Many of the Middle & High School Covid clusters in North Carolina this fall semester have involved team sports -- rather than classrooms. Students in most districts (95% of them now) must wear masks in the classroom -- but not when practicing or playing team sports (understandably). Many districts, including the the largest school district in our state - Wake County, are looking to require testing of student athletes once or twice per week plus requiring vaccinations. These Covid clusters have led to multiple hospitalizations of students and coaches -- and many cancelled games. This is one of the recent examples. Sanderson High School quarterback hospitalized with COVID-19 https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/sa...rterback-hospitalized-with-covid-19/19865561/ As data from the state Department of Health and Human Services shows increasing coronavirus clusters among school athletic teams, a local high school quarterback remains hospitalized with the virus. Sources confirmed to WRAL News that a quarterback on Sanderson High School's football team is in the hospital with coronavirus. The school has its first football game this Friday, with head coach Jeremy Buck returning after his own bout with the virus that sent him to a hospital. Although Buck would not confirm the quarterback's diagnosis, Buck said he had recently returned to work after battling the virus himself. He said he entered a local hospital around Aug. 20 and was there for about five days. Buck said he thinks he was close to entering the ICU and was on oxygen while hospitalized and when he returned home. Buck also said that, because of a COVID-19 outbreak, Sanderson's football team missed its first two games of the season. On Wednesday, DHHS released new data showing a sharp increase in COVID-19 clusters among sports teams. Between July 1 and Sept. 2, clusters among school sports teams accounted for 45 percent of clusters in the state's middle and high schools -- with at least 42 athletics-related clusters. The state also reported that 31 percent of new coronavirus cases last week were in children under the age of 17. Wake County officials said on Wednesday that August was one of the worst months during the pandemic for coronavirus infections in the county. Wake County Public School System leaders are also considering stricter COVID-19 protocols as the district's coronavirus cases continue to rise. Since August, the district has reported more than 600 cases. During Tuesday's board meeting, members received a recommendation from the ABC Science Collaborative to require staff and student-athletes to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and mandate that students wear masks at recess, among other safety protocols. The board did not take a vote on any of the items, but it did vote to continue its universal mask mandate indoors.
From the CDC directly: View attachment 267620 Since the start of the pandemic: 412 under 17 years old died of COVID, out of 643,858 (.000639) 924 died of garden variety pneumonia (more than double), and 188 from flu. Shriek harder, GWB.
Los Angeles public schools set to approve vaccine mandate for students 12 and older "Our goal is to keep kids and teachers as safe as possible and in the classroom," board of education member Nick Melvoin said. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...-approve-vaccine-mandate-students-12-n1278815
Republicans Turned Mississippi Schools Into A COVID Factory As 18,000 Kids Get Sick In A Month Mississippi schools were open for one month and 18,000 kids got COVID and another 15,000 had to quarantine. https://www.politicususa.com/2021/0...actory-as-18000-kids-get-sick-in-a-month.html
Maybe Gov DeSantis and you should follow the science... the evidence is conclusive at this point across many studies, masks stop the spread of Covid in schools. Yes, Gov. DeSantis, Studies Do Show Masks Curb Covid-19 In Schools https://www.npr.org/sections/back-t...tudies-do-show-masks-curb-covid-19-in-schools From a political and legal standpoint, the battle over whether mask wearing should be enforced in schools is still raging. But from a scientific standpoint, there's little debate: Masks really do help curb the spread of the coronavirus in school. While there are still some non-believers ... This week, a spokesperson for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was asked to comment on a lawsuit challenging Florida's ban on mask mandates in school. The spokesperson told NPR, "The assertion that forced-masking all children ages 2 and up has any impact on school safety vis-a-vis COVID-19 is not data-driven and is not reflective of a scientific consensus." Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte expressed similar doubt last week. He called existing research "inconclusive" and announced a new rule that encourages schools to give parents the final word on whether their kids don masks. ... the research is conclusive Several studies over the past year have shown that widespread masking can significantly curb transmission from student to student. For example, one study in Wood County, Wisconsin, last fall found that schools that required masking had a whopping 37 percent lower incidence of COVID-19 than the surrounding community. Another study, conducted in Salt Lake County, Utah, last winter, found that high levels of mask wearing among students helped keep the rate of in-school spread of the coronavirus to under 1% — even as COVID-19 cases were surging in the wider community. Now, in all those examples, schools were also using other protective strategies that experts strongly recommend layering on — like physical distancing and opening windows. But studies show that even in situations where these other measures aren't being used, masking makes a big difference in keeping the virus from spreading. That was one conclusion of the ABC Science Collaborative, a major research initiative involving nearly 1 million students from 100 school districts and 14 charter school in North Carolina. It found that universal masking policies helped keep transmission rates of the coronavirus within schools to under 1% last fall and spring. "The science clearly shows us that masking is an effective strategy to prevent within-school transmission when COVID-19 is circulating and when vaccination is not yet available for all children," Dr. Kanecia Zimmerman, co-chair of the ABC Science Collaborative, said in a statement reviewing those findings. Even with the delta variant, within-school spread is low Now, most of those studies were conducted before the highly contagious delta variant began its current sweep across the U.S. But unpublished data, gathered during this past summer school session in North Carolina, shows that transmission was indeed a bit higher as delta spread in the surrounding communities. But even then, thanks to universal masking and other mitigation strategies, the rate of within-school spread was under 3%, says Dr. Ibukun Kalu, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Duke and also a member of the ABC Science Collaborative research team. But, again, proper masking is key Not masking could be disastrous for schools, says Julie Swann, a department head and professor at North Carolina State University who leads a COVID-19 forecasting team funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to a recent modeling study from Swann's lab, without masking policies or other interventions in place, within the first three months of school, the delta variant could infect more than 75 percent of susceptible kids – those who aren't vaccinated and haven't previously had a bout of COVID-19. "It's shocking, right?" Swann says. "And I'm the parent of two school-age [children]." Swann says her model's projection represents "pretty close to a worst-case scenario" – a situation where kids are wearing ill-fitting masks that don't filter well, and mask wearing isn't reliably enforced. But, it doesn't have to be that way. With proper masking and other interventions in place, she says, schools may still see some outbreaks because of delta's highly infectious nature, but far fewer than they would otherwise.
Let's see what the parents are saying about schools in @Tsing Tao's home town. They want to know why schools are not enforcing mitigation measures and Covid was spreading madly. This can be seen in Tsing Tao's earlier boast that his son does not wear a mask and the teachers do nothing. Unless schools actually enforce masks and other mitigation measures put in place by their school boards -- then the effort to stop Covid in schools is meaningless. As the Tampa Bay area is finding out the hard way. Tampa Bay schools have more COVID, fewer protections. Many families ask why. One month into another pandemic school year, a spike in cases — and the fight over how to deal with it — are taking a toll. https://www.tampabay.com/news/educa...ovid-fewer-protections-many-families-ask-why/ Sophia Giri couldn’t wait to get back to school, real school, to play violin in the Wiregrass Ranch High School orchestra and see her friends without a computer screen between them. But her joy, after a year and half at home, was short-lived. In a matter of days — frightened by the sight of unmasked teachers and classmates and concerned about her health and that of her mother — Sophia made the tearful decision to retreat once more to online learning. Back came the tedium, the isolation and the feeling she can’t shake of being punished for reasons she cannot comprehend. “I schedule for myself to wake up and I try to segment my day as I would at school,” said Sophia, 14 and an aspiring medical research scientist. “But I also do find times when I just feel unmotivated, just staring there, staring into space, just thinking, how is this happening?” One month into a third straight school year altered by COVID-19, thousands of Tampa Bay area students and parents are experiencing a similar existence. There is near-universal agreement that school is vital and best experienced in-person. But COVID-19 is spreading fast on campuses, far ahead of last year’s pace, with 19,160 cases reported across the four-county region as of Friday. And Tampa Bay residents, like families across the nation, remain deeply divided over how urgently schools should respond. Should all students wear masks? Should everyone be vaccinated? Differences over these and other issues have adults screaming at their school boards, lashing out at each other and filing lawsuits. Many parents are incredulous at what seems like a retreat from a year ago, when schools offered multiple learning platforms and touted their COVID-19 safety measures. In hindsight, some say, this would have been the better year