Covid Update from Central Office

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has MoCo gone DeSantis on us? This is not making any sense to me (Red School +s popping up daily).

Because schools is where you draw the "DeSantis" line. Every other institution in MoCo is open without restrictions, but can't be having the kids going to school.

We don't *Have* to go to to malls, restaurants, etc (and we don't!). We do need to go to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has MoCo gone DeSantis on us? This is not making any sense to me (Red School +s popping up daily).

Because schools is where you draw the "DeSantis" line. Every other institution in MoCo is open without restrictions, but can't be having the kids going to school.

We don't *Have* to go to to malls, restaurants, etc (and we don't!). We do need to go to school.

+1 if it is that much of an emergency, all non-essential workers (who are far more likely to get infected than children) should WFH, and keep the students in school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has MoCo gone DeSantis on us? This is not making any sense to me (Red School +s popping up daily).

^ first think I posted upthread. The next thing will be tests are no longer needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has MoCo gone DeSantis on us? This is not making any sense to me (Red School +s popping up daily).

You realize that schools have been open beyond FL right? For quite some time.

The rainbow colors was arbitrary and not backed by science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has MoCo gone DeSantis on us? This is not making any sense to me (Red School +s popping up daily).

^ first think I posted upthread. The next thing will be tests are no longer needed.

What were the rest of us told last year when we wanted schools open- just move? Maybe you guys should do that. Baltimore and PG are virtual right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has MoCo gone DeSantis on us? This is not making any sense to me (Red School +s popping up daily).

^ first think I posted upthread. The next thing will be tests are no longer needed.

Most of the US and Europe has decided to just let the vulnerable people die, plus randoms who happen to need the hospital during Covid surges.

It's not just here, it's practically everywhere. The world has gone collectively mad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has MoCo gone DeSantis on us? This is not making any sense to me (Red School +s popping up daily).

^ first think I posted upthread. The next thing will be tests are no longer needed.

What were the rest of us told last year when we wanted schools open- just move? Maybe you guys should do that. Baltimore and PG are virtual right now.

DP you replied to. I'm for opening schools. To whom are you directing your comment? It's ok to think DeSantis is nuts and not support virtual at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has MoCo gone DeSantis on us? This is not making any sense to me (Red School +s popping up daily).

^ first think I posted upthread. The next thing will be tests are no longer needed.

What were the rest of us told last year when we wanted schools open- just move? Maybe you guys should do that. Baltimore and PG are virtual right now.

And a lot of people will actually. You aren't going to change the minds of people who have been personally affected and have real concerns for the future and what this means for their family. Suggesting someone just get up and move a family is dare I say a bit callous? Can we not think of others even if we don't agree with them? It sucks either way. If you send your child to school you are not out of the woods--get ready for a world of disruptions and learning loss just as you would virtual. Pick your poison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

They need to close already. It is OBVIOUS that a few more weeks of this will kill off more people in hospitals, not just the adult unvaccinated we love to hate, but the elderly (there's a thread today by someone who just her mother to Covid), the fragile, even young children. And it's not just Covid patients: all of you who are injured in accidents or who have acute health problems that need hospital care will have such lousy case that hospitals requested and received lawsuit protection from Hogan. Chemo patients whose lives depend on timely treatment are not receiving care right now. Important surgeries have been canceled.

Do you want to extend this suffering and death even more by refusing to close schools? When we KNOW that Omicron arrives and recedes rapidly and we would only need to close schools for a few weeks?

It's unconscionable.

What are you talking about? There is no evidence that closing the schools alone--without other broader closures--would have any impact on general community spread at all. In fact, in all the studies of which I am aware, the efficacy of school closures, even in conjunction with other closures/restrictions, is contested. So why is it "unconscionable" to oppose measures that do nothing to combat "suffering and death."

+1. It is spreading everywhere, closing schools won't stop it.

If we close everything, it will return when we reopen things, and anyone who didn't catch it in their non-school activities will catch it then. Unless we get to "zero COVID". We can't get to zero COVID. Even China is struggling, with draconian lockdowns. We could "flatten the curve", yes, but schools can't do that alone. it would have to be a bigger lockdown circa March 2020. It is not happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has MoCo gone DeSantis on us? This is not making any sense to me (Red School +s popping up daily).

^ first think I posted upthread. The next thing will be tests are no longer needed.

Most of the US and Europe has decided to just let the vulnerable people die, plus randoms who happen to need the hospital during Covid surges.

It's not just here, it's practically everywhere. The world has gone collectively mad.

