APS mask policy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:8 cases today in Arlington County. But just wait 2 weeks...they'll be 2 cases per day.

This is simply a Datapoint. Before mask came off in schools we were down to two or three cases per day total in APS. Yesterday there were 25 reported. It will be interesting to watch what happens over the next few weeks. Hopefully numbers will stay low, but something to keep an eye on for those who are on the fence.

Any school spread yet?

How would we know that for sure?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:8 cases today in Arlington County. But just wait 2 weeks...they'll be 2 cases per day.

This is simply a Datapoint. Before mask came off in schools we were down to two or three cases per day total in APS. Yesterday there were 25 reported. It will be interesting to watch what happens over the next few weeks. Hopefully numbers will stay low, but something to keep an eye on for those who are on the fence.

Any school spread yet?

Yep

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:8 cases today in Arlington County. But just wait 2 weeks...they'll be 2 cases per day.

This is simply a Datapoint. Before mask came off in schools we were down to two or three cases per day total in APS. Yesterday there were 25 reported. It will be interesting to watch what happens over the next few weeks. Hopefully numbers will stay low, but something to keep an eye on for those who are on the fence.

Any school spread yet?

Yep

I heard at one school there is a tent in back to hide all the sick kids. Also, parents have been instructed to bury all the positive home tests they’re getting in the back yard and deny their existence. This is getting very serious.

[Anonymous]

Everything seems normal at my kids' schools. Also did you guys see the NYT piece that seemingly concludes that all the COVID mitigation measures may have had very little impact? Comparing outcomes in mega-masking/lifestyle limiting states compared to those that went back to normal sooner.

Did Omicron spread less in the parts of the U.S. where social distancing and masking were more common?

The answer is surprisingly unclear.

Nationwide, the number of official Covid cases has recently been somewhat higher in heavily Democratic areas than Republican areas, according to The Times’s data. That comparison doesn’t fully answer the question, though, because Democratic areas were also conducting more tests, and the percentage of positive tests tended to be somewhat higher in Republican areas.

No single statistic offers a definitive answer. When I look at all the evidence, I emerge thinking that liberal areas probably had slightly lower Omicron infection rates than conservative areas. But it is difficult to be sure, as these state-level charts — by my colleague Ashley Wu — suggest.
The lack of a clear pattern is itself striking. Remember, not only have Democratic voters been avoiding restaurants and wearing masks; they are also much more likely to be vaccinated and boosted (and vaccines substantially reduce the chances of infection). Combined, these factors seem as if they should have caused large differences in case rates.

They have not. And that they haven’t offers some clarity about the relative effectiveness of different Covid interventions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:8 cases today in Arlington County. But just wait 2 weeks...they'll be 2 cases per day.

This is simply a Datapoint. Before mask came off in schools we were down to two or three cases per day total in APS. Yesterday there were 25 reported. It will be interesting to watch what happens over the next few weeks. Hopefully numbers will stay low, but something to keep an eye on for those who are on the fence.

Any school spread yet?

Yep

There were 2 cases on the dashboard yesterday. Two. Out of ~27,000 students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everything seems normal at my kids' schools. Also did you guys see the NYT piece that seemingly concludes that all the COVID mitigation measures may have had very little impact? Comparing outcomes in mega-masking/lifestyle limiting states compared to those that went back to normal sooner.

Did Omicron spread less in the parts of the U.S. where social distancing and masking were more common?

The answer is surprisingly unclear.

Nationwide, the number of official Covid cases has recently been somewhat higher in heavily Democratic areas than Republican areas, according to The Times’s data. That comparison doesn’t fully answer the question, though, because Democratic areas were also conducting more tests, and the percentage of positive tests tended to be somewhat higher in Republican areas.

No single statistic offers a definitive answer. When I look at all the evidence, I emerge thinking that liberal areas probably had slightly lower Omicron infection rates than conservative areas. But it is difficult to be sure, as these state-level charts — by my colleague Ashley Wu — suggest.
The lack of a clear pattern is itself striking. Remember, not only have Democratic voters been avoiding restaurants and wearing masks; they are also much more likely to be vaccinated and boosted (and vaccines substantially reduce the chances of infection). Combined, these factors seem as if they should have caused large differences in case rates.

They have not. And that they haven’t offers some clarity about the relative effectiveness of different Covid interventions.

I would be interested in a link. I can't find the article.

I have wondered all along if this would prove to be true. It's very human-like to think we can control the outcomes of everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:8 cases today in Arlington County. But just wait 2 weeks...they'll be 2 cases per day.

This is simply a Datapoint. Before mask came off in schools we were down to two or three cases per day total in APS. Yesterday there were 25 reported. It will be interesting to watch what happens over the next few weeks. Hopefully numbers will stay low, but something to keep an eye on for those who are on the fence.

Any school spread yet?

Yep

There were 2 cases on the dashboard yesterday. Two. Out of ~27,000 students.

Keep reading. There were 26 cases the day before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:8 cases today in Arlington County. But just wait 2 weeks...they'll be 2 cases per day.

