Does DCPS care? New model shows even with masks, 40% of students will still be infected with Delta

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I remember some serious mitigation measures at sleep away camp when a camper was diagnosed with chicken pox a couple of days into it in the mid-80ies. Those were not parties. They took it extremely seriously, but that was forty years ago. They didn't need to do 1917-type masking because it wasn't a deadly pandemic, but they didn't have access to the rapid tests and abundance of masks we have in 2021. There is no excuse for this.

This is not a "deadly pandemic" for the under 12s.

If I had just written "they didn't have access to the abundance of masks we have in 2021", I'm pretty sure the tit-for-tat snarky retort would have been "Well in 1917 they figured out a way to mask up."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given how contagious Delta is, I think many of us have resigned ourselves that our kids will probably get it at school despite mitigation measures. It’s a terrifying premise after essentially hiding out from the disease for over a year. But most of what I’m reading says that kids don’t get super sick. We didn’t live in a risk free world before Covid, and despite my anxiety disorder, I’m not going to insist on one now.

This is really it. I'd really love to avoid DC getting it before the child vaccine is approved, but at this point, it feels inevitable and I guess it's better for DC to develop some natural immunity before a worse variant comes along. So we'll keep wearing our masks and what will be, will be.

As variant studies have shown us, your immunity only lasts for that particular strain. As soon as a new one comes along, you can get sick again. We knew this last year even before Delta came along.

Vaccines protect better than natural immunity, but they're still not completely protective.

Yes but natural immunity confers some protection, including reducing severity of a reinfection. And I'm saying this as someone that's had my kids on the wait list for the vaccine trials for months. As the alarmist "doctor" said, we're sitting ducks for the next supercharged variant and while this COVID doesn't scare me for my kids, I have no idea what the next variant will look like.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, OP. I want my kids in school in person and telling this to DCPS every chance I get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are you trying to say? What do you mean about given up?

I think that there is a large group of people who feel that virtual school is worse than school+delta.

Giving up is assaying, there's no way to be safe from Delta so no school, ever, in person.

Yes. Agree with this 100%. Kids need to be in school.

Signed,
An RN and MD family who will be sending our kids to school and fine if they catch Covid.

Covid is not a health crisis for kids. Being out of school or in virtual school is.

Just chiming in to add that this doctor and scientist family disagrees strongly, mostly because all generalizations are untrue and the solution lies in the details.

If something can be done for school lunches, so that it's outside under a large tent (same for PE, band and choir), then people won't have to take masks off indoors, and all will be well. Schools need to require proof of vaccinations for everyone 12+ and require well-fitting masks, so that transmission is lowered and people who get sick are out for less time. Schools also need to require vaccinations for 5-11 as soon as the vaccines come out for that age group. Child-size KF94s work well for kids.

Same for workplaces. If you can eat lunch outdoors, do it. Bundle up in the winter. Otherwise eat away from everyone else, as much as you can. Require proof of vaccination to come into work. Wear a mask that fits. N95, KN95, or KF94. The N95 with the elastic that goes around the head is the gold standard for fit, comfort and safety. Buy some, rotate through them all week. Leaving a used mask for 3-4 days in a cool, dry place will kill all viruses on it. You won't need more than 25 for the year.

This is how you keep schools and workplaces open.

Given that mandatory vaccines for 12+, well-fitting masks, and tents won't happen, what will do you?

Also, are you referring to schools in your synopsis of workplaces? As in, do you think school workforce vaccinations should be mandatory?

Thank you for the lessons on the masks, though. I had been wondering how many N95s we'd need.

I don't know. Despite working in virology, it's hard for us to tell when the local risk becomes too much, and obviously, everyone has a different risk tolerance. Just like last year, I find it incredibly frustrating that we have the tools at our disposal, yet we focus our energy and funding elsewhere.

I want to note here that Delta spreads so quickly compared to past variants that doing random batch testing in schools and workplaces won't protect us nearly as well as doing what I've outlined above. Better air filtration is all very well, but for me that's already a given. We need to do more.

