Soo best comment from our board meeting from an insurrectionist (said he was there January 6) is that masks are a government plot to take over the government.
Well. Hmm. Interesting. So...what about the rest of the world? Is the US Government also trying to take over the rest of the world by infiltrating their governments and mandating masks in other countries, too?? It's like all of these idiots who claim GOVERNMENT PLOT to XYZ don't even realize that the rest of the world exists and is ALSO dealing with a GLOBAL pandemic. Figures.
I generally try to at least see where people are coming from even when I vehemently disagree with them...but I'm dumbfounded on this one.
I just want to cry. I’m not sure if any other parents of under 2 kids are feeling as hopeless as I am right now, but my resilience for the pandemic is running very thin currently. As we approach J’s one year birthday next month he still hasn’t met one set of grandparents (who live in Florida) who are coming up here for his very small, outdoor family party. We are now considering asking all the adults to mask even outdoors (there will only be one other child who isn’t old enough to vaccinate.) Fucking delta. I can’t do this anymore.
Absolutely ask people to mask, it will protect them and also your little one.
Agreed. I think that is totally appropriate. And I’m really sorry seeyalater52 😢
seeyalater52, yep. it's really hard having an infant right now. and I went into this *waves arms* somewhat aware of what I was getting myself into. every decision is so tough.
Soo best comment from our board meeting from an insurrectionist (said he was there January 6) is that masks are a government plot to take over the government.
I feel like I’m tying my brain in knots trying to figure out how wearing a cloth face covering somehow leads to a government plot. Best quit while I’m ahead.
Agreed. I think that is totally appropriate. And I’m really sorry seeyalater52 😢
I know it’s the right thing to do. I just don’t want to.
If you have time before the get-together, can you have special masks made to make it more fun?
I ran an outdoor golf outing a week ago, I wore a mask the whole time but no one else did. Got my positive test result yesterday and started having symptoms today. You'll be able to relax and enjoy your family if you aren't worried the whole time about the virus spreading <3. Everything sucks but you deserve to see your loved ones.
I know it’s the right thing to do. I just don’t want to.
If you have time before the get-together, can you have special masks made to make it more fun?
I ran an outdoor golf outing a week ago, I wore a mask the whole time but no one else did. Got my positive test result yesterday and started having symptoms today. You'll be able to relax and enjoy your family if you aren't worried the whole time about the virus spreading <3. Everything sucks but you deserve to see your loved ones.
This is a good idea! I’m so sorry you’re positive. The whole thing just sucks so damn much.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
Same. So weird. I live in a major east coast city with a diverse population and a world renown children’s hospital. Why aren’t we a site?
If I had to guess, it’s possible there is a site near you, it just has already filled all the available spots so it’s not looking for more kids to enroll. I am pretty sure that’s the case in my area, as I know a trial is going on at one of the local hospitals but doesn’t show up in the search - they are just already at capacity.
There's a site in my city that I had looking into before for my older DD1 (age 6). But it requires a bunch of blood draws and she hates needles, so I didn't sign her up. PLus they were starting in Sept and I stupidly thought the Pfizer would be approved for kids her age by then (the trial is for Moderna).
I just signed up for my younger DD2 (age 2.75) to volunteer. She won't be eligible until next year likely, so maybe this path would actually get her vaccinated earlier.
I'll preface this by saying that I don't have a problem with mask mandates in K-12 education, given where things stand with Delta right now. (Early childhood/preschool is a different story).
But with all of the handwringing about what individual districts are doing or not doing, it's a good reminder that much of the rest of the western world (i.e. Europe) is not mandating masks for elementary aged kids, and that includes countries currently experiencing a big Delta wave.
Here's a good summary of what other countries are (currently) doing, along with some discussion as to why:
Why are European countries — both in and out of the European Union — masking their children less than the United States?
There are many potential factors at play and it’s only possible to speculate.
One reason may be that the ECDC does not recommend masking primary students at all. Education and health are member state competencies (i.e. not controlled by the EU), but ECDC’s guidance is still important.
Another reason could be that interpersonal trust is higher in most European countries than the United States. Because of this, parents and the policymakers representing them may feel less need to protect children from each other with masks. That said, interpersonal trust is even lower in the United Kingdom — where there’s minimal student masking — than the United States.
Comprehensive paid sick leave for all workers — including for dependent care — might play a role. In the European Union and United Kingdom, all workers are entitled to generous paid leave, which means it’s easier for parents to avoid sending sick kids to school. In Sweden, there was a 24% increase in parents taking paid leave to care for sick children in 2020 compared to 2019. If policymakers are more confident parents will be able to keep their sick children home from school, they may feel less of a need to mandate masks.
