@@ August Covid

[timorousbeastie]

I won’t be having DD mask this year. There was no mask requirement in her district last year, and she was one of the only kids in the school who wore one. I let her stop wearing her mask for the last week of school, when she finally admitted that several of her “friends” had been making comments about her wearing one all year. She does still wear one whenever we go anywhere not school-related.

In the last few months of last school year, the district stopped requiring positive kids to stay home (they very lightly recommend staying home 5 days, but made it pretty clear that it wasn’t required at all), so I assume this year will be run as if COVID doesn’t exist, even if there were to be a huge spike in hospitalization/deaths.

[hermione]

I don't see the point in masking C for school when the other 599 kids won't be. We'll follow all protocols set forth by the school.

[erbear]

Aug 4, 2022 10:03:48 GMT -5 karinothing said:

What are guys doing for the fall? Are your kids still wearing masks in school?

My kids wore them all last year but they aren't mandatory anymore. I think they would be in the minority if they do wear them. We got covid twice last yr (from school exposure both times) so I am not sure wearing the mask helped all that much (and this was when other folks were wearing masks in school).

. I assume we will be mask optional and I think my kids will mask (they did last year, as did most of the kids — only maybe 5-6 out of my 50 didn’t mask when it became optional). I will probably mask in large groups and when I’m working closely with kids but might take mine off when I’m instructing a whole group — that has been exhausting over the last couple of years.

[erbear]

Aug 4, 2022 13:02:08 GMT -5 fortnightlily said:

Echoing what a lot of others have already said. I'm not planning to make my 3rd grader wear one unless it's mandated, which I don't anticipate happening unless we see major spikes in hospitalizations and deaths. He never brought home Covid during the full year that everyone masked all day except lunch, but he did bring home a cold twice. Despite a mask mandate and high vaccine uptake my community still had a massive Omicron surge because a lot of transmission was happening inside homes over winter break, either from household members or small social gatherings.

I also kind of wonder about the efficacy of masking over a certain threshold of time in a shared space. Even assuming all masks are high-quality, well-fitted and being worn properly the whole time (which, hello, kids), if you're in an enclosed space (be it a classroom or an airplane) with someone shedding virus for 4+ hours... at some point exposure is what it is. Viruses enter the body through the eyes, too.

This is true. Everyone but me got Covid this summer in London despite us masking everywhere. Literally no one else did, and there were crowds and our masks couldn’t hold it.

[karinothing]

Aug 4, 2022 17:37:13 GMT -5 erbear said:

Aug 4, 2022 10:03:48 GMT -5 karinothing said:

What are guys doing for the fall? Are your kids still wearing masks in school?

My kids wore them all last year but they aren't mandatory anymore. I think they would be in the minority if they do wear them. We got covid twice last yr (from school exposure both times) so I am not sure wearing the mask helped all that much (and this was when other folks were wearing masks in school).

. I assume we will be mask optional and I think my kids will mask (they did last year, as did most of the kids — only maybe 5-6 out of my 50 didn’t mask when it became optional). I will probably mask in large groups and when I’m working closely with kids but might take mine off when I’m instructing a whole group — that has been exhausting over the last couple of years.

Yeah 99% of kids masked until the end of the yr at my kids school but no one seems to be masking in camp. I think everyone just felt they needed to make it to the end. But who knows.

[StrawberryBlondie]

We won't be making DD mask either unless it goes back to being required. If she wants to, we'll support, and like we've been doing since they dropped the mandate in March we'll encourage her to use her judgement when it might be prudent to mask anyway, like small group work, etc. She doesn't mind masking and has some pretty decent judgment when she's comfortable.vs. not masking, so I'm ok with it.

[taratru]

No word yet in Dubai, but I bet we will still mask. After a month in the US, I'm really not looking forward to it.

Also not looking forward to fighting the battle with students. *sigh*

[abs]

It’s official. Covid is now being treating like any other illness in my district. You can return to school after 24 hours fever free plus improving symptoms. Dashboard for keeping track of cases had been discontinued.

[dcn]

H finally has Covid, ugh. The kids start school Monday. Terrible timing.

[pinkdutchtulips]

Aug 1, 2022 9:24:58 GMT -5 Patsy Baloney said:

I’m getting tired of the narrative that kids have been locked out of schools for years and years. It is happening here, too.

Nope. We lost April and May of 2020.

August of 2020, kids were back in schools on a modified schedule, almost back to normal in winter/spring 2021, fully normal 2021/2022.

Shut the fuck up and homeschool, Janet, I’m tired of your shit.

