We need to reframe this, given how American federal and state governments cannot provide safe re-openings and that numbers of hospitalizations/deaths will inevitably increase.

I believe schools should develop a high quality online education program for most of the next school year (even if vaccine doses are distributed this winter or early spring, it will take time to inoculate everyone), and that there should be an exception for families who cannot find childcare and absolutely must work, to be accommodated in a school building, with adequate precautions in place.

Nope.

Anonymous wrote:Well, my wife is on immunosuppressants for a transplant and we'll be sending our kids back. Though, perhaps surprisingly, taking immunosuppressants doesn't necessarily mean you fall into a particularly high-risk category.

https://www.kidney.org/coronavirus/medication-management#do-immunosuppressive-medications-increase-risk-complications-covid-19

From the National Kidney Foundation website:

Do immunosuppressive medications increase the risk of complications from COVID-19?

Yes – according to the CDC, taking immunosuppressive drugs does increase your risk for developing severe disease from the coronavirus due to an underlying medical condition.
Kidney transplant recipients

Doctors at a New York City hospital have reported that kidney transplant recipients are at significantly higher risk for developing serious, life-threatening COVID-19 illness due to taking chronic immunosuppression drugs and having co-existing medical conditions. While their sample size was small (36 transplant recipients), their results showed that kidney transplant recipients had a COVID-19 mortality rate of close to 30% as compared to 1% to 5% mortality in the general population and 8% to 15% mortality in patients with COVID-19 who are 70 years of age or older.
Continue taking your medication

Kidney transplant recipients should not stop taking immunosuppressant medication or lower their dose, unless instructed by their kidney doctor or transplant team. Stopping your immunosuppressants will most likely lead to the loss of your donated kidney. Contact your transplant team for any questions or concerns.

Follow precautions as recommended by the American Society for Transplant located here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those conditions, yes, but I'd also really work on the diabetes and high blood pressure as those can be manageable. For other conditions, no.

Diabetes as a condition can be managed, but the comorbidity cannot from my understanding.

My understanding is for things like HBP or diabetes, if you use medication to control it then it doesn’t reduce the risk.

I have HBP, autoimmune disorder, and asthma, so my plan is to set myself up in the basement while the rest of the family goes about its life. I will visit them outside, 6 ft apart. It’s awful, but they have to live their life and I want to be there to see it. Eventually we will have herd immunity or a vaccine, though 1 year seems optimistic...

Anonymous wrote:Personally I wouldn’t, schools will be a vector of disease spread. There is no way around it. One less year of socialization to have a lifetime with your kid (see weddings, grandkids, etc) would be worth it

I think this is a slippery slope. What guarantee do you have that it's going to be just one year?

Anonymous wrote:For those conditions, yes, but I'd also really work on the diabetes and high blood pressure as those can be manageable. For other conditions, no.

Diabetes as a condition can be managed, but the comorbidity cannot from my understanding.

Anonymous wrote:I would talk to the individual's primary health provider and see if you can get a better sense of risk level. So much, as I understand it, depends on both how well it's controlled, and what it's taking to control it. In our case, for my kid with lung disease, the doctor says that given the level of control we have, and the strategies we're using to control it (e.g. he's already on a pretty high level of oxygen), the risk would be very high. So, we're keeping everyone home. The parent who can work at home will, and the other will quit and homeschool the kids.

+1 it's best to have doctor input into this decision, if possible.

Anonymous wrote:Personally I wouldn’t, schools will be a vector of disease spread. There is no way around it. One less year of socialization to have a lifetime with your kid (see weddings, grandkids, etc) would be worth it

+1.

Personally I wouldn’t, schools will be a vector of disease spread. There is no way around it. One less year of socialization to have a lifetime with your kid (see weddings, grandkids, etc) would be worth it

I would talk to the individual's primary health provider and see if you can get a better sense of risk level. So much, as I understand it, depends on both how well it's controlled, and what it's taking to control it. In our case, for my kid with lung disease, the doctor says that given the level of control we have, and the strategies we're using to control it (e.g. he's already on a pretty high level of oxygen), the risk would be very high. So, we're keeping everyone home. The parent who can work at home will, and the other will quit and homeschool the kids.

My spouse has diabetes, and we have send our child back to daycare & our baby to nanny share last week. I & my spouse have to head back to office one day, and we cannot keep 2 kids with us at home forever. It has been tough to work from home while manage to take care of 2 kids at home.

We have talked about risk. I will be the one picking up & dropping off both kids, sanitizing them once they get home etc. I am the primary caregiver. If they get COVID, I will be the one getting it. I tell my spouse that he has an option to stay from us for the first few weeks in his room if he wants, and I hope that will protect him a bit.

My husband has diabetes and I was obese. My husband's endrocrinologist told him his risk of severe complications was the same as anyone's. Not elevated due to diabetes.

I have lost 25 pounds and I'm no longer in the obesity category.

So yes, we are sending our kids. We have good hygiene practices in place now, and I have plenty of masks and sanitizer. I will increase cleaning of high touch points when family members start going out into public more. We are still mostly staying at home.

Well, my wife is on immunosuppressants for a transplant and we'll be sending our kids back. Though, perhaps surprisingly, taking immunosuppressants doesn't necessarily mean you fall into a particularly high-risk category.

For those conditions, yes, but I'd also really work on the diabetes and high blood pressure as those can be manageable. For other conditions, no.

Will you send your children to school this fall if you or your spouse has a serious medical issue (diabetes, high blood pressure)? I worry about isolating my kids indefinitely, and they really don’t want to be homeschooled (I offered them this option). But how do we protect the parent with a serious health condition?