How to find out if numbers have gone up since schools reopened

[Anonymous]

Maybe I'm googling the wrong phrases. But I can't seem to find anything concrete and up to date. For example, I know schools in Florida have been open 8-9 weeks, how do I see if there's been the surge we feared? Trying to decide between DL and in person and finding it harder to get facts than I thought.

[Anonymous]

Well with Florida, people will say their numbers are wonky, they aren't reporting correctly, they're hiding the data. Florida does have an issue with death reporting being behind, but if you look at their state dashboard: https://floridahealthcovid19.gov/ there hasn't been a surge after schools opened. Cases and positivity have stayed steady. Deaths have steadily declined.

I typically visit each state's health department dashboard to see the numbers. The NYT has an easy to read chart too: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/florida-coronavirus-cases.html

[Anonymous]

Georgia’s numbers have also steadily declined since schools opened. And we saw all the news stories about unmasked kids in school.

[Anonymous]

Utah had a school related surge.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/utah/articles/2020-09-17/expert-utah-coronavirus-spike-driven-by-schools-reopening

[Anonymous]

This study from New Hampshire shows increase in counties that had colleges attempt in person:

https://www.unionleader.com/news/health/study-reopening-colleges-drove-a-coronavirus-surge/article_cd1373f5-fab0-508e-be0a-03542b97dd75.html

[Anonymous]

This one from Minnesota looks globally:

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/08/nations-see-covid-19-spike-they-grapple-school-reopening

[Anonymous]

It seems like most outbreaks are tied to high school and college openings. Would be night to have more data on elementary. Purely anecdotal but my nieces and nephews in the Midwest have been in school since the beginning of August. Only one class had to quarantine so far and only one positive case in that class. They are wearing masks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like most outbreaks are tied to high school and college openings. Would be night to have more data on elementary. Purely anecdotal but my nieces and nephews in the Midwest have been in school since the beginning of August. Only one class had to quarantine so far and only one positive case in that class. They are wearing masks.

Thank you! Yes it’s elementary I’m looking for.

[Anonymous]

all 3 of the idiotic articles linked above by other posters call an increase in cases a surge with absolutely no mention about how many more tests were performed. NH probably went from double digit tests performed to thousands as the schools reopened.

[Anonymous]

The problem is the data. Each state is tracking using different rules. And even within the state, each county is doing things differently. Its getting kind of ridiculous. There should be guidance coming out from the Federal government about how to track covid data and we can then compare apples to apples. Its not happening though.

There have been several conflicting reports at this point.

I can tell you that private schools in the area have been doing pretty well. Even the catholic ones that are not as well funded as the public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well with Florida, people will say their numbers are wonky, they aren't reporting correctly, they're hiding the data. Florida does have an issue with death reporting being behind, but if you look at their state dashboard: https://floridahealthcovid19.gov/ there hasn't been a surge after schools opened. Cases and positivity have stayed steady. Deaths have steadily declined.

I typically visit each state's health department dashboard to see the numbers. The NYT has an easy to read chart too: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/florida-coronavirus-cases.html

But this has been a problem with Florida all along, even before schools opened. Their early summer surge was hard to miss, even with the underreporting. Hospitals in south FL especially were overrun. So if school openings do lead to a surge, I suspect we’ll see it eventually, even with imperfect reporting.

Mississippi schools have largely been open, with most giving a remote option. Their numbers have been fairly steady the last few weeks- still higher than around here for sure, but do not seem to be increasing further.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem is the data. Each state is tracking using different rules. And even within the state, each county is doing things differently. Its getting kind of ridiculous. There should be guidance coming out from the Federal government about how to track covid data and we can then compare apples to apples. Its not happening though.

There have been several conflicting reports at this point.

I can tell you that private schools in the area have been doing pretty well. Even the catholic ones that are not as well funded as the public schools.

My worry with the catholic schools is that many are pretty old and have poor ventilation systems. We’ll see what happens when they need to close the windows and turn the heat on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem is the data. Each state is tracking using different rules. And even within the state, each county is doing things differently. Its getting kind of ridiculous. There should be guidance coming out from the Federal government about how to track covid data and we can then compare apples to apples. Its not happening though.

There have been several conflicting reports at this point.

I can tell you that private schools in the area have been doing pretty well. Even the catholic ones that are not as well funded as the public schools.

My worry with the catholic schools is that many are pretty old and have poor ventilation systems. We’ll see what happens when they need to close the windows and turn the heat on.

Masking, cohorts and social distancing work. Our school has been open for over a month, and no cases have occurred. Opening with mitigation measures in place is a reasonable middle ground between full DL and taking no steps at all.

[Anonymous]

I have been carefully tracking Fairfax County data and for what it’s worth, numbers have not increased since private schools (and GMU) went back around 8/25. Not sure how many private schools went back or what then, though.

[Anonymous]

A fall surge has been predicted for months, independent of school schools being open. A surge doesn’t necessarily mean that schools are the source.