to keep their kids home, because it feels less safe. For those like Sophia who seek out virtual arrangements instead, the options are limited. Last year, the state allowed students to attend their regular classes online. This year, distance learners must sign up for standalone online programs not connected to their schools. That means they can lose their place in magnet and choice programs, which is another way they are punished. Meghan Gillespie, the mother of a high school sophomore in Riverview, said she’s grateful the Hillsborough County school district imposed a masking mandate that requires a medical certificate for those who opt out. She wishes teachers would be more diligent about enforcing the rule, she said. She wonders if they are afraid of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who issued an executive order banning such mandates. She worries when her son, Hayden, who she described as “super smart,” talks of crowded conditions at school. Last year they would keep him far away from his lab partner in science class, he told her. This year they are shoulder to shoulder. “To an extent, I wouldn’t be sending him if I felt like there was imminent danger,” Gillespie said. “But it is something I weigh daily.” Conditions vary from one district to another. Hillsborough, with limited ways to opt out, has the area’s strictest policy. The Pinellas and Pasco county school districts have encouraged masks for students and staff but resisted calls to require them. The Hernando County School Board imposed a mask mandate, but parents can easily get their kids exempted. Opting out is harder for district employees, who must have a medical excuse. Pinellas board member Caprice Edmond tried to start the mask mandate process on Aug. 24. Her motion — to schedule a meeting, not about the mandate itself — failed4-3. “They had five or six doctors speak and say how bad the hospitals are,” said St. Petersburg chemical engineerBrian Martin, the father of four children in Pinellas schools. “This is real. Masks work. Masks help. And then they had tons of not medically informed parents say crazy things that are scientifically untrue. And the board decided to side with them.” Edmond plans to raise the issue again on Tuesday. The main arguments against masks, articulated in speeches and emails and rallies, are familiar by now: That children need to see facial expressions; that masks can get dirty and make it hard to breathe; that parents, not schools, should decide whether kids wear them. Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper, in ruling against DeSantis’ mask mandate ban, said parental choice cannot outweigh the public health imperative to mitigate the spread of an aggressive virus. But in Pasco and Pinellas, choice remains the default setting. “My principal says we have to respect each other,” said 11-year-old McKenzie Martin, the oldest of the Martin children. She’s a sixth-grade student at Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School who loves math, plays tennis and bakes cookies and cakes for the family. She wants to assert her independence, her parents say, but she is honoring their wishes to remain masked and limit social gatherings. The Martins say they speak honestly with McKenzie about the science. To the younger three, who range in age from 3½ to 9, they have more age-appropriate conversations about why it is best to wear a mask to protect other children and the family. Their mother is Dr. Meghan Martin, an emergency medicine physician at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg. She admits being more cautious than most because she sees the worst of the worst: children struggling to breathe, so many beds filled that some are sent elsewhere in the state and, lately, more “long COVID” cases that can impair a child’s quality of life and ability to learn. In her spare time, Meghan Martin posts TikTok videos to dispel internet myths about vaccines and masking. As much as she can, she tries to give her children a normal lifestyle — outings to a neighborhood playground, a bowling night after they’ve reserved the lanes on either side of their own. The couple has found their practices to be compatible with a family across the backyard. They took down a fence panel so the children can play together. Seeing loose practices at the schools “makes me want to scream,” Meghan Martin said. “Because there is a preventable-ness to this disease.” Her frustration worsened earlier this month. Shore Acres Elementary had informed the family of an “unconfirmed” case of COVID-19 on Sept. 2. The family took their son for a test, on their own initiative. There was no more word from the school, as the protocol is to wait for a confirmation from the health department before beginning a quarantine and entering the case on the public dashboard. On the evening of Sept. 4 the Martins learned their son had COVID-19, one of 4,264 cases reported so far this year in Pinellas schools, with 54 at Shore Acres. “We both totally feel that this is on the School Board,” said Brian Martin, who later learned that he, too, has the virus. “We did everything in our power, beyond home schooling the kids.” • • • Amy Morrow, a parent at North Shore Elementary, had a similar experience. Her 8-year-old daughter, with a history of respiratory issues, came home sneezy and congested after a child who