Here is why we should close schools now.

[Anonymous]

Westchester county school closes for the rest of the year despite no cases..

https://nypost.com/2020/03/08/westchester-county-school-closes-over-coronavirus-for-rest-of-year-despite-no-cases/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have family in Italy. All these comments about overreaction, just the flu, etc etc are the same ones they were having 3 weeks ago there. The situation has precipitated rapidly. And this despite the excellent healthcare system and general health of Italians (very little obesity, healthy diets, a lot of physical activity).
The time to act here is now. Unfortunately our political leadership is lacking. It will be up to local governments to lead on this.

See other countries as well. Quick reactions save life!

Please pay attention the detail here:
As one of the three confirmed cases in Montgomery county attended the retirement meeting at the Village at Rockville and many students from both Wootton High and RFMS volunteered at the Village at Rockville after Feb. 28. We are extremely concerned that these individuals are NOT considered at risk of contracting the virus. The incubation period of this virus can be as long as 24 days or longer. Some people who have contracted the virus may not even exhibit any symptom but can still be contagious.

When we see cases up, it would be too late because you never know who carry the virus and it can be spread without any symptoms.

So why don't those who know they were exposed do the right thing and stay home? The reason we have rely on government telling us all what to do is because we are an incredibly, senseless society. These people know they were at an event at which they were in close proximity to the virus. Do the right thing and stay home. You don't have to wait for the government to tell you what to do.

If one of the person go shopping and you happened passed to that person, you even did not realize that you carried the virus already. You may developed the symptoms days later and pass this to your family members or somebody you never know before you got tested. This is one way of the COVID-19 spread. Wake up to see what happened in S Korean, Italy and China. The most effective way is keeping everybody in distance.

[Anonymous]

This virus may continue to spread for the next year (prediction from some talking head expert). So how long does everyone propose keeping schools closed? What about summer camps (that most of us have already paid for)?

Most of us don’t have cushy government jobs with weeks of accrued sick leave. Many people live pay check to pay check so what do they do with their kids home and no options to telework? I predict those of us with kids at home will be fired unless we find other community options to allow us to work.

[Anonymous]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-education/do-we-really-want-to-close-schools-u-s-authorities-resist-coronavirus-closures-idUSKBN20T1DQ

Davidoff, a Microsoft Corp employee, has been told to work from home to slow the spread of the virus. He thinks his daughter, and other children in Lake Washington School District (LWSD) should do the same after 11 people died in the state from COVID-19.

“LWSD is doing everything they can to get me sick,” said Davidoff, 59, among over 20,000 people to sign an online petition demanding school closures.

[Anonymous]

That is why people shopped, not to go to the stores need be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This virus may continue to spread for the next year (prediction from some talking head expert). So how long does everyone propose keeping schools closed? What about summer camps (that most of us have already paid for)?

Most of us don’t have cushy government jobs with weeks of accrued sick leave. Many people live pay check to pay check so what do they do with their kids home and no options to telework? I predict those of us with kids at home will be fired unless we find other community options to allow us to work.

It’s all fun and games and business as usual until people start dropping...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This virus may continue to spread for the next year (prediction from some talking head expert). So how long does everyone propose keeping schools closed? What about summer camps (that most of us have already paid for)?

Most of us don’t have cushy government jobs with weeks of accrued sick leave. Many people live pay check to pay check so what do they do with their kids home and no options to telework? I predict those of us with kids at home will be fired unless we find other community options to allow us to work.

At one post you have more recovered then sick and they are yet to find a cure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Westchester county school closes for the rest of the year despite no cases..

https://nypost.com/2020/03/08/westchester-county-school-closes-over-coronavirus-for-rest-of-year-despite-no-cases/

You might want to include some more info:
It’s a boarding school.
Close ties to Japan.
Only 10 percent of the student body, which numbers around 320, is from the local area, while the rest hail from other parts of the US and various countries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Won't it die out with the warmer weather right around the corner?

No and it’s not about warmer weather. It has to do with higher humidity. Florida is warm and humid now and there are people dying. We are all vulnerable with no antibodies since this is a result virus. It won’t die out.