Or they’ve actually figured out that there is no stopping it and that societal cost of regular shut downs is too grave and ineffective

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

They need to close already. It is OBVIOUS that a few more weeks of this will kill off more people in hospitals, not just the adult unvaccinated we love to hate, but the elderly (there's a thread today by someone who just her mother to Covid), the fragile, even young children. And it's not just Covid patients: all of you who are injured in accidents or who have acute health problems that need hospital care will have such lousy case that hospitals requested and received lawsuit protection from Hogan. Chemo patients whose lives depend on timely treatment are not receiving care right now. Important surgeries have been canceled.

Do you want to extend this suffering and death even more by refusing to close schools? When we KNOW that Omicron arrives and recedes rapidly and we would only need to close schools for a few weeks?

It's unconscionable.

What are you talking about? There is no evidence that closing the schools alone--without other broader closures--would have any impact on general community spread at all. In fact, in all the studies of which I am aware, the efficacy of school closures, even in conjunction with other closures/restrictions, is contested. So why is it "unconscionable" to oppose measures that do nothing to combat "suffering and death."

+1. It is spreading everywhere, closing schools won't stop it.

If we close everything, it will return when we reopen things, and anyone who didn't catch it in their non-school activities will catch it then. Unless we get to "zero COVID". We can't get to zero COVID. Even China is struggling, with draconian lockdowns. We could "flatten the curve", yes, but schools can't do that alone. it would have to be a bigger lockdown circa March 2020. It is not happening.

I agree with this. That said, the way this sh$tshow went down could have been managed better. Just looking to other states, countries even should have provided some insights as to where we were headed. Yet, I don't feel like anything was planned for. At least it feels that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Meanwhile, Baltimore County is going virtual next week:

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/baltimore-county-school-students-january-10-at-home/38698856?fbclid=IwAR0-HON87KniPDqfShAhGtIiHKLwZ_3gFkpz5a2nJDH0Pel6xTHgh3proyM

Well, some places are doing the sensible thing.

LOL. Try harder.

[Anonymous]

I just spoke with an old friend today, our kids were in elementary together. They are a FARMS family with limited access to transportation or healthcare in a high-density part of the county.

She said they weren't vaccinated because she wasn't sure it was safe. I gave her an earful. She said she would consider if when they got some spare cash.

That's right. She didn't know it was free to get vaccinated.

You can blame my friend for her ignorance. I'm sure most of you would. I blame myself for not reaching out sooner. But mostly I blame our community for being so siloed that some people never even get the information they need. This is a woman whose eyesight is failing. She doesn't own a computer. She lives in an apartment complex with hundreds of people and apparently no one even bothered to do outreach to them. The pharmacy within walking distance doesn't do vaccines. Etc.

I'm driving her to a vaccination site this weekend. But this breaks me. How are we failing so many Americans like this? I get the reopener's perspective: they just want people like my friend to disappear.

[Anonymous]

I'm not in favor of a repeat of the extended virtual learning we experienced last year. However, our staff (and their children) are dropping like flies with Covid. The bulk of our bus routes aren't running so kids are missing in-person instruction regardless of their Covid status. We have used up all non-classroom staff to sub and still have classes without coverage. We then have to split the kids across a grade-level team and hope to not have a spread of positive cases. MCPS should have just gone virtual for the next two weeks and get us back in the building at the beginning of quarter three on Tuesday the 25th. During that time central office could hopefully come up with a better plan to support schools with staff absences and bus transportation. Again, the teachers aren't the bad guys here. We want to be in school with our students but we don't have the staff right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just spoke with an old friend today, our kids were in elementary together. They are a FARMS family with limited access to transportation or healthcare in a high-density part of the county.

She said they weren't vaccinated because she wasn't sure it was safe. I gave her an earful. She said she would consider if when they got some spare cash.

That's right. She didn't know it was free to get vaccinated.

You can blame my friend for her ignorance. I'm sure most of you would. I blame myself for not reaching out sooner. But mostly I blame our community for being so siloed that some people never even get the information they need. This is a woman whose eyesight is failing. She doesn't own a computer. She lives in an apartment complex with hundreds of people and apparently no one even bothered to do outreach to them. The pharmacy within walking distance doesn't do vaccines. Etc.

I'm driving her to a vaccination site this weekend. But this breaks me. How are we failing so many Americans like this? I get the reopener's perspective: they just want people like my friend to disappear.

Btw, before the xenophobic anti-immigrants chime in: her family has been in the US longer than yours.