My district was locked down ALL of 2020-2021. It was awful. My bonus son was on a hybrid schedule by Oct 2020 and they were back full time in-person albeit masked by April 2021. The difference between a district of 4 schools and one w 50 schools. Miss R started up full time in-person after nearly 18 months of remote learning. It was an effing disaster having kids out that long.

[krystee]

My little one is finally (half) vaccinated! He had Covid about a week before vaccines were approved, because of course, and since he has had high fevers after vaccines and has some allergies, I was worried about vaccinating him immediately after Covid. His last vaccines were a nightmare with two nurses and me holding him down, so I was petrified, but he calmly waited, sat down, got his shot, and just had a couple quiet tears as the needle went in. I am so relieved!!

All the billion Walgreens within 10 miles of us had Pfizer, so we went about 15 miles away to get Moderna so we’d only have to do this twice and so he could be fully vaccinated before starting 4YO preschool. We got kid one boosted yesterday so he is all set too.

[calmcosmo]

Are we ready to have honest conversations here yet? I have avoided covid talk on this board because, just like many of these anti-vax camps, this board became an opposite echo chamber. As a school counselor, my seat at the table was to advocate for wellness and mental heath during the pandemic. Our nurse, who was responsible for covid mitigation, and I often had to come together to balance the need for covid safety with a reasonable social emotional learning environment. We were able to acknowledge our priorities and work professionally to a united goal of wellness (which is more than avoiding a virus).

There are risks to excessive covid mitigations (loss of learning, loss of social emotional connection, etc). Masks forever, isolation forever, testing forever is not an approach that many of us want. This doesn't make us "anti vaxx" or into conspiracies. As for politics, I will not vote for "forever pandemic" people. I am afraid of a lot of things, and covid is low on that list. Normalcy at school for my kids (going into the FOURTH covid school year) is important to me.

In order to have these conversations, it is important to boil down values and not judge someone else for them. My reading of the data illustrated to me quickly that the risk to children was exceedingly low. I was confused as to why public health officials were hesitant to tell the truth about that. Media really notched up the fear factor and I found it disingenuous. I found the breathless reporting from NYT and Atlantic to be off putting and it lowered my trust in those media outlets. I'm not a conspiracy theorist - I am vaxxed and boosted, my kids are vaxxed - but I do not/did not appreciate the hyperbole that was projected on children during this pandemic. It wasn't healthy.

There was a lot of research pre-pandemic on school closures (Jenn Nuzzo's study is one of the biggest).https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17238820/ That was shredded and we followed none of it.

Covid is real. Learning loss is also real. The us vs. them mentality of moms needs to end.

[akayf]

I’m crushed. 3 out 4 of us tested positive on Tuesday. My 14 year old was negative. He had pre band camp this week but stayed home. Band director said it’s in the house so just stay home this week. Band camp starts Monday. As long as he remained negative, he was going on Monday and I would just test him daily before sending him.

Well, he woke up this morning with a stuffy nose and his positive result popped up before I even had a chance to set the timer. He tried to isolate from us as much as possible but it was inevitable.

He’s in tears. I’m in tears. This sucks so much.

[icedcoffee]

calmcosmo. I agree with everything you said.

At this point, we’ve mostly moved on from Covid. H, DS1 and I are all vaxed and boosted. DS2 has had 2 of his 3 Pfizer shots. He will get the last in mid Sept. I will not make them mask this year unless it is required and I really hope that is not the case.

We stayed home to slow the spread, we masked to protect until we could be vaxed, we limited gatherings to protect others. But now it’s been nearly 3 years, vaccines are plentiful, treatments are available to those who want them. It’s time for us to move on. We will take precautions when possible like testing if we feel ill and maybe staying home with cold symptoms that wouldn’t have kept us home pre-2020.

[pugz]

Our school district has lost over 1100 students to private schools and homeschool and the like since fall of 2021 when mask were required and MS/HS were hybrid. There is a huge financial impact from that, on top of other budget issues we're having. The ramifications of covid will be felt for years, not to mention the staff and teachers we lost to covid. Quite a few coaches. Plus all the teachers that have left the profession.

I'm glad we are returning as much to normal as possible this year. That was the plan last year but then Delta hit so we were masked til March. I feel fortunate that my youngest is starting K this year and not 1-3 years ago.

[gretchenindisguise]

Aug 6, 2022 13:27:56 GMT -5 pugz said:

Our school district has lost over 1100 students to private schools and homeschool and the like since fall of 2021 when mask were required and MS/HS were hybrid. There is a huge financial impact from that, on top of other budget issues we're having. The ramifications of covid will be felt for years, not to mention the staff and teachers we lost to covid. Quite a few coaches. Plus all the teachers that have left the profession.

I'm glad we are returning as much to normal as possible this year. That was the plan last year but then Delta hit so we were masked til March. I feel fortunate that my youngest is starting K this year and not 1-3 years ago.