I want to set this in the right context: one where we are waiting for the next, even more transmissible and dangerous variant. We need to get into that mindset, and continually think of ways to make our schools and workplaces safer from airborne pathogens, because it will happen. It's only a matter of time. We are putting great evolutionary pressure on this virus, by partially protecting some populations, and we are sitting ducks for a supercharged variant.

So instead of staying home or being fatalistic about catching Covid (which won't help you stay safe from the next variant!), we need to brainstorm ways to modify our communal lives to mitigate ever-increasing risk.

Haaaaaaa you guys, it's related fields!

[Anonymous]

Or is it Associated Fields? what's the proper title?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given how contagious Delta is, I think many of us have resigned ourselves that our kids will probably get it at school despite mitigation measures. It’s a terrifying premise after essentially hiding out from the disease for over a year. But most of what I’m reading says that kids don’t get super sick. We didn’t live in a risk free world before Covid, and despite my anxiety disorder, I’m not going to insist on one now.

This is really it. I'd really love to avoid DC getting it before the child vaccine is approved, but at this point, it feels inevitable and I guess it's better for DC to develop some natural immunity before a worse variant comes along. So we'll keep wearing our masks and what will be, will be.

I don't understand your resignation, considering the vaccine is 5 months away, and you've successfully shielded you child for 18 months, admittedly from lesser 'versions' of the virus. Not looking to shame, but I need to understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I remember some serious mitigation measures at sleep away camp when a camper was diagnosed with chicken pox a couple of days into it in the mid-80ies. Those were not parties. They took it extremely seriously, but that was forty years ago. They didn't need to do 1917-type masking because it wasn't a deadly pandemic, but they didn't have access to the rapid tests and abundance of masks we have in 2021. There is no excuse for this.

This is not a "deadly pandemic" for the under 12s.

If I had just written "they didn't have access to the abundance of masks we have in 2021", I'm pretty sure the tit-for-tat snarky retort would have been "Well in 1917 they figured out a way to mask up."

It's just a fact that it isn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given how contagious Delta is, I think many of us have resigned ourselves that our kids will probably get it at school despite mitigation measures. It’s a terrifying premise after essentially hiding out from the disease for over a year. But most of what I’m reading says that kids don’t get super sick. We didn’t live in a risk free world before Covid, and despite my anxiety disorder, I’m not going to insist on one now.

This is really it. I'd really love to avoid DC getting it before the child vaccine is approved, but at this point, it feels inevitable and I guess it's better for DC to develop some natural immunity before a worse variant comes along. So we'll keep wearing our masks and what will be, will be.

I don't understand your resignation, considering the vaccine is 5 months away, and you've successfully shielded you child for 18 months, admittedly from lesser 'versions' of the virus. Not looking to shame, but I need to understand.

You assume that the authorization is definitely coming. It may not. The risk to children under 12 is so low, that on the balance, vaccination isn't worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given how contagious Delta is, I think many of us have resigned ourselves that our kids will probably get it at school despite mitigation measures. It’s a terrifying premise after essentially hiding out from the disease for over a year. But most of what I’m reading says that kids don’t get super sick. We didn’t live in a risk free world before Covid, and despite my anxiety disorder, I’m not going to insist on one now.

This is really it. I'd really love to avoid DC getting it before the child vaccine is approved, but at this point, it feels inevitable and I guess it's better for DC to develop some natural immunity before a worse variant comes along. So we'll keep wearing our masks and what will be, will be.

I don't understand your resignation, considering the vaccine is 5 months away, and you've successfully shielded you child for 18 months, admittedly from lesser 'versions' of the virus. Not looking to shame, but I need to understand.

You assume that the authorization is definitely coming. It may not. The risk to children under 12 is so low, that on the balance, vaccination isn't worth it.

