Now above 8,000 students in these Tampa-metro area schools. Just crickets from @Tsing Tao More than 8,000 Florida students in one school district isolate or quarantine amid local covid surge https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/08/17/florida-students-covid-quarantine-hillsborough/
Child Covid-19 cases are steadily increasing. But with schools opening, expert warns this is just the beginning https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/18/health/us-coronavirus-wednesday/index.html Cases of Covid-19 among children have steadily increasedin the US since the beginning of July, according to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics. And an expert says this rise is just the start of what is to come. "This is happening before school starts. Schools are opening now," Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, said Tuesday. "So, Houston Independent school district opens August 23, that's going to be a huge accelerant. ... This is just the beginning, unfortunately," he told CNN's Jake Tapper. More than 121,000 child Covid-19 cases were reported in the US last week. That's more than 14 times the number of child cases reported in the week ending June 24, AAP says. Though that coincides with a rise in all-age case rates in the US since early summer, the proportion of child cases is up. Child cases represented 18% of the US total last week, against 14.4% over the whole pandemic, AAP says. Health experts had hoped to get a critical threshold of the population vaccinated against Covid-19 in time to get spread under control for the new school year, but only 50.9% of the population is fully vaccinated and cases are once again on the rise. And with the more transmissible Delta variant accounting now for nearly 99% of cases in the US, the situation is growing particularly dangerous for children, experts said. They have advocated for children to wear masks in school, but some governors have attempted to ban such requirements. "Why tie the hands of the public health officials behind their backs? You have two weapons here, one is vaccines the other is masking, and for children less than 12 that's the only weapon they have," Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the US Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory committee, told CNN's Erin Burnett on Tuesday. Hotez said the US is now at a "screaming level of virus transmission," adding that to really interrupt the spread, 80 to 85% of the population will need to be vaccinated. "We know from past epidemics what that means, the best way to do this is to vaccinate your way out of it in collaboration with masks," Hotez said. "We can't be either, or -- the only way we are going to defeat this virus is with both." Thousands of students already quarantining Many schools that have gone back to campus are already seeing the impact of the spread of the virus. More than 3,000 students and employees have been quarantined in the New Orleans Public School District due to Covid-19 cases in the last week, according to the district's latest tally. They represent 5.89% of the students and teachers in the district. Students returned to the New Orleans Public School District on August 12 and are required to wear masks in school facilities, according to the district. Mask mandates have caused tension in Florida as some schools press to implement them but are going up against Gov. Ron DeSantis' ban against such requirements. Among the state's 15 largest school districts, at least 3,143 students and 1,371 employees have tested positive for Covid-19 and at least another 11,416 students and staff members have been quarantined or isolated due to Covid-19. The tallies do not include any cases from the two biggest school districts in Florida -- Miami-Dade and Broward -- which have not yet returned to school. Broward County Schools begin in-person learning on Wednesday and Miami-Dade begins on August 23. On Tuesday, Florida's State Board of Education voted unanimously to recommend investigations into the Broward and Alachua districts over their requirement for mask-wearing in school. In Arizona, Gov. Doug Ducey said the state would use federal Covid relief money to increase the funding available to public school districts only if they're open for in-person learning and don't require children to wear masks. A handful of Arizona districts have imposed mask mandates despite the state law that prohibits them, arguing that the ban cannot go into effect until mid-September at the earliest, making their current mandates legal. Hospital stress 'will get worse' As cases spread, crowding in hospitals has been on the rise as well. Florida on Tuesday had 16,521 people hospitalized with Covid-19, making up 36.1% of all patients in Florida hospitals, the Florida Hospital Association said. (More at above url)
There will never, ever be one hundred percent vaccine compliance. NEVER! So if that's the number, rolling lockdowns remain forever, just like I predicted. The Delta variant is an excuse. Flu like respiratory virus mutates. Always have, always will. For a hundred years damn near every kid in school walked around sick with the flu every single year. 99.9% survive. Every year damn year every adult walked around with the flu every single year. Again, the survival rate astronomically high. The EXACT same people who have been at risk in the past are the EXACT same people now at risk. If you or anyone else is expecting a season where no respiratory virus exist, no one dies, and 100% of the population is continually vaccinated against whatever variant is the flavor of the month you are delusional. And since you and the current powers that be are delusional with your expectations, and the powers that be are crazed with the control and power this gives them, permanent, never ending rolling lockdowns are going to be the policy. That one hundred percent risk free goal you goofballs demand isn't reality and you know it.
You are aware that the Case Fatality Rate of the flu is more than 10X less than COVID. Also the hospitalization rate for the flu is several factors below that of COVID. The two situations are not comparable.
Parents are free to listen to a mentally unstable old fool like you, or make decisions based on medical consensus and appropriate caution. But keep whining online.
10x damn near zero is still damn near zero. There will be no 100% survival, ever. If that's the goal, and apparently it is, masks and rolling lockdowns forever.