sat near her in class went out sick. Morrow administered two home tests. Both came out positive. She said she contacted the school, thinking they would institute a quarantine or notify the other families. They told her they needed health department confirmation first, she said. Morrow’s daughter ran a fever of 104.7 degrees, she said. Burning up and watery-eyed, the child asked Morrow if she was going to die. “I said, ‘You’re not going to,’ as I am fighting back tears and I am thinking I have no idea,” she recalled. For Morrow, an active school volunteer, the terrifying illness followed other disappointments. The school district pledges on its website that it will “operationalize wellness protocols” by “strongly recommending” masks indoors for staff and students. But the principal, she said, did not wear a mask to a uniform swap event. “I was furious,” Morrow said. The principal wasn’t wearing a mask on the first day of school either, she said. And a group of parents got a chilly reception when they offered to help with mitigation strategies, such as new air filters and volunteers to supervise outdoor lunch. Morrow and her husband were eager to send their daughter to in-person school after keeping her home much of the previous year. ”She’s very social,” she said. Another year at home “would take a toll on her. That’s why we were, oh my gosh, we have to make this decision. It was sickening.” Pinellas school district spokesperson Isabel Mascareñas noted that staff are encouraged, but not required to wear masks. She said the district has always confirmed cases before moving ahead with quarantines and school-wide notification, a process that should only take a day or so. As the case is being confirmed, she said, the school begins the preliminary work for contact tracing. The notice from the Shore Acres principal about the unconfirmed case went outside the usual protocol, she said. And principals are not supposed to notify parents about COVID-19 in a particular classroom, she said, because doing so could be a violation of student privacy. • • • In a contrast that is striking to many parents, schools offered significantly more protection from coronavirus last year. They were far less crowded, with so many children learning at home. And everyone wore masks. Attempts were made to minimize large gatherings, such as assemblies and sporting events. Outside visitors were discouraged. But parents complained about the restrictions. They wanted to have lunch with their children. They wanted to see them perform in the school play, compete in the science fair. They complained about the barrage of emails and texts they were receiving about cases at their schools, which has led districts to rely increasingly on web dashboards if a child is not directly affected. They complained about the quarantines themselves, which forced healthy children to stay home for weeks at a time. So quarantines this year are more “surgical,” a term used by DeSantis. The Pasco district sent an email to all families on Aug. 20, declaring in bold type: Our priorities are to ensure that students who are ill are not in school, and that students who are healthy are in school.” Parents will be informed if there is a COVID-19 case in their child’s class, the letter said. But “the students will not be required to quarantine if they are healthy with no COVID-like symptoms.” Pat Blom, a retired teacher with two grandchildren in the Pasco schools, said, “That’s crazy. What if they’re asymptomatic?” Exceptions are made sometimes, according to district spokesman Stephen Hegarty — for example, if the teacher and much of the class are ill. Last year’s quarantine levels detracted too much from instruction, Hegarty said. “We are trying to strike a balance between keeping kids healthy and keeping healthy kids in school.” Blom, with grandchildren in two other Florida districts as well, said she is terrified, and not just for her grandchildren. “I‘m also very worried about the mental health of my children,” she said. “They are so worried about their children. They are panicked. And when you get that call that your child is quarantined, that’s a scary thing. And to even send your child to school is a scary thing.” • • • Sophia Giri had routines last year that helped her cope with the long hours at home, away from school. Sometimes she would dance around the house with her mother to shake off the blues. She had friends who also were in school-based virtual classes, the option no longer funded by the state, and they had a homework club online. “I don’t know if you did this at my age but I kind of planned my life out,” Sophia said. “Not necessarily exactly, but just kind of thinking I’m going to high school. I want to have a nice group of friends. I want to take these classes. And then I want to try and get into these colleges. Never did I think I’d add a pandemic in there.” Some of her middle school friendships have fallen by the wayside, she said. One close friend has maintained contact. They talk on the phone, they video chat, they shop online. “Retail therapy,” Sophia called it. She is learning, through a video course, to play the acoustic guitar. So far she has learned how to hold the instrument and tune it. Now she is working on right-hand fingering. It could all be a story she tells her grandchildren one day, how she learned guitar in a pandemic.