A is going into 2nd. It’s been a wild ride and I’m very excited for a “normal” school year.

[Susie]

Aug 6, 2022 14:07:20 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

Aug 6, 2022 13:27:56 GMT -5 pugz said:

Our school district has lost over 1100 students to private schools and homeschool and the like since fall of 2021 when mask were required and MS/HS were hybrid. There is a huge financial impact from that, on top of other budget issues we're having. The ramifications of covid will be felt for years, not to mention the staff and teachers we lost to covid. Quite a few coaches. Plus all the teachers that have left the profession.

I'm glad we are returning as much to normal as possible this year. That was the plan last year but then Delta hit so we were masked til March. I feel fortunate that my youngest is starting K this year and not 1-3 years ago.

A is going into 2nd. It’s been a wild ride and I’m very excited for a “normal” school year.

I have an incoming 2nd grader too, and... yeah.

She is transferring schools this fall, following our move last year.  (Same district, different catchment.  School placement is just catching up.). She has a new student/parent orientation in a few weeks, and it feels so different.  She's way older, more self-assured, more confident now... and yet, there is so much more support for her now than there was starting K in 2020.  Looking back, IDK how we did it.  We sent our 4 year old on a bus that she'd never ridden, to school none of us had ever been to.  We had to trust that school would put her on a correct bus at day's end to an after care we'd never been to.  We said goodbye in the morning to a 4 year old who would do bus, school, bus, aftercare, all on her own, that we couldn't ever visit, see, or help prepare her for in advance.  It was pretty rough on all of us.

Before she even starts 2nd grade at her new school, I will have more contact as a parent with her school than I did in the entire 2 years she spent at her old school for K-1.  I never even got to go inside her old school, or meet any teachers in person.

I am really hopeful that this is our new normal.  

[gretchenindisguise]

Aug 6, 2022 14:18:02 GMT -5 Susie said:

Aug 6, 2022 14:07:20 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

A is going into 2nd. It’s been a wild ride and I’m very excited for a “normal” school year.

I have an incoming 2nd grader too, and... yeah.

She is transferring schools this fall, following our move last year.  (Same district, different catchment.  School placement is just catching up.). She has a new student/parent orientation in a few weeks, and it feels so different.  She's way older, more self-assured, more confident now... and yet, there is so much more support for her now than there was starting K in 2020.  Looking back, IDK how we did it.  We sent our 4 year old on a bus that she'd never ridden, to school none of us had ever been to.  We had to trust that school would put her on a correct bus at day's end to an after care we'd never been to.  We said goodbye in the morning to a 4 year old who would do bus, school, bus, aftercare, all on her own, that we couldn't ever visit, see, or help prepare her for in advance.  It was pretty rough on all of us.

Before she even starts 2nd grade at her new school, I will have more contact as a parent with her school than I did in the entire 2 years she spent at her old school for K-1.  I never even got to go inside her old school, or meet any teachers in person.

I am really hopeful that this is our new normal.  

We were so very lucky that A got placed with a kindergarten teacher that L had years prior. And then she looped so we had her again for As first grade year.

At the very end of last year we were allowed back on campus for parent’s night and it was so odd and great and saddening and all the emotions to actually be in his classroom for the first time.

Even with all of that, I don’t know how we made it. Virtual kindergarten was just indescribable.

[jeaniebueller]

calmcosmo, ITA. My little one really couldn’t remember school without a mask prior to the mandate being lifted in March. She was thrilled. Whenever it’s been brought up about the negative impacts of isolation, or virtual school, or masking, especially on at risk or marginalized kids or kids with special needs, it’s really been hand waved by a lot of people who consider themselves pro science or who are privileged enough to be able to WFM and have high speed internet (including here). And the people who turned catching Covid into a moral failing. It’s good to have these conversations. Covid candidates will not win elections. For the majority of the country, Covid is over.

[krystee]

I’m another one with a kid going into second grade, and it was such a weird feeling to know my kindergarten kid was in a building I’d never seen the inside of with a teacher and principal I’d never met. I am very excited for a normal year, and very excited for my 4YO preschooler to get to have more of a normal introduction to elementary school (crossing everything that no awful mutation occurs).

[abs]

I got so much crap here admitting my kid was happier going to school without a mask. It’s true though and I hope they don’t need to go back to that in the future. There are definite downsides. It was absolutely the right thing in 2020 but in 2022 the benefit isn’t there.

School starts next week for us. I’m expecting it to be fine Covid wise. I definitely have anxiety around other issues though. Hope it’s a great year for all.

