Tests are a useful tool for preventing spread and keeping schools open. Whining about quarantines and false positives doesn’t change that fact.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We opted in. Even my elementary age kid knows it is the right thing to do. Come on people.

I just opted in. APS answered my questions, and there are a good number from my 2nd graders class doing it.

I still think they should have made it opt-out instead of opt-in. Part of why I didn't want to do it was the disruption to learning (leaving class, being the only one, possible false positives) but I think the negatives don't outweigh the positive (stopping possible covid spread).

Have they answered how the algorithm works? That really is my only remaining question.

But as an American shouldn’t my children and I be allowed to kill other people as a matter of carelessness and selfishness? I was brought up believing this so I am confused.

This is about everybody, not just our individual families. It's about the kid who is asymptomatic but got it from his asymptomatic brother and who spreads it to a classmate who takes it home to her mom who is immunocompromised because she is undergoing chemo for cancer, or to her granddad who was vaccinated but has a severe breakthrough infection that lands him in the hospital. Kids are largely asymptomatic and unlikely to get seriously sick thank god, but others are not so lucky. Over 650,000 deaths is a horrible reality, it is not fear mongering to ask everyone to take one small free step to try to prevent the spread.

I’m glad getting covid was good for your family. I’m going to take a hard pass on just letting that happen to my kid, though. Thanks.

Anonymous wrote:My kids can’t be vaccinated, so my game remains unchanged. I’m glad APS takes basic sensible precautions.

neither can mine. But I am vaccinated, their teachers are vaccinated. The risk of COVID to my kids is extraordinarily low. My DS had covid this summer- it was the best thing that could have happened for my anxiety surrounding someone getting covid in thefamily. less than 24 hours sick, and no spread. Why are we quarantining kids for weeks for this???????????????????????

My kids can’t be vaccinated, so my game remains unchanged. I’m glad APS takes basic sensible precautions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m glad APS is taking basic mitigation steps. Vaccinations, masks, and regular testing all help. Anyone trying to fight against preventing spread in our schools might as well be advocating for a return to full time virtual learning. It is clear there are voices in the mix that are from outside of Arlington or are unaffiliated with our schools. Parents, especially of kids not eligible for the vaccine, see you for what you are. Not going to influence anybody around here.

Interesting conspiracy theory, considering only less than 20% of APS parents opted in.

Right- anything/anyone who won't conform to my fear based narrative of COVID must be ;
1. a right wing lunatic
2. not from Arlington
3. not a parent.


sure.... keep telling yourself that......

Its hardly advocating for a return to virtual learning to question the benefit of 'surveillance' testing. It's hardly advocating for a return to virtual learning to question why we are aggressively quarantining contacts when we are talking kids who are low risk to began with, and the UK study shows less than 1.4% develop symptomatic covid.

I view the vaccines as a game changer. Why aren't we treating it as such?????

Anonymous wrote:All of this unnecessary testing demand for the sniffles and "close contacts" (that are less than 2% likely to end up as case, according the English study) is overwhelming local pediatrician's offices. This stuff needs to end ASAP.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/virginia-doctor-says-pediatricians-struggling-to-keep-up-with-covid-testing-demand/2801167/

This is an article Fairfax county, troll. That’s a different board. The testing we are discussing here is done directly in the schools, but you’re not from around here are you. Seriously people get a life.

Anonymous wrote:I’m glad APS is taking basic mitigation steps. Vaccinations, masks, and regular testing all help. Anyone trying to fight against preventing spread in our schools might as well be advocating for a return to full time virtual learning. It is clear there are voices in the mix that are from outside of Arlington or are unaffiliated with our schools. Parents, especially of kids not eligible for the vaccine, see you for what you are. Not going to influence anybody around here.

Interesting conspiracy theory, considering only less than 20% of APS parents opted in.

I’m glad APS is taking basic mitigation steps. Vaccinations, masks, and regular testing all help. Anyone trying to fight against preventing spread in our schools might as well be advocating for a return to full time virtual learning. It is clear there are voices in the mix that are from outside of Arlington or are unaffiliated with our schools. Parents, especially of kids not eligible for the vaccine, see you for what you are. Not going to influence anybody around here.

All of this unnecessary testing demand for the sniffles and "close contacts" (that are less than 2% likely to end up as case, according the English study) is overwhelming local pediatrician's offices. This stuff needs to end ASAP.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/virginia-doctor-says-pediatricians-struggling-to-keep-up-with-covid-testing-demand/2801167/

Anonymous wrote:We opted in. Even my elementary age kid knows it is the right thing to do. Come on people.

I just opted in. APS answered my questions, and there are a good number from my 2nd graders class doing it.

I still think they should have made it opt-out instead of opt-in. Part of why I didn't want to do it was the disruption to learning (leaving class, being the only one, possible false positives) but I think the negatives don't outweigh the positive (stopping possible covid spread).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just got a notification of a positive case at our school - about 30 minutes after testing was scheduled to happen. Looks like it helped identify a case. Seems like a useful investment.

Wow! That's one potential school outbreak stopped in its tracks, keeping a lot more kids in school.

Or it’s a bunch of ‘contacts’ forced into quarantine despite the fact that it was. A false positive or had such a low viral load it had no power to transmit. (See UK study that only 1.4 percent of quarantined contacts develop covid…)

I have no patience for people who don’t even want to try and identify cases in the student population. I take it the quarantine complaint comes from the APE talking points.

I'm not from APE, but I see they've been plugging Test to Stay. I love that idea (and did not sign up my kids for asymptomatic testing).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This info from the Cleveland Clinic says you can continue to test positive on a PCR test even once you are no longer infectious

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diagnostics/21462-covid-19-and-pcr-testing
How long do you test positive after having had COVID-19?
Because the PCR test is so sensitive, it can detect very small amounts of virus material. This means that the test can continue to detect fragments of SARS-CoV-2 virus even after you’ve recovered from COVID-19 and are no longer contagious. So you may continue to test positive if you've had COVID-19 in the distant past, even though you can’t spread the SARS-CoV-2 virus to others.

It can detect post viral shedding but they can differentiate between that and an actual positive.

if that is true how come the CDC does not recommend testing nursing home residents until 90 days after a positive test: "Testing is not recommended for people who have had SARS-CoV-2 infection in the last 90 days if they remain asymptomatic, including if they have had close contact or a higher-risk exposure; this is because some people may be non-infectious but have detectable virus from their prior infection during this period (additional information is available)." https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/long-term-care.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fhcp%2Fnursing-homes-testing.html

I am not trying to be argumentative, just genuinely asking.