With over 8000 students quarantined -- the Tampa area schools are mandating masks. @Tsing Tao must be going nuts at this imposition on his children to prevent them from being hospitalized --- but all we hear is crickets from him Miami, Tampa Schools Demand Masks in Defiance of DeSantis https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...chool-board-to-mandate-masks-defying-desantis
It has reached the point where parents are pulling their children out of school when school board members push obscene COVID misinformation. Livid parents take their kids out of class in response to a school board member's Covid misinformation https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/19/health/cobb-county-schools-georgia-covid/index.html
America's patchwork back-to-school plan https://www.axios.com/america-covid-back-to-school-plan-835f90f6-3507-4ead-aa6e-db47cba84607.html Conflicting policies, fiery political debates and the continued spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 are sowing chaos and uncertainty into the back-to-school season. Why it matters: This will be the third school year in a row with COVID-related disruptions. Many students have already suffered severe learning loss, and the gap between students could grow even wider, thanks to disparities in vaccinations and rising case counts. What they're saying: "The outlook right now is too similar to what we went through last year," Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, tells Axios' Erica Pandey. "It's sad because it's so controllable," he says. "We know what works. We can get our kids in school in person if we can get the older ones vaccinated and the younger ones masked." What's happening: Mask mandates for students aren't universal, but they're pretty common. Florida, Arizona, Texas and South Carolina are among the states that have banned mask mandates, though some districts are defying those orders. And one Florida district that didn't require masks has already had to quarantine 440 students — just two days into the school year. Here's a snapshot of what's unfolding in local communities: Chicago Chicago Public Schools, the nation's third-largest district, officially starts up on Aug. 30, and masks will be mandatory indoors, Axios' Monica Eng reports. Last week, officials announced that vaccines would be required for all staff (except those with health exemptions), but the Chicago Teachers Union says they need more access to vaccines. Students are not required to be vaccinated. Schools will be in-person for now, but as cases rise, some parents are petitioning for a remote option. Columbus Ohio school districts are left to decide their own safety policies for the upcoming school year, as the statewide case count rises to its highest level since last winter, writes Axios' Tyler Buchanan. Columbus City Schools will require masks in all buildings, regardless of vaccination status. But a handful of nearby districts will begin the school year without any mask requirement. D.C. Nearly all of Washington, D.C.'s 51,000 public school students will return to the classroom in person starting on Aug. 30, Axios' Cuneyt Dil and Paige Hopkins report. Virtual learning is only open to students with a doctor's note documenting their medical need for distanced learning — and only 98 children have been approved so far. Masks are required for everybody. Employees must either get vaccinated or undergo weekly testing. Yes, but: More than 600 people have signed an online petition urging D.C. to allow virtual learning until vaccines are available to children under 12. Denver Gov. Jared Polis has rebuffed calls for a statewide mask mandate, but says he may shift his stance if schools are plagued with outbreaks and cannot remain open, writes Axios' John Frank. The governor's decision to punt the responsibility to local districts means a messy patchwork of policies at the start of the school year that seemingly changes by the day. Denver Public Schools, which returns next week, took the strictest stance, requiring all students, teachers and staff to wear masks and forcing all staff to get vaccinated. Des Moines Des Moines Public Schools will not mandate masks or vaccines for staff or students when classes begin Aug. 25 because of a recent state law that prohibits it from doing so, Axios' Jason Clayworth reports. Des Moines Superintendent Tom Ahart said Thursday he supports defying the law if the school board approves a mask mandate, the Des Moines Register reports. There is no threshold for how big many absences would cause a school to close because of a COVID-19 outbreak. Virtual options are available to K–12 students. Nashville Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee largely left local governments to craft their own response to the COVID-19 pandemic but has limited their options on mask mandates, Axios' Nate Rau and Adam Tamburin write. After Metro Nashville Public Schools implemented a universal mask mandate just days before school began, Lee responded with an executive order allowing families to opt out. The Nashville school district disregarded the executive order, telling families the mandate remains in effect, setting the stage for a likely court battle. Northwest Arkansas Local school districts have been scrambling to decide what their policies can and should be after a judge temporarily blocked a state law that bans public entities from requiring masks, Axios' Alex Golden reports. The state's four largest school districts — Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale and Fayetteville — will all require masks for at least some students for now. Tampa Bay Facing record-shattering COVID-19 spikes, three of the nation's largest school districts — Florida's Hillsborough, Broward and Miami-Dade — have defied Gov. Ron DeSantis and made masks mandatory, Axios' Ben Montgomery reports. What's new: School board meetings have become the stage for this debate. One in Tampa lasted four hours and featured a parade of emotional people trying to shoehorn elaborate political philosophy into one-minute speaking slots. Anti-mask moms wore T-shirts that said "Freedom Over Fear" and called masks "tyranny" and "oppression" — while a pediatric nurse called this a "pandemic of sincere ignorance." Twin Cities With no statewide policy in place, Minnesota parents are navigating a variety of mask rules based on their child's district, Axios' Torey Van Oot writes. Schools in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Rochester will require face coverings for students and teachers when classes resume next month. But the state's largest district, Anoka-Hennepin in the Twin Cities suburbs, will recommend, but not mandate, masks. Even in places with mask mandates, parents are stressed ahead of the fall semester. Lindsey Wollschlager said she's "relieved" that St. Paul Public Schools will require masks when her 5-year-old daughter starts kindergarten in September. Yes, but: "She has no excitement about kindergarten. Only dread," Wollschlager said of her daughter.