States sound alarm over Covid-19 outbreaks among school kids https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/15/us/covid-school-children-outbreaks/index.html As school districts across the country reopen, some state officials are voicing concern about the vulnerability of children as the highly contagious coronavirus Delta variant takes aim at the unvaccinated. Covid-19 cases are surging among children as the school year begins -- many in districts without mask mandates -- and the pandemic continues to force quarantines and other disruptions. The latest weekly count of new pediatric cases -- 243,373 -- is about a 240% increase since July, the American Academy of Pediatrics said Monday. The academy, in a joint report with the Children's Hospital Association, said severe cases among children are uncommon but more study is needed on the "longer-term impacts of the pandemic on children, including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children." So far, more than 5 million children have tested positive for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, representing 15.1% of all US cases. Everyone 12 years and older is eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine but vaccination among children ages 12 to 17 is lower than in older groups, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The US isn't alone. Covid-19 infections among children and adolescents in the Americas -- including the US and Canada -- have reached over 1.9 million, Dr. Carissa Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization, said on Wednesday. There were more than 1.5 million Covid-19 cases among children and adolescents reported in the Americas all of last year. In the US, some state officials are sounding the alarm: About 60% of outbreaks in Georgia are in schools In the last 60 days, about 60% of all Covid-19 in Georgia happened in K-12 schools -- about a sevenfold increase, state epidemiologist Dr. Cherie Drenzek said during a Department of Public Health board meeting Tuesday. "The most significant epidemiologic trend that we have seen, that was much different than previous waves of this pandemic, is the tremendous impact that we have seen on school-aged children," she said. That impact crosses all surveillance indicators, including new cases, hospitalizations and deaths, according to Drenzek. Georgia is currently averaging nearly 7,000 new cases each day -- roughly a tenfold increase from July, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Georgia ranks near the bottom in the US in vaccination rates, with 43% fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Ohio governor's appeal to school districts Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio Children's Hospital Association this week urged school superintendents to require masks for staff and students. "If we want our schools to stay open, the best way to do that is for those 12 and over to get vaccinated," he said during a virtual meeting with superintendents. "But because those under 12 are still too young to be vaccinated, we need students who come into school to wear a mask until we get through this." Just over 54% of the state's public school students are under a mask requirement. "Reasonable people may disagree about a lot, but we can all agree that we must keep our children in the classroom so they don't fall behind and so their parents can go to work and not take time off to watch their kids at home," DeWine said. Since August 15, there have been 29,823 children -- ages 5 to 17 -- with confirmed or probable cases of Covid-19 in the state, according to a statement from the governor's office. In the past week, Ohio saw a 44% increase in cases among school-aged children, compared to a 17% jump in the rest of the population. The statement said school districts where masks are optional have seen a 54% week-over-week increase in cases, compared to a 34% spike in districts with mask requirements. "This is a perfect storm, and it's impacting kids like it hasn't before," Nick Lashutka, president and CEO of the Ohio Children's Hospital Association said in the statement. 10 times as many cases in Pennsylvania school children this year Pennsylvania has 10 times as many Covid-19 cases in school-aged children as it did at this time last year -- when the state was doing remote learning, according to Alison Beam, the acting health secretary. Between September 4 and September 10 last year, there were 574 Covid-19 cases in children aged 5 to 18 in Pennsylvania, according to the Department of Health. During the same time period in 2021, there were 5,371 cases in the same age group. Status of a vaccine for children Vaccines for children between the ages of 5 and 11 could get the green light from the US Food and Drug Administration sometime this fall, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday. "If you look at the studies that we at the (National Institutes of Health) are doing in collaboration with the pharmaceutical companies, there will be enough data to apply for an emergency use authorization both by Pfizer, a little bit later by Moderna," Fauci told CNN. "I believe both of them -- with Pfizer first -- will very likely be able to have a situation where we'll be able to vaccinate children," he added. "If the FDA judges the data sufficient enough, we could do it by the fall." School re-openings without proper masking have likely contributed to the increase in cases among children, according to Fauci. "When you get a highly transmissible virus that's going around the community, you're going to see a lot more children get infected," he said. But mask mandates in schools remain controversial. In New York, two Long Island public school districts are suing the governor and state health commissioner over a statewide school mask mandate imposed ahead of the school year. On Wednesday, data from Johns Hopkins University showed that 1 in 500 Americans has died from the coronavirus since the nation's first reported infection.
