akin to a flu vaccine, maybe there would have been less backlash. The expectations were just too high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have hoped that by now we would mention air ventilation, air filtration and masking as things that would actually help reduce transmission in the classrooms. Covid is Airborne, we fight it by concentrating on keeping it out of the air, diluting it, or removing it from the air.

If you want your kid to have more time in the classroom, think about masking at least some of the time during this uptick in cases, so it doesn't increase to a full surge.

Ask your schools to make sure their ventilation is bringing in fresh air. The CDC recommends 5 air changes an hour. Fans and open windows help. Air filters help when bringing in more fresh air is impossible.

We know the tools to keep kids healthy and in the classroom. We just need to use them

So open the windows and let the 100 degree air into the classroom?

.

Yes. Rooms are still air conditioned and windows only have to be opened a crack to improve ventilation.

You should review thermodynamics again.

If you're relying on opened windows to give you six air changes per hour, the AC certainly isn't going to be able to keep up during 90F+ days.

Just relying on better air exchange alone isn't going to help given the studies about how far airborne viruses can go. You need multiple levels of mitigation from air quality to masking to distancing, just as a start. For colds and flu, MCPS needs to do daily cleanings, especially in MS and HS where kids go between 7-8 classes a day and lunch plus extra activities.

Its stilly to argue about better ventilation when its not going to do anything when kids are sitting very close and the halls are jammed packed.

And that is when improved ventilation can have the biggest impact. Amazing isn’t it?

What on earth are you talking about? They cannot improve ventilation enough to stop covid given there is no social distancing, no masking and people send in their kids sick as they are too selfish to stay home and care for them. Please show us the studies where improved ventilation alone will stop covid. I have googled and cannot find any.

Too bad your google is broken.
Yes, improving ventilation stops covid transmission. Mcps knows this that is why they have spent millions to monitor indoor air. They just aren’t going to tell you what their data shows because Mcknight is not a fan of open communication.

DP- if you really cared about the kids and teachers health you’d help us with our broken google skills so we could be more informed and help advocate. But sadly it sounds like you are making things up.

Exactly, please show us where air quality alone will stop transmission in HS of 2400-3400 students, especially in the halls and other tighly packed areas during class exchanges? Monitoring the air quality is different than monitoring if Covid is transmitted. Many of the schools at best have portable air filters, but not all the schools, classrooms and halls have them.

Try again. Nothing true in what you wrote but it makes you feel good to not care. Enjoy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have hoped that by now we would mention air ventilation, air filtration and masking as things that would actually help reduce transmission in the classrooms. Covid is Airborne, we fight it by concentrating on keeping it out of the air, diluting it, or removing it from the air.

If you want your kid to have more time in the classroom, think about masking at least some of the time during this uptick in cases, so it doesn't increase to a full surge.

Ask your schools to make sure their ventilation is bringing in fresh air. The CDC recommends 5 air changes an hour. Fans and open windows help. Air filters help when bringing in more fresh air is impossible.

We know the tools to keep kids healthy and in the classroom. We just need to use them

So open the windows and let the 100 degree air into the classroom?

.

Yes. Rooms are still air conditioned and windows only have to be opened a crack to improve ventilation.

You should review thermodynamics again.

If you're relying on opened windows to give you six air changes per hour, the AC certainly isn't going to be able to keep up during 90F+ days.

Just relying on better air exchange alone isn't going to help given the studies about how far airborne viruses can go. You need multiple levels of mitigation from air quality to masking to distancing, just as a start. For colds and flu, MCPS needs to do daily cleanings, especially in MS and HS where kids go between 7-8 classes a day and lunch plus extra activities.

Its stilly to argue about better ventilation when its not going to do anything when kids are sitting very close and the halls are jammed packed.

And that is when improved ventilation can have the biggest impact. Amazing isn’t it?

What on earth are you talking about? They cannot improve ventilation enough to stop covid given there is no social distancing, no masking and people send in their kids sick as they are too selfish to stay home and care for them. Please show us the studies where improved ventilation alone will stop covid. I have googled and cannot find any.