How about Singapore? It works there.

Singapore has a strict quarantine in place and started early containment. These efforts are not a result of the weather.

Plain silly. Singapore is continuing to record new cases despite very effective containment measures.

At what rate? One case a week? While so many recover fast?

Singapore new cases

March 8--12
March 7--8
March 6--13
March 5--7

Total cases 150, recoveries 90--this is largely a factor of time, not recovery that is somehow quicker in Singapore than anywhere else; they began seeing cases the week of January 20.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Westchester county school closes for the rest of the year despite no cases..

https://nypost.com/2020/03/08/westchester-county-school-closes-over-coronavirus-for-rest-of-year-despite-no-cases/

You might want to include some more info:
It’s a boarding school.
Close ties to Japan.
Only 10 percent of the student body, which numbers around 320, is from the local area, while the rest hail from other parts of the US and various countries.

Exactly. People are so freaking alarmist on here!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Westchester county school closes for the rest of the year despite no cases..

https://nypost.com/2020/03/08/westchester-county-school-closes-over-coronavirus-for-rest-of-year-despite-no-cases/

You might want to include some more info:
It’s a boarding school.
Close ties to Japan.
Only 10 percent of the student body, which numbers around 320, is from the local area, while the rest hail from other parts of the US and various countries.

Exactly. People are so freaking alarmist on here!!

There is a difference between being alarmist and advocating for proven public health containment measures that keep us from getting to a state where the only reaction left is to be alarmist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This virus may continue to spread for the next year (prediction from some talking head expert). So how long does everyone propose keeping schools closed? What about summer camps (that most of us have already paid for)?

Most of us don’t have cushy government jobs with weeks of accrued sick leave. Many people live pay check to pay check so what do they do with their kids home and no options to telework? I predict those of us with kids at home will be fired unless we find other community options to allow us to work.

At one post you have more recovered then sick and they are yet to find a cure.

How many posts on this thread have you, personally, written?

[Anonymous]

No time to read 17 pages, but the chart in this article is the key: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/3/6/21161234/coronavirus-covid-19-science-outbreak-ends-endemic-vaccine

The takeway: Act quickly, and do social distancing, so you can spread out the infections so they don't overwhelm the medical system. Otherwise good luck to anyone who breaks their arm, gets a UTI, ear infection, etc., etc., needs to go to urgent care or a hospital, and there's no capacity. And health workers start getting it and self isolating and dying, as in China. Read the recent letter to the editor in either JAMA or The Lancet about what it was like to work at a hospital in Wuhan last month, and how challenging it is to take the necessary precautions, day after day. And all those people who are infected, perhaps unknowingly because they're not at high risk, but live with family members who are -- what about them? It's a recipe for a total clusterf***.

I saw a chart recently showing that cities that closes schools the earliest during the 1918 influenza epidemic had the lowest fatality rates.

All those arguments about not closing schools are short-sighted. This is about survival; everything else is secondary. The children whose parents or other relatives or friends die because of these (in)actions won't thank you later for keeping their schools open for some reason that will seem very minor compared to the losses after all is said and done. And it's not an either/or, people -- just because schools give out meals to students doesn't mean that's the ONLY way for them to get meals.

[Anonymous]

I’m a federal contractor with no vacation or sick leave. My fellow colleagues who are federal employees are now joking about the agency closing down or telework, everyone being allowed to stay home for a few weeks, and how nice it would be to get a paid leave break like during the government shut down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-education/do-we-really-want-to-close-schools-u-s-authorities-resist-coronavirus-closures-idUSKBN20T1DQ

Davidoff, a Microsoft Corp employee, has been told to work from home to slow the spread of the virus. He thinks his daughter, and other children in Lake Washington School District (LWSD) should do the same after 11 people died in the state from COVID-19.

“LWSD is doing everything they can to get me sick,” said Davidoff, 59, among over 20,000 people to sign an online petition demanding school closures.

We need a similar petition here. I’d start one, but DH and I are employed by the district. I have never feared retaliation before, but I’m not risking it now.