The DeSantis administration is afraid their own state Surgeon General will tell the truth about masks and Covid... Florida doesn’t want its own Surgeon General to testify in mask lawsuit The state's top health official has been noticeably mum on the issue of masks as COVID-19 ravages the state https://www.salon.com/2021/09/17/fl...n-surgeon-general-to-testify-in-mask_partner/ Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is fighting subpoenas for depositions from Surgeon General Dr. Scott Rivkees in the lawsuit with school boards over mask mandates. The challenge, in this case, is that the Health Department overstepped its authority when it issued an emergency rule banning masks in schools. According to the Miami Herald, Florida Department of Health lawyers are trying to block the deposition from the doctor, who has been mum on the mask issue as COVID-19 ravages the state. "It matters what the surgeon general was thinking in this case," said David Ashburn, the attorney for the school boards in Broward, Alachua and Orange counties. The school boards think that the effort to prevent the mask requirements clashes with Dr. Rivkees' past comments about masks being useful in stopping the spread of the coronavirus. But the Florida lawyers are blocking the effort saying it's pointless. "They (attorneys for the challengers) have means to ascertain the information they want," the state lawyers said. "It's not the surgeon general they need to start with." The hearing lasted an hour as Administrative Law Judge Brian Newman discussed the protective order to block the surgeon general. He didn't rule on the deposition issue but noted he wants to move quickly on the case. The next hearing is scheduled for Monday to hear motions from the Florida Health Department on why the suit should be dismissed. "Rather, the emergency rule is facilitating the spread of COVID-19 by banning masks in public schools," the Herald cited one of the challenges by the NAACP, Florida Student Power Network and families. "At bottom, the school boards disagree with the substance of the department's emergency rule," the motion said. "However, as the public officials charged with operating in accordance with state law, the school boards must presume that state laws applicable to their duties are valid. As such, the school boards lack standing to initiate litigation for the purpose of invalidating the very laws they are duty bound to follow. Put simply, the school boards do not get to pick and choose which state laws they want to follow." As a top official in the Florida Health Department Rivkees should have information if not advice on the topic. "Dr. Rivkees' personal knowledge and unique professional experience, including being a renowned pediatrician, make him singly able to answer the questions related to his statements on masks and the efficacy for, and effects on, children," attorneys for the challengers wrote in the documents. "Given his role, and his history of public health advisories admonishing the public to wear masks, only to reverse them following the direction in Executive Order 21-175 from the governor (at whose pleasure he serves), Dr. Rivkees is in a unique position to explain the actions of the DOH and whether, in fact, the DOH rule's parental opt-out provisions control (as opposed to increase) the spread of communicable disease," the court documents say. The excuse from their opposition made it sounds as if Dr. Rivkees was more of a ceremonial position and that he doesn't actually have any information. They alleged that Rivkees doesn't "possess...unique, personal knowledge about the disputed issues in this proceeding that his staff does not otherwise possess. In his position as Florida's surgeon general, Dr. Rivkees is responsible for overseeing the operations of the state health office, county health departments, and certain area and regional offices throughout the state. He is not, however, involved on a granular level with the enactment of every department rule." Read the full report.