This is simply a Datapoint. Before mask came off in schools we were down to two or three cases per day total in APS. Yesterday there were 25 reported. It will be interesting to watch what happens over the next few weeks. Hopefully numbers will stay low, but something to keep an eye on for those who are on the fence.

Any school spread yet?

Yep

There were 2 cases on the dashboard yesterday. Two. Out of ~27,000 students.

Keep reading. There were 26 cases the day before.

And?? People still look at this??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:8 cases today in Arlington County. But just wait 2 weeks...they'll be 2 cases per day.

This is simply a Datapoint. Before mask came off in schools we were down to two or three cases per day total in APS. Yesterday there were 25 reported. It will be interesting to watch what happens over the next few weeks. Hopefully numbers will stay low, but something to keep an eye on for those who are on the fence.

Any school spread yet?

Yep

There were 2 cases on the dashboard yesterday. Two. Out of ~27,000 students.

Keep reading. There were 26 cases the day before.

And?? People still look at this??

Do we ever think there will be a reckoning? Duran and/or the school board admit some degree of mismanagement of this whole ordeal?

It is both vindicating to see that the Open Coffins Now rhetoric and nonsense has been basically wholly unrealized, but, also heartbreaking to know that our children's social, emotional, and educational wellbeing was sacrificed for the sake of hysteria and anxiety once we moved past Spring 2020.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:8 cases today in Arlington County. But just wait 2 weeks...they'll be 2 cases per day.

This is simply a Datapoint. Before mask came off in schools we were down to two or three cases per day total in APS. Yesterday there were 25 reported. It will be interesting to watch what happens over the next few weeks. Hopefully numbers will stay low, but something to keep an eye on for those who are on the fence.

Any school spread yet?

Yep

There were 2 cases on the dashboard yesterday. Two. Out of ~27,000 students.

Keep reading. There were 26 cases the day before.

And?? People still look at this??

Do we ever think there will be a reckoning? Duran and/or the school board admit some degree of mismanagement of this whole ordeal?

It is both vindicating to see that the Open Coffins Now rhetoric and nonsense has been basically wholly unrealized, but, also heartbreaking to know that our children's social, emotional, and educational wellbeing was sacrificed for the sake of hysteria and anxiety once we moved past Spring 2020.

Speaking of NY Times article...this one from yesterday was interesting.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/08/us/pandemic-schools-reading-crisis.html

It's shameful and many of us were saying this is what would happen from the very beginning. It was a predictable and wholly preventable outcome and no, none of them will be held accountable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:8 cases today in Arlington County. But just wait 2 weeks...they'll be 2 cases per day.

This is simply a Datapoint. Before mask came off in schools we were down to two or three cases per day total in APS. Yesterday there were 25 reported. It will be interesting to watch what happens over the next few weeks. Hopefully numbers will stay low, but something to keep an eye on for those who are on the fence.

Any school spread yet?

Yep

There were 2 cases on the dashboard yesterday. Two. Out of ~27,000 students.

Hmm well one was in my kids class, and that kid has been unmasked. I guess we are just very unlucky?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everything seems normal at my kids' schools. Also did you guys see the NYT piece that seemingly concludes that all the COVID mitigation measures may have had very little impact? Comparing outcomes in mega-masking/lifestyle limiting states compared to those that went back to normal sooner.

Did Omicron spread less in the parts of the U.S. where social distancing and masking were more common?

The answer is surprisingly unclear.

Nationwide, the number of official Covid cases has recently been somewhat higher in heavily Democratic areas than Republican areas, according to The Times’s data. That comparison doesn’t fully answer the question, though, because Democratic areas were also conducting more tests, and the percentage of positive tests tended to be somewhat higher in Republican areas.

No single statistic offers a definitive answer. When I look at all the evidence, I emerge thinking that liberal areas probably had slightly lower Omicron infection rates than conservative areas. But it is difficult to be sure, as these state-level charts — by my colleague Ashley Wu — suggest.
The lack of a clear pattern is itself striking. Remember, not only have Democratic voters been avoiding restaurants and wearing masks; they are also much more likely to be vaccinated and boosted (and vaccines substantially reduce the chances of infection). Combined, these factors seem as if they should have caused large differences in case rates.

They have not. And that they haven’t offers some clarity about the relative effectiveness of different Covid interventions.

I would be interested in a link. I can't find the article.

I have wondered all along if this would prove to be true. It's very human-like to think we can control the outcomes of everything.

Not to "well, actually" you, but, well, actually:

The CDC released a study yesterday showing that in Arkansas, the schools that had a mask requirement had a 23% lower infection than other Arkansas schools that had no masking requirement. Which is a significant difference, contrary to what PP indicates above. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7110e1.htm?s_cid=mm7110e1_x

During August–October 2021, public school districts in Arkansas with full or partial mask requirements had lower incidences of COVID-19 among students and staff members than did districts without mask requirements. Strengths of this investigation include the use of multiple analyses, and sensitivity analyses, with the protective effect of mask use holding across all analyses, including within districts that switched from no mask policy to any mask policy during the investigation period. Universal mask use, in coordination with other prevention strategies such as vaccination of students and staff members in K–12 schools, remains an important tool for preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission.[google]

Seems like masks actually do help prevent transmission in schools, and that contrary to what folks here have been saying, states down south which did not have mask requirements earlier in the pandemic actually did feel the results of their policies in their student and teacher infection numbers. But go off on how they're not an effective tool for containing the virus, that's fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everything seems normal at my kids' schools. Also did you guys see the NYT piece that seemingly concludes that all the COVID mitigation measures may have had very little impact? Comparing outcomes in mega-masking/lifestyle limiting states compared to those that went back to normal sooner.