It is true that larger shares of many European populations are vaccinated than the populations of many U.S. states, but some of the U.S. metro areas most committed to masking children — for example, the Bay Area and Seattle — have vaccination rates comparable to the Nordic countries. And Florida (50.5% fully vaccinated) — reviled by the Biden administration for not mandating masks — is currently at about the same place as Switzerland (50.3% fully vaccinated).
Another reason for less masking in Europe than the U.S. may be that policymakers see other interventions as more important. For example, Finland treats ventilating — “airing” — classrooms as an important job for students. In the Netherlands, unvaccinated secondary students and teachers are requested to self-test two times a week. Meanwhile, Norway will phase out quarantines and widely deploy rapid tests to keep schools safe and students learning.
It’s also important to note that Nordic countries have always viewed face masks as supplementary to other measures, like physical distancing and staying home when sick. In contrast to Northern Europe, U.S. public health experts and politicians — even many Republicans — seem to treat masks as the most important intervention.
The article points out a few reasons why this may be not advisable in the US (namely, crappy sick leave policies where US parents are forced to send ill children into schools and childcare centers). And importantly, are any of those countries seeing pediatric hospitals filling up like we are in some parts of the US?
These articles just bum me out. I’m not reassured by poor masking amongst kids in my neighborhood just because it’s working for kids in an entirely different part of the world. It just makes me wish I could move to a Nordic country with great sick leave, open air classrooms and high vaccine uptake.
Someone in our school board meeting said that her children’s dental issues, including two kids with 6 cavities and a root canal was caused by masks. 🤦♀️
melmaria , yeah. We are still arguing about FrEedDoM when we would could have enacted meaningful change. Sounds about right. If we had better sick leave policies for all parties involved and more robust testing masks might not be needed in schools. Alas we don't have either. They did upgrade our ventilation though so I guess there is that.
Post by Patsy Baloney on Aug 18, 2021 11:28:47 GMT -5
melmaria, I feel the same way. I know some ventilation upgrades were done in our area, but it's likely not enough. I don't have the inside track at our local schools, but I'm extremely doubtful any thought was given to how to have more class time outside. Innovative thinking hasn't been at the forefront. It's simply reactionary and "trying to get back to normal".
We have continually tried to jam the round peg of covid life into the square hole of life prior to 2020. It's exhausting.
melmaria gotcha, bolded text doesn’t show up on the app.
Agree that it’s frustrating we are still at this point. I remember the 2020-2021 school parents being frustrated by the lack of planning when there was months of notice. It is sad to see the same thing play out for 2021-2022. I guess we know what to expect for 2022-2023.
Post by fluffycookie on Aug 18, 2021 11:39:42 GMT -5
I just got a call that DS falls under the 3rd booster for immunocompromised individuals because of his remicade infusions so now I am trying to figure out when to schedule it. He can't have it next week they said because he's having a colonoscopy and he has his infusion on the 30th and then goes back to school on the 1st. Knock on wood he didn't have any reactions to the first two shots, but my luck this one he will.
I just got a call that DS falls under the 3rd booster for immunocompromised individuals because of his remicade infusions so now I am trying to figure out when to schedule it. He can't have it next week they said because he's having a colonoscopy and he has his infusion on the 30th and then goes back to school on the 1st. Knock on wood he didn't have any reactions to the first two shots, but my luck this one he will.
I hope he does well with it! I’m on infliximab infusions as well (10mg/kg every 8 weeks) and had only mild reactions. Dose 3 was very similar to dose 2 for me. Can he go this week before the colonoscopy to get him full protection before school starts?
I just got a call that DS falls under the 3rd booster for immunocompromised individuals because of his remicade infusions so now I am trying to figure out when to schedule it. He can't have it next week they said because he's having a colonoscopy and he has his infusion on the 30th and then goes back to school on the 1st. Knock on wood he didn't have any reactions to the first two shots, but my luck this one he will.
I hope he does well with it! I’m on infliximab infusions as well (10mg/kg every 8 weeks) and had only mild reactions. Dose 3 was very similar to dose 2 for me. Can he go this week before the colonoscopy to get him full protection before school starts?
I just checked with his GI's office to make sure if I can get him an appointment tomorrow that it wouldn't impact his covid test on Tuesday and they said no so he's going tomorrow after hockey.
