I know you have a sketchy grasp of Science and Data, but this doesn't mean that most want masks used. It could mean: 1. People know their complaints fall on deaf ears (like me, I haven't complained officially, but I don't want them) 2. Parents have no idea how to actually get through to an official complaint 3. The school isn't counting a complaint unless it goes through a "file" process Or any host of reasons.
Why vaccinations should be mandatory for teachers... CDC: Unvaccinated teacher spread COVID-19 to 12 students https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2021/08/27/COVID-19-school-unvaccinated-teacher-CDCy/2541630086422/ Twelve of 22 students in an elementary school class were infected with the Delta variant of COVID-19 after being exposed to an unvaccinated teacher with the virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday. The age of the students was not included in the data, though they were "all ineligible for vaccination because of age," the CDC said. Eight of the 12 students developed symptoms of COVID-19, although none were hospitalized as a result, it said. Desks in the classroom were separated by 6 feet, in compliance with CDC recommendations regarding social distancing, and all staff and students in the Marin County, Calif., school were required to wear masks while indoors. However, the unvaccinated teacher "was reportedly unmasked on occasions when reading aloud in class," the CDC reported. "This outbreak of COVID-19 that originated with an unvaccinated teacher highlights the importance of vaccinating school staff members who are in close indoor contact with children ineligible for vaccination as schools reopen," the CDC researchers wrote. "The outbreak's attack rate highlights the Delta variant's increased transmissibility and potential for rapid spread, especially in unvaccinated populations such as schoolchildren too young for vaccination," they said. The report comes as school districts across the country are reopening and debating whether COVID-19 vaccines should be required for eligible students and staff. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week gave full approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech shot to be used in people 16 and older. Ages 12 to 15 are eligible to receive the vaccine under the FDA's emergency use authorization. Many schools are also implementing social distancing protocols and mask mandates, over the objections of some parents. On Friday, a Florida judge struck down an executive order from Gov. Ron DeSantis banning school mask mandates. Nearly 165,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported across the United States on Thursday, with at least 80% of them the more contagious Delta variant, based on CDC data. Between Aug. 12 and 19, there were more than 180,000 confirmed infections among children across the country, with about 2% developing serious enough symptoms to require hospital treatment, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Children accounted for more than 22% of all confirmed COVID-19 cases during that week, a more than 50% increase from earlier in the pandemic. In addition to the 12 cases among the unvaccinated teacher's students in California, a separate class in the same school saw six of 14 tested pupils infected, the CDC said. Four students from four separate grades in the school were also infected, as well as four parents of children there. All of the cases in the school involved the Delta variant and could be traced to the infected, unvaccinated teacher. "Ineligibility because of age and lack of vaccination contribute to persistent elevated risk for outbreaks in schools, especially as new ... variants emerge," the CDC researchers wrote. "However, implementation of multiple prevention strategies within schools can mitigate this risk."
More COVID-19 shots, studies offer hope for US schools https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/more-covid-19-shots-studies-offer-hope-for-us-schools/19845979/ Officials offered new hope for the safety of U.S. schoolchildren threatened by COVID-19 on Friday as Gulf Coast hospitals already full of unvaccinated patients braced for the nightmare scenario of a major hurricane causing a wave of fractures, cuts and heart attacks without enough staff to treat the injured. The Biden administration said half of U.S. adolescents ages 12-17 had gotten at least their first COVID-19 vaccine, and the inoculation rate among teens is growing faster than any other age group. “We have now hit a major milestone,” White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters at a briefing. “This is critical progress as millions of kids head back to school.” Meanwhile, new studies from California both provided more evidence that schools can open safely if they do the right things and highlighted the danger of failing to follow proper precautions. A study of COVID-19 cases from the winter pandemic peak in Los Angeles County found that case rates among children and adolescents were about 3½ times lower than in the general community when schools followed federal guidance on mask wearing, physical distancing, testing and other virus measures, officials said. Another study from Marin County, north of San Francisco, found that a single unvaccinated teacher who came back to school two days after showing symptoms and read to her class without wearing a mask led to 26 other infections in May, before the highly contagious delta variant ran wild. “Most of the places where we are seeing surges and outbreaks are in places that are not implementing our current guidance,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who discussed the studies at a briefing. More than 3,100 active coronavirus cases have been reported in Arkansas public schools among students and employees, according to newly released numbers, and most youths are enrolled in districts that require masks. The mandates emerged after a judge temporarily blocked a state law that banned mask mandates in Arkansas, which ranks fifth nationally for new virus cases per capita, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. On the northern Gulf Coast, where Ida was forecast to become a dangerous hurricane before it hits on Sunday, workers at Singing River Gulfport expect to have to raise flood gates to keep rising water out of the hospital that is full of COVID-19 patients, the vast majority of whom aren't vaccinated, said facilities director Randall Cobb. Complicating matters, he said, was that the hospital is short-staffed because of the pandemic and also expects to get a flood of patients suffering from ailments that typically follow any hurricane: broken bones, heart attacks, breathing problems and lacerations. “It's going to be bad. It's going to be really bad,” Cobb said. Located a few miles from the coast, the hospital has enough generator fuel, food and other supplies to operate on its own for at least 96 hours, he said, and it will help anyone who has a serious, life-threatening condition. But officials were trying to get the word out that people with less severe medical problems should go to special-needs storm shelters or contact emergency management. “It’s very stressful because it’s too late if we have not thought of everything. Patients are counting on the medical care but also on the facility to be available,” Cobb said. About 1,100 people are dying daily of COVID-19 in the United States, the most since mid-March, according to Johns Hopkins University data. About 85,000 people were hospitalized with the illness nationwide early this week, CDC data shows, the highest total since the post-holiday surge in early February. The surge is largely fueled by the highly contagious delta variant among people who are not vaccinated. In areas where vaccination rates are particularly low, doctors have pleaded with their communities to get inoculated to spare overburdened hospitals. In places including Alabama, federal teams have been brought into to assist exhausted workers and fill staffing gaps caused by COVID-19 infections and exposure. In Idaho, one of the least vaccinated states, intensive care units are running out of space and one 330-bed hospital, Kootenai Health, converted classrooms into patient care space. The largest classroom became a treatment room for as many as 21 coronavirus patients who don’t need the kind of specialized monitoring provided by intensive care units. Other classrooms were turned into treatment areas where hospitalized COVID-19 patients can receive monoclonal antibody therapy in hopes of keeping them from needing a hospital bed. Idaho also is calling on people with health care skills or a simple willingness to help to sign up for the state’s Medical Reserve Corps. Retired health care workers can get temporary license renewals, and others can help with tasks such as contact tracing and data entry.
Let's reinforce this once again - Schools that follow public health guidelines are generally safe. Schools that do not quickly get overrun with Covid. CDC director says schools with large Covid outbreaks generally aren’t following federal mask and vaccine guidance https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/27/cdc...t-following-us-mask-and-vaccine-guidance.html
COVID-19: Does surge in cases after Scottish schools reopened suggest infections could rise UK-wide? The government's scientific advisers have warned that a COVID-19 surge in the UK is "highly likely" among young people after schools reopen in England. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19...uggest-infections-could-rise-uk-wide-12392350
Parents are no longer going to put up with school systems ignoring basic public health safety measures and putting their children at risk. Tennessee school district parents planning a 'sick out' to up the pressure on COVID-19 safety https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...ents-plan-sick-out-covid-19-rules/5642403001/