The approval is coming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given how contagious Delta is, I think many of us have resigned ourselves that our kids will probably get it at school despite mitigation measures. It’s a terrifying premise after essentially hiding out from the disease for over a year. But most of what I’m reading says that kids don’t get super sick. We didn’t live in a risk free world before Covid, and despite my anxiety disorder, I’m not going to insist on one now.

This is really it. I'd really love to avoid DC getting it before the child vaccine is approved, but at this point, it feels inevitable and I guess it's better for DC to develop some natural immunity before a worse variant comes along. So we'll keep wearing our masks and what will be, will be.

I don't understand your resignation, considering the vaccine is 5 months away, and you've successfully shielded you child for 18 months, admittedly from lesser 'versions' of the virus. Not looking to shame, but I need to understand.

You assume that the authorization is definitely coming. It may not. The risk to children under 12 is so low, that on the balance, vaccination isn't worth it.

The approval is coming.

I would LOVE to hear that with certainty. Is there a good source?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given how contagious Delta is, I think many of us have resigned ourselves that our kids will probably get it at school despite mitigation measures. It’s a terrifying premise after essentially hiding out from the disease for over a year. But most of what I’m reading says that kids don’t get super sick. We didn’t live in a risk free world before Covid, and despite my anxiety disorder, I’m not going to insist on one now.

This is really it. I'd really love to avoid DC getting it before the child vaccine is approved, but at this point, it feels inevitable and I guess it's better for DC to develop some natural immunity before a worse variant comes along. So we'll keep wearing our masks and what will be, will be.

I don't understand your resignation, considering the vaccine is 5 months away, and you've successfully shielded you child for 18 months, admittedly from lesser 'versions' of the virus. Not looking to shame, but I need to understand.

I’m not sure we were shielding kids for THEIR safety though, were we? Would we have shut down the world if everyone reacted to Covid like a 6 year old? For me, it’s a risk benefit analysis. While there are risks to going to school and getting infected, there are also risks to staying home. If I see kids getting sicker from Delta or version whatever, I’ll recalculate. But, given how contagious it is, I’m not sure my analysis can presume they won’t get it. We’ll do our very best not to get it and deal with it if we do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given how contagious Delta is, I think many of us have resigned ourselves that our kids will probably get it at school despite mitigation measures. It’s a terrifying premise after essentially hiding out from the disease for over a year. But most of what I’m reading says that kids don’t get super sick. We didn’t live in a risk free world before Covid, and despite my anxiety disorder, I’m not going to insist on one now.

This is really it. I'd really love to avoid DC getting it before the child vaccine is approved, but at this point, it feels inevitable and I guess it's better for DC to develop some natural immunity before a worse variant comes along. So we'll keep wearing our masks and what will be, will be.

I don't understand your resignation, considering the vaccine is 5 months away, and you've successfully shielded you child for 18 months, admittedly from lesser 'versions' of the virus. Not looking to shame, but I need to understand.

PP here. Yes, successfully, but at an ENORMOUS cost to my child's mental health. Which was necessary when nursing homes and hospitals were collapsing under COVID infections, possibly worth it before the vaccine was approved for adults (really for the sake of high risk, elderly, health care and essential workers, etc.), but when my SIX year old ends up in therapy for depression from isolation, despite a pod with their best friend and local cousins, then no, it's not worth any more months of sacrifice. And my kid isn't the only one, I know many, many parents that say their kids had the same issues as mine, despite loving homes, sibling playmates, Outschool classes, and pod friends. Let alone any of the actual at-risk kids that make our kids' struggles look like nothing in comparison to what they went through. It's time for this to be over and to prioritize children's mental and emotional health, and education.