Did Omicron spread less in the parts of the U.S. where social distancing and masking were more common?

The answer is surprisingly unclear.

Nationwide, the number of official Covid cases has recently been somewhat higher in heavily Democratic areas than Republican areas, according to The Times’s data. That comparison doesn’t fully answer the question, though, because Democratic areas were also conducting more tests, and the percentage of positive tests tended to be somewhat higher in Republican areas.

No single statistic offers a definitive answer. When I look at all the evidence, I emerge thinking that liberal areas probably had slightly lower Omicron infection rates than conservative areas. But it is difficult to be sure, as these state-level charts — by my colleague Ashley Wu — suggest.
The lack of a clear pattern is itself striking. Remember, not only have Democratic voters been avoiding restaurants and wearing masks; they are also much more likely to be vaccinated and boosted (and vaccines substantially reduce the chances of infection). Combined, these factors seem as if they should have caused large differences in case rates.

They have not. And that they haven’t offers some clarity about the relative effectiveness of different Covid interventions.

No but I did see this SNL skit that tells the story -

[Anonymous]

The sourcing in that NYT hit piece on covid protections has been questioned btw. For example, the author claims that "social distancing leads to the isolation and disruption that have fed so many problems over the past two years" such as "vehicle crashes" and backs this up with a footnote to ... another article by the same author, whose only evidence for the proposition is not cites to any studies or data sets, but an opinion by a psycholody and marketing professor. That is the opinion of one person, not real data supporting a thesis. Try again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everything seems normal at my kids' schools. Also did you guys see the NYT piece that seemingly concludes that all the COVID mitigation measures may have had very little impact? Comparing outcomes in mega-masking/lifestyle limiting states compared to those that went back to normal sooner.

Did Omicron spread less in the parts of the U.S. where social distancing and masking were more common?

The answer is surprisingly unclear.

Nationwide, the number of official Covid cases has recently been somewhat higher in heavily Democratic areas than Republican areas, according to The Times’s data. That comparison doesn’t fully answer the question, though, because Democratic areas were also conducting more tests, and the percentage of positive tests tended to be somewhat higher in Republican areas.

No single statistic offers a definitive answer. When I look at all the evidence, I emerge thinking that liberal areas probably had slightly lower Omicron infection rates than conservative areas. But it is difficult to be sure, as these state-level charts — by my colleague Ashley Wu — suggest.
The lack of a clear pattern is itself striking. Remember, not only have Democratic voters been avoiding restaurants and wearing masks; they are also much more likely to be vaccinated and boosted (and vaccines substantially reduce the chances of infection). Combined, these factors seem as if they should have caused large differences in case rates.

They have not. And that they haven’t offers some clarity about the relative effectiveness of different Covid interventions.

I would be interested in a link. I can't find the article.

I have wondered all along if this would prove to be true. It's very human-like to think we can control the outcomes of everything.

Not to "well, actually" you, but, well, actually:

The CDC released a study yesterday showing that in Arkansas, the schools that had a mask requirement had a 23% lower infection than other Arkansas schools that had no masking requirement. Which is a significant difference, contrary to what PP indicates above. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7110e1.htm?s_cid=mm7110e1_x

During August–October 2021, public school districts in Arkansas with full or partial mask requirements had lower incidences of COVID-19 among students and staff members than did districts without mask requirements. Strengths of this investigation include the use of multiple analyses, and sensitivity analyses, with the protective effect of mask use holding across all analyses, including within districts that switched from no mask policy to any mask policy during the investigation period. Universal mask use, in coordination with other prevention strategies such as vaccination of students and staff members in K–12 schools, remains an important tool for preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission.[google]

Seems like masks actually do help prevent transmission in schools, and that contrary to what folks here have been saying, states down south which did not have mask requirements earlier in the pandemic actually did feel the results of their policies in their student and teacher infection numbers. But go off on how they're not an effective tool for containing the virus, that's fine.

NP, my response is....what else are we trading off for the 23 percent lower infection rate? And what are the absolute numbers? What if cases are already low and so 23 percent reduction doesn't mean all that much absolute numbers wise? What was the impact on the community of the higher infection rate? Is it a highly vaccinated community and what are hospitals like? Clearly different answers for Arkansas and Arlington VA.

In the current environment with adults able to be vaccinated and boosted and hospitals able to handle caseloads, studies like this don't make me think kids should keep masking at this point in time in our region. I realize for some of you the only goal is zero covid or lowest covid possible and anything to get there is worth it. Some of us are looking at a lot of factors when having an opinion.