Too bad your google is broken.
Yes, improving ventilation stops covid transmission. Mcps knows this that is why they have spent millions to monitor indoor air. They just aren’t going to tell you what their data shows because Mcknight is not a fan of open communication.

Wasn’t this hashed out over and over in 2020/2021? If you weren’t successful convincing MCPS to use the open window strategy then, you’re certainly not going to now, especially with temps in the 90s.

MCPS doesn’t want to stop anyone from getting sick. That was never hashed out, it is their policy.

There is no learning at the Board of Education. Child are disposable is the policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have hoped that by now we would mention air ventilation, air filtration and masking as things that would actually help reduce transmission in the classrooms. Covid is Airborne, we fight it by concentrating on keeping it out of the air, diluting it, or removing it from the air.

If you want your kid to have more time in the classroom, think about masking at least some of the time during this uptick in cases, so it doesn't increase to a full surge.

Ask your schools to make sure their ventilation is bringing in fresh air. The CDC recommends 5 air changes an hour. Fans and open windows help. Air filters help when bringing in more fresh air is impossible.

We know the tools to keep kids healthy and in the classroom. We just need to use them

So open the windows and let the 100 degree air into the classroom?

.

Yes. Rooms are still air conditioned and windows only have to be opened a crack to improve ventilation.

You should review thermodynamics again.

If you're relying on opened windows to give you six air changes per hour, the AC certainly isn't going to be able to keep up during 90F+ days.

Just relying on better air exchange alone isn't going to help given the studies about how far airborne viruses can go. You need multiple levels of mitigation from air quality to masking to distancing, just as a start. For colds and flu, MCPS needs to do daily cleanings, especially in MS and HS where kids go between 7-8 classes a day and lunch plus extra activities.

Its stilly to argue about better ventilation when its not going to do anything when kids are sitting very close and the halls are jammed packed.

And that is when improved ventilation can have the biggest impact. Amazing isn’t it?

What on earth are you talking about? They cannot improve ventilation enough to stop covid given there is no social distancing, no masking and people send in their kids sick as they are too selfish to stay home and care for them. Please show us the studies where improved ventilation alone will stop covid. I have googled and cannot find any.

Too bad your google is broken.
Yes, improving ventilation stops covid transmission. Mcps knows this that is why they have spent millions to monitor indoor air. They just aren’t going to tell you what their data shows because Mcknight is not a fan of open communication.

Sounds like you should write a FOIA request. Until then, you look like a troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/publicinfo/community/school-year-2023-2024/Community-message-20230906.html

This is a nice sentiment, but we can’t all stay home when we are sick. I am an MCPS employee and I need my sick days for doctor’s visits for myself and children.

Our society only supports certain professions staying home when we don’t feel well. Do they really think all of the teachers and kids with a stuffy nose and cough are going to stay home for over a week until they feel better? Lots of people COVID Meg but walking around sick.

Such days are not for doctors visits or sick kids they are for when you are sick at most private places

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/publicinfo/community/school-year-2023-2024/Community-message-20230906.html

This is a nice sentiment, but we can’t all stay home when we are sick. I am an MCPS employee and I need my sick days for doctor’s visits for myself and children.

Our society only supports certain professions staying home when we don’t feel well. Do they really think all of the teachers and kids with a stuffy nose and cough are going to stay home for over a week until they feel better? Lots of people COVID Meg but walking around sick.

Such days are not for doctors visits or sick kids they are for when you are sick at most private places

Such restrictions are illegal in Maryland.

https://www.dllr.state.md.us/paidleave/paidleavefaqs.shtml#perm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless my kid is exhibiting symptoms, my kid going to school. At this point, it's no worse than the flu, and we should treat it as such.

It is no worse than influenza except for when it is worse than influenza.

For the vast vast majority of people, it is not worse than the flu.

If you didn't quarantine for 5 days after being exposed to the flu but had no symptoms, then you don't need to with covid.

Every year, some people die from complications from the flu, yet we didn't force kids to quarantine for just being exposed.

I get that we needed to quarantine when covid first hit because we didn't know enough about the virus, and also we did not have a vax, but we do now, and it's no worse than the flu.

Except for the people for whom it is worse than influenza.

