Anyone anxious about sending under 12 kids to school because of Delta?

[Anonymous]

I really want my kids to have a “normal” school experience, but with school starting on Monday, I’m starting to lose sleep because I’m worried about my kids getting sick or us getting sick. We’re fully vaccinated, but I’ve heard some horror stories from some acquaintances who have had breakthrough cases. I’m just wondering if anyone else is worried. If so, what are you doing to try to reduce your risk as a family?

[Anonymous]

No you're the only one. There definitely haven't been endless posts about this subject.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I’ve seen lots of posts on logistics, not so many on whether people are truly worried and how they’re managing the stress.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I am worried. But my kid needs to be in school. I feel confident her teachers are vaccinated. I don’t know about the families of her classmates. We have good quality masks. We will test family members periodically (DC’s test yourself program is great for this) to do our part. I can only hope for the best. There is not much point in sitting around and stressing about it. I’ll pay attention to the news snd the Covid numbers snd make the best choices I can.

[Anonymous]

Similar to PP, I am worried, but my kid needs to be in school. We cannot repeat what we did last year. Everyone’s mental health suffered terribly.

How am I managing the stress? Well, I started taking mediation for one. And lots of deep breaths and focusing on what I can control and why this is the best option for our family. Also focusing on that if (when) we do all get Covid in all likelihood it will be mild; the kids are young (one is in daycare) and DH and I are vaccinated. The Emily Oster piece helped me, too. So does talking with my husband. I

[Anonymous]

Modeling (based on DC’s use of masks, HVAC upgrades and testing of up to 10% of kids each weeks) shows that more than 50% of kids will get COVID in the first 90 days of school.

So if you care about your kids getting COVID, it’s appropriate to be nervous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I am worried. But my kid needs to be in school. I feel confident her teachers are vaccinated. I don’t know about the families of her classmates. We have good quality masks. We will test family members periodically (DC’s test yourself program is great for this) to do our part. I can only hope for the best. There is not much point in sitting around and stressing about it. I’ll pay attention to the news snd the Covid numbers snd make the best choices I can.

Testing yourself periodically with no symptoms makes the DC positivity rate seem lower than it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Modeling (based on DC’s use of masks, HVAC upgrades and testing of up to 10% of kids each weeks) shows that more than 50% of kids will get COVID in the first 90 days of school.

So if you care about your kids getting COVID, it’s appropriate to be nervous.

Totally agree. There are real things to be nervous about. I think there are a lot of other nervous parents out there, based on the questions that I heard on our schools’ back to school calls. Here we are controlling as much as we can. KN95s for the kids and frequent testing so that if we do have a case we catch it early. We also will not hesitate to keep our kids at home if there is a case in the classroom even if we are not deemed a “close contact”. Hopefully this will put our odds at below 50 percent. But that is still not a risk that we take lightly. And it is comforting to me to know that there are others in the same boat.

Where can I find that model by the way? I believe it is true based on what we know about the way covid spreads and what communities with IPL saw last year even with a less contagious virus. but would be interested to see it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Modeling (based on DC’s use of masks, HVAC upgrades and testing of up to 10% of kids each weeks) shows that more than 50% of kids will get COVID in the first 90 days of school.

So if you care about your kids getting COVID, it’s appropriate to be nervous.

Totally agree. There are real things to be nervous about. I think there are a lot of other nervous parents out there, based on the questions that I heard on our schools’ back to school calls. Here we are controlling as much as we can. KN95s for the kids and frequent testing so that if we do have a case we catch it early. We also will not hesitate to keep our kids at home if there is a case in the classroom even if we are not deemed a “close contact”. Hopefully this will put our odds at below 50 percent. But that is still not a risk that we take lightly. And it is comforting to me to know that there are others in the same boat.

Where can I find that model by the way? I believe it is true based on what we know about the way covid spreads and what communities with IPL saw last year even with a less contagious virus. but would be interested to see it.

Not sure about that model but you can see which DC schools are having positive tests here:

https://dcpsreopenstrong.com/updates/

[Anonymous]

Yes, but I am trying to hold on to the facts rather than fear. Rates of hospitalization and death for instance being on par with flu for children which I never worried about.

Also the fact that our school is doing a lot of mitigation, and that our community rate (probably the most important metric) is still relatively low and holding steady at 24 cases per 100k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Modeling (based on DC’s use of masks, HVAC upgrades and testing of up to 10% of kids each weeks) shows that more than 50% of kids will get COVID in the first 90 days of school.

So if you care about your kids getting COVID, it’s appropriate to be nervous.

Can you share the source?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I am worried. But my kid needs to be in school. I feel confident her teachers are vaccinated. I don’t know about the families of her classmates. We have good quality masks. We will test family members periodically (DC’s test yourself program is great for this) to do our part. I can only hope for the best. There is not much point in sitting around and stressing about it. I’ll pay attention to the news snd the Covid numbers snd make the best choices I can.

Testing yourself periodically with no symptoms makes the DC positivity rate seem lower than it is.

wait WHAT looooool

[Anonymous]

I am so worried. We are not returning to in-person church or any indoor activities. I feel powerless to prevent my kids from getting sick because we need to work and FDA hasn't approved the vaccine for under 12s. I talked to my doctor, upped my SSRIs, and made an appointment with a therapist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I am worried. But my kid needs to be in school. I feel confident her teachers are vaccinated. I don’t know about the families of her classmates. We have good quality masks. We will test family members periodically (DC’s test yourself program is great for this) to do our part. I can only hope for the best. There is not much point in sitting around and stressing about it. I’ll pay attention to the news snd the Covid numbers snd make the best choices I can.

Testing yourself periodically with no symptoms makes the DC positivity rate seem lower than it is.

Maybe, but if my kid is going to school where most people aren’t vaccinated, and my spouse is going to an office where no one wears a mask, then I have to do something. I’m not going to NOT test my family for the sake of DC’s positivity rate. WTF?

[Anonymous]

For those buying KN95s, they are about $2 a piece. How are you all affording this?