I'll preface this by saying that I don't have a problem with mask mandates in K-12 education, given where things stand with Delta right now. (Early childhood/preschool is a different story).
But with all of the handwringing about what individual districts are doing or not doing, it's a good reminder that much of the rest of the western world (i.e. Europe) is not mandating masks for elementary aged kids, and that includes countries currently experiencing a big Delta wave.
Here's a good summary of what other countries are (currently) doing, along with some discussion as to why:
Another reason for less masking in Europe than the U.S. may be that policymakers see other interventions as more important. For example, Finland treats ventilating — “airing” — classrooms as an important job for students. In the Netherlands, unvaccinated secondary students and teachers are requested to self-test two times a week. Meanwhile, Norway will phase out quarantines and widely deploy rapid tests to keep schools safe and students learning.
I wish we had as much trust in each other as European countries do. However the US is fundamentally different. If anything has proved how selfish Americans are and how little they care about other people or society, it is the last year.
Interestingly, MA is taking an approach similar to Norway to use rapid tests to keep kids in school. It is called Test-and-Stay. Basically if a kid is a close contact, they will be tested at school daily using a rapid test and if it is negative, will be allowed to stay at school. My town will be using it and it will be interesting to see how it works (we also have a mask mandate). The idea of not having to quarantine for every exposure is great.
noodleoo, my goodness I would love the test and stay model.
Our kids have to quarantine for 10 days regardless of vax status. It sucked last year and it is going fo suck even more this year. So much lost learning and scrambling to provide care for parents.
Post by Patsy Baloney on Aug 18, 2021 15:30:50 GMT -5
We are a test-to-stay school as well. You have to opt in and schools are supposed to be able to offer the nasal swab or saliva tests by mid-September (they have only swabs right now).
I will be test-to-stay-ing until the damn world ends to avoid a needless quarantine period.
I’ve never heard of test and stay but it sounds like a promising strategy! Minimizes learning disruption, incentivizes testing (to avoid a shift to remote learning), and reduces school spread. It seems like the only downside is expense or the occasional loss of learning from a false positive (though the Abbott tests are pretty reliable).
“Thirteen high schools implemented the practice, and researchers concluded in May 2021 that it saved ‘an estimated 109,752 in-person instruction student-days.’”
I hope it works out for your district and others catch on!
I'll preface this by saying that I don't have a problem with mask mandates in K-12 education, given where things stand with Delta right now. (Early childhood/preschool is a different story).
But with all of the handwringing about what individual districts are doing or not doing, it's a good reminder that much of the rest of the western world (i.e. Europe) is not mandating masks for elementary aged kids, and that includes countries currently experiencing a big Delta wave.
Here's a good summary of what other countries are (currently) doing, along with some discussion as to why:
I wish we had as much trust in each other as European countries do. However the US is fundamentally different. If anything has proved how selfish Americans are and how little they care about other people or society, it is the last year.
Interestingly, MA is taking an approach similar to Norway to use rapid tests to keep kids in school. It is called Test-and-Stay. Basically if a kid is a close contact, they will be tested at school daily using a rapid test and if it is negative, will be allowed to stay at school. My town will be using it and it will be interesting to see how it works (we also have a mask mandate). The idea of not having to quarantine for every exposure is great.
Our district in Florida has made the national news, over 5000 students in quarantine or isolation and hundreds of staff as well. Our school board has called an emergency meeting for tomorrow. This is all such a mess. The district policy is that if both students are wearing masks, no quarantine but teachers are being told they can't monitor who is or isn't wearing a mask. Masks are currently mandated with an opt out form parents can fill out but that information isn't even being shared with teachers, all because of our Governor.
I saw the number jumped to 8,400 students and 307 staff members either in isolation because of a positive test or in quarantine after coming into close contact with someone who tested positive!
The lawmakers wrote that they "respect the scientific process and the FDA’s dedication to safety," but say that the current rise in cases due to the delta variant adds urgency to the situation. They request a briefing from the FDA within 10 days on its timeline and where it is in the process of reviewing data from vaccines for children under 12.
Well, shit. I heard back from our awesome school board member. She’s passing it along to the Superintendent, but it sounds like their hands are tied.
All quarantines in our district will be voluntary, unless a student (or teacher) tests positive. If someone in a home tested positive, no one else in the home needs to quarantine. It’s up to each individual to “do the right thing.” They’re not even able to notify close contacts. This is absolute INSANITY!
So, if I continue to “do the right thing”, my kids will never be in school as the spread will likely be out of control.