C’mon. You know we’re talking about the vast vast majority of people. Why do you keep saying that?

I guess you don’t drive either. Because driving is relatively safe - most people don’t die in an accident. I know I know - except for the people who have died in a car accident

Do you use seatbelts? Airbags? Drive the speed limit? Obey traffic lights? Use car seats? Layered mitigation does wonders. We are g doing the same for covid

Part of layered mitigation, for covid, is staying home when you're sick, to reduce the possibilities of infecting other people with an infectious disease. Masks are another part of layered mitigation, especially in health care settings.

High-quality masks are used as personal protective equipment to protect staff from acquiring illnesses from patients known to have highly infectious diseases.

There wasn’t universal masking in health care settings before covid, and there isn’t now. If you’re worried, wear a mask to protect yourself— just like doctors and nurses who did so while directly treating unmasked patients with covid.

There's a lot more now, and it really ought to be standard, just like gloves are standard in health care settings. As you know, masks are more effective when everyone is wearing a mask.

Gloves aren’t standard in every health care setting or interaction. And there certainly isn't universal "gloving" for providers and patients. Like masks, gloves are primarily personal protective equipment to protect health care workers from acquiring infections from bodily fluids.

Are masks more effective at preventing transmissions when everyone wears them? Intuitively you would expect so, but there really isn't good data demonstrating a practical effect at reducing transmissions in real-world settings. Even if we assume there is a benefit, we very regularly make choices that are less than the best available protection. Did you install a five-point harness in your car for yourself, or do you continue to use a three-point seat belt?

I'm really, really tired of the argument that we should accept easily-mitigable risks in health care, on grounds that we accept uniquely (compared to other wealthy countries) high risks in driving.

At the basis of all of these arguments against masks, in limited settings, to prevent transmission of communicable things, is: "I don't wanna wear a mask." Which, ok, you don't wanna wear a mask. So say so. Don't dress it up. We know that masks would work, if people would wear them.

no we do not know that masks would work in a classroom of kindergarteners. nobody is going to put 5 year olds in fit-tested n95s that stay on 100% of the day. and we also know that covering up kindergarteners and their teacher’s faces has repercussions on learning and socializing. and we also know that covid is low risk now. ignoring all this and insisting that “masks work!!!” is idiotic.

A teacher masking in a classroom is just fine. Covid is not low risk for many. It may be low risk for you, but not for the rest of us.

It is a fact that the population that is at risk of severe consequences is in fact the minority, and not the majority. You cut into your credibility and message when you pretend otherwise.

Despite being in the numerical minority, I think my life is important enough that other people should GAF. Same goes for the life of the teacher.

Sorry, but you don’t make policies based on the numerical minority. Public health doesn’t work that way.

LOL hey how many people ever got polio? You might want to check those numbers.

The vaccine was developed so no one would get polio. It wasn’t developed to protect a few who were most vulnerable. That’s the whole point of vaccines.

Neither were the covid vaccines. We just got lucky with the polio vaccines. Vaccines that are effective at reducing severity of illness are still vaccines.

Lucky? Polio was around a long time before a successful vaccine was developed. The polio virus is also a different type of virus than the one that causes covid.

Agreed, we also got lucky with the covid vaccines, and it's ironic (and depressing) that so many vaccinated people are all ho-hum about them. To say nothing about the vaccine deniers.

You need to stop hiding behind these vaccines. They are not stopping transmission and the only way to stop this is with a better vaccine or behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have hoped that by now we would mention air ventilation, air filtration and masking as things that would actually help reduce transmission in the classrooms. Covid is Airborne, we fight it by concentrating on keeping it out of the air, diluting it, or removing it from the air.

If you want your kid to have more time in the classroom, think about masking at least some of the time during this uptick in cases, so it doesn't increase to a full surge.

Ask your schools to make sure their ventilation is bringing in fresh air. The CDC recommends 5 air changes an hour. Fans and open windows help. Air filters help when bringing in more fresh air is impossible.

We know the tools to keep kids healthy and in the classroom. We just need to use them

So open the windows and let the 100 degree air into the classroom?

.

Yes. Rooms are still air conditioned and windows only have to be opened a crack to improve ventilation.