[Velar Fricative]

Who on earth are “forever pandemic” candidates? Because I live somewhere that would likely be one of the few places where such candidates would exist and…I don’t know of any that exist. None of our zillion mayoral candidates in 2021 ran on keeping strict or even some protocols. Soooooo really, who are these candidates?

[SusanBAnthony]

We are not going to ask the kids to mask.

MN has had steady Covid wastewater data all spring and summer despite no restrictions or mask mandates. I ignore the positive test data since most people don't report home tests. DS got Covid from summer camp but what are we supposed to do .... Lock down for 5 years since apparently 2 isn't enough? At this point the risk of long Covid doesn't mitigate the extremely real risks of lockdowns.

Idk I've given up now that everyone can be vaccinated. And I understand that isn't perfect, my GPA has basically no immune response to the vax and Covid almost killed him, but what are we supposed to do (at a personal level) given we are doing fuck all at a societal level?

Our schools haven't said anything but we don't start for a month yet. Our district has extemely high vax levels and has had very low cases so I'm not concerned about that relative to things like summer camp in a red state (long story having to do with disability related programming not available in our area).

[jeaniebueller]

Aug 6, 2022 19:40:46 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Who on earth are “forever pandemic” candidates? Because I live somewhere that would likely be one of the few places where such candidates would exist and…I don’t know of any that exist. None of our zillion mayoral candidates in 2021 ran on keeping strict or even some protocols. Soooooo really, who are these candidates?

I can’t name any but there have been discussions on this board in the last few months where people have expressed exasperation over candidates not talking enough about Covid or for ‘acting like the pandemic is over.’

[ewall]

Masks went away after the winter (Omicron? Can’t keep track which yikes…) wave, maybe March? Our 3 year old had a rough drop off the first day of no masks. It was like she was freaked out. Their first mask off playground outside time was mid February. So no masks this upcoming year.

Our school did a phenomenal job during Covid. I can’t even begin to express how thankful and lucky we are.

I had planned to get DD vaxxed right away, but she was positive (for the 2nd time) on the 1st day of the under 5 eligibility so now I’m waiting until her belated 4 year well check this month to consult with her pedi on vaccine strategy. Her 2nd round of Covid wouldn’t have even been on my radar had I not known she was exposed at summer camp. The under 5 vaccine took so long and so many were already infected at least once, I can see where urgency is lost at this point, myself included. We are holding out for an updated booster for the rest of the family.

[pixy0stix]

Oh fun. We're at the "everyone over reacted look how reasonable I was" stage of the pandemic. Lol! We still don't know what the long term effects are for kids, but keep on keeping on.

[pixy0stix]

Aug 6, 2022 21:41:50 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

Aug 6, 2022 19:40:46 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Who on earth are “forever pandemic” candidates? Because I live somewhere that would likely be one of the few places where such candidates would exist and…I don’t know of any that exist. None of our zillion mayoral candidates in 2021 ran on keeping strict or even some protocols. Soooooo really, who are these candidates?

I can’t name any but there have been discussions on this board in the last few months where people have expressed exasperation over candidates not talking enough about Covid or for ‘acting like the pandemic is over.’

Correct? There are areas of the country where the hospital systems are still functioning at above capacity, and school districts where teachers are reporting that there have not been enough changes to keep them safe... But yes, let's just not talk about it. Even though there's a massive teacher shortage in part because of the ongoing pandemic.

[pixy0stix]

Also, teachers and childcare workers died in greater numbers than any other profession during that first year, but no one here gives a shit anymore that this was the reason school districts closed down for so long, it wasn't because of the kids. But yeah, good luck to us all now that we've driven away or killed a giant chunk of qualified teachers - www.chalkbeat.org/2022/6/6/23157103/child-care-workers-teachers-covid-fatality-death-rates

[wanderingback]

I feel for immunocompromised kids and adults having to navigate this as most people have admittedly moved on.

I’m still being cautious since I’m pregnant, but that’s a finite amount of time. I’ve seen one too many premature and still births that have been attributed to covid to throw my n95 masks away. I try to think rationally about statistics and know that most likely me and my fetus would be fine with covid, but if I can do things to mitigate risks, why not? So I personally still wear my mask everyone, only outdoor activities and don’t really do anything in small groups inside. It doesn’t feel overly burdensome to me as it’s not like I’ve locked myself in the house 24/7. I also won’t get on a plane right now.

Although many people have moved on I still think it’s important to think of others and also be aware of how things are changing and we’re learning new things about the virus.

[NewOrleans]

Aug 7, 2022 8:17:07 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Oh fun. We're at the "everyone over reacted look how reasonable I was" stage of the pandemic. Lol! We still don't know what the long term effects are for kids, but keep on keeping on.

I also see the pandemic is over.  Jolly news!