And Delta is just so very transmissible. What we were able to do safely 6 months ago we cannot do safely anymore. So to truly shield my child, it would mean going back to spring 2020 levels of restrictions and that's impossible since I'm back in the office and schools are re-opening (as they should). And at this point it's simply unnecessary. I don't isolate my child to protect them from the flu or RSV, and I assume risk every day when we get in the car or cross the street. So in the words of Samuel, enough is enough, what will be, will be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given how contagious Delta is, I think many of us have resigned ourselves that our kids will probably get it at school despite mitigation measures. It’s a terrifying premise after essentially hiding out from the disease for over a year. But most of what I’m reading says that kids don’t get super sick. We didn’t live in a risk free world before Covid, and despite my anxiety disorder, I’m not going to insist on one now.

This is really it. I'd really love to avoid DC getting it before the child vaccine is approved, but at this point, it feels inevitable and I guess it's better for DC to develop some natural immunity before a worse variant comes along. So we'll keep wearing our masks and what will be, will be.

I don't understand your resignation, considering the vaccine is 5 months away, and you've successfully shielded you child for 18 months, admittedly from lesser 'versions' of the virus. Not looking to shame, but I need to understand.

Np but I haven’t shielded them. They were in preschool and daycare all last year because I didn’t join the million women who quit their jobs. They’ve been in camp all summer. Some camps like ymca were inside a fair bit. Why not school? Help ME understand. Why not school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given how contagious Delta is, I think many of us have resigned ourselves that our kids will probably get it at school despite mitigation measures. It’s a terrifying premise after essentially hiding out from the disease for over a year. But most of what I’m reading says that kids don’t get super sick. We didn’t live in a risk free world before Covid, and despite my anxiety disorder, I’m not going to insist on one now.

This is really it. I'd really love to avoid DC getting it before the child vaccine is approved, but at this point, it feels inevitable and I guess it's better for DC to develop some natural immunity before a worse variant comes along. So we'll keep wearing our masks and what will be, will be.

I don't understand your resignation, considering the vaccine is 5 months away, and you've successfully shielded you child for 18 months, admittedly from lesser 'versions' of the virus. Not looking to shame, but I need to understand.

PP here. Yes, successfully, but at an ENORMOUS cost to my child's mental health. Which was necessary when nursing homes and hospitals were collapsing under COVID infections, possibly worth it before the vaccine was approved for adults (really for the sake of high risk, elderly, health care and essential workers, etc.), but when my SIX year old ends up in therapy for depression from isolation, despite a pod with their best friend and local cousins, then no, it's not worth any more months of sacrifice. And my kid isn't the only one, I know many, many parents that say their kids had the same issues as mine, despite loving homes, sibling playmates, Outschool classes, and pod friends. Let alone any of the actual at-risk kids that make our kids' struggles look like nothing in comparison to what they went through. It's time for this to be over and to prioritize children's mental and emotional health, and education.

And Delta is just so very transmissible. What we were able to do safely 6 months ago we cannot do safely anymore. So to truly shield my child, it would mean going back to spring 2020 levels of restrictions and that's impossible since I'm back in the office and schools are re-opening (as they should). And at this point it's simply unnecessary. I don't isolate my child to protect them from the flu or RSV, and I assume risk every day when we get in the car or cross the street. So in the words of Samuel, enough is enough, what will be, will be.

That's heartbreaking, PP. We also have a 6-year-old and had a rough go of it, particularly in the beginning of quarantine. We couldn't even find an out-of-pocket therapist since they were booked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swann’s research shows that even with universal masks, 40% of elementary students will be infected with Delta IN THREE MONTHS.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-07-31/what-the-delta-variant-development-means-for-unvaccinated-kids

What I am seeing in this forum is parents refusing to test with their kid has “just a cold,” refusing asymptomatic testing, lying about travel so they don’t have to quarantine, etc. There is no distancing, no plan to upgrade ventilation, no mandatory teacher vaccinations, etc.

Has DCPS just given up?

I am one who would like a virtual option for my under 12 y.o. But the article says that the "research also shows that even if masking is required in all schools, if there are no other mitigation strategies, she still expects 40% of elementary school students to be infected within three months." That's critical point.

DCPS has no other mitigation strategies. The language they use for every proposed measure includes the caveat "TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE" which means absolutely nothing is required.