You should review thermodynamics again.

If you're relying on opened windows to give you six air changes per hour, the AC certainly isn't going to be able to keep up during 90F+ days.

Just relying on better air exchange alone isn't going to help given the studies about how far airborne viruses can go. You need multiple levels of mitigation from air quality to masking to distancing, just as a start. For colds and flu, MCPS needs to do daily cleanings, especially in MS and HS where kids go between 7-8 classes a day and lunch plus extra activities.

Its stilly to argue about better ventilation when its not going to do anything when kids are sitting very close and the halls are jammed packed.

And that is when improved ventilation can have the biggest impact. Amazing isn’t it?

What on earth are you talking about? They cannot improve ventilation enough to stop covid given there is no social distancing, no masking and people send in their kids sick as they are too selfish to stay home and care for them. Please show us the studies where improved ventilation alone will stop covid. I have googled and cannot find any.

Too bad your google is broken.
Yes, improving ventilation stops covid transmission. Mcps knows this that is why they have spent millions to monitor indoor air. They just aren’t going to tell you what their data shows because Mcknight is not a fan of open communication.

Wasn’t this hashed out over and over in 2020/2021? If you weren’t successful convincing MCPS to use the open window strategy then, you’re certainly not going to now, especially with temps in the 90s.

MCPS doesn’t want to stop anyone from getting sick. That was never hashed out, it is their policy.

There is no learning at the Board of Education. Child are disposable is the policy.

When mcps does things like masking and testing, parents, staff and the community has fits. So, what is mcps supposed to do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have hoped that by now we would mention air ventilation, air filtration and masking as things that would actually help reduce transmission in the classrooms. Covid is Airborne, we fight it by concentrating on keeping it out of the air, diluting it, or removing it from the air.

If you want your kid to have more time in the classroom, think about masking at least some of the time during this uptick in cases, so it doesn't increase to a full surge.

Ask your schools to make sure their ventilation is bringing in fresh air. The CDC recommends 5 air changes an hour. Fans and open windows help. Air filters help when bringing in more fresh air is impossible.

We know the tools to keep kids healthy and in the classroom. We just need to use them

So open the windows and let the 100 degree air into the classroom?

.

Yes. Rooms are still air conditioned and windows only have to be opened a crack to improve ventilation.

You should review thermodynamics again.

If you're relying on opened windows to give you six air changes per hour, the AC certainly isn't going to be able to keep up during 90F+ days.

Just relying on better air exchange alone isn't going to help given the studies about how far airborne viruses can go. You need multiple levels of mitigation from air quality to masking to distancing, just as a start. For colds and flu, MCPS needs to do daily cleanings, especially in MS and HS where kids go between 7-8 classes a day and lunch plus extra activities.

Its stilly to argue about better ventilation when its not going to do anything when kids are sitting very close and the halls are jammed packed.

And that is when improved ventilation can have the biggest impact. Amazing isn’t it?

What on earth are you talking about? They cannot improve ventilation enough to stop covid given there is no social distancing, no masking and people send in their kids sick as they are too selfish to stay home and care for them. Please show us the studies where improved ventilation alone will stop covid. I have googled and cannot find any.

Too bad your google is broken.
Yes, improving ventilation stops covid transmission. Mcps knows this that is why they have spent millions to monitor indoor air. They just aren’t going to tell you what their data shows because Mcknight is not a fan of open communication.

DP- if you really cared about the kids and teachers health you’d help us with our broken google skills so we could be more informed and help advocate. But sadly it sounds like you are making things up.

Exactly, please show us where air quality alone will stop transmission in HS of 2400-3400 students, especially in the halls and other tighly packed areas during class exchanges? Monitoring the air quality is different than monitoring if Covid is transmitted. Many of the schools at best have portable air filters, but not all the schools, classrooms and halls have them.

Try again. Nothing true in what you wrote but it makes you feel good to not care. Enjoy

I do care, we’ve been extremely cautious and thanks to others still catch stuff. You don’t care, which is why it’s spreading. Air quality is just one very small part of it. They can never get it good enough to prevent the spread of colds, flu and Covid. You need multiple layers. Your kids should still be masking.