New data about remote learning being a big fail.
Uh, yeah, of course. Pre-pandemic research showed that even SHORT closures were bad, let alone a YEAR!
Many of us tried DESPERATELY to reverse this impending disaster, but were largely ignored and often disparaged.
🧵🧵🧵
This mask mandate discourse is wacky when you consider that the RCT showed that cloth masks don't work and that surgical masks barely work. Which was, furthermore, conducted pre-vax and pre-omicron.
Why the desire to cling to a mitigation with such a shoddy track record?
41% of dems think there is a 50/50 chance of going to the hospital for covid. Reps and inds also grossly overstate risk.
Fear-mongering media and bad public health messaging caused this. Course correction desperately needed.
Answer is <1%.
Mistakes by the CDC have been extensive and public trust severely damaged. Americans deserve a full scale bipartisan review of the COVID response and apologies for failed policies.
My latest with
@LeslieBienen
Reading: Lowest in 30 years
Math: lowest since testing began 54 years ago
Mental health: ED visits up 50%
Physical activity: "It's like wet cement"
Future: "This will be a kind of lost generation"
Predictable: totally
Apologies: none
Accountability: none
We are THE most vaccinated county in country.
Can we unmask? No
Can we stop counting cases? No
Is our vax rate good enough? No
Not one shred of scientific evidence discussed. No data, no reports, no studies. Just more arbitrary garbage.
Remember this at election time.
"The true character of a society is revealed in how it treats its children." -Nelson Mandela
Remember this in the coming weeks when lots of schools will be closed while everything else will be open.
Again.
2022-2023 school reopening guidance in...
Norway: stay home when sick.
US: PANIC AND DO ALL THE INEFFECTIVE THINGS WE'VE BEEN DOING FOR 2 YEARS!!!
Below, compare Norwegian vs Illinois school guidance (based on CDC). One will make your head spin.
👇👇👇
Study shows Omicron less virulent than other variants in preclinical model. Better at spreading but less viral entry into lung tissue, less lung damage, and less morbidity in animal model. Cases becoming very much uncoupled from disease. Covid policies need updating.
BREAKING🎄 The 6th preprint from G2P-Japan -
#Omicron
is less infectious and pathogenic than
#Delta
and even an early pandemic SARS-CoV-2 in infected hamster model. 1/5
For those thinking that this is going to be the magic ticket to normalcy, you may want to check out what they're doing at some fully vaccinated colleges.
Closing schools, playgrounds, gyms, cancelling sports, activities, dances, and get togethers made kids fatter.
This was predictable to everyone *except* America's most influential pediatric medical association who supported all those measures. 🙄
A study found an increase in body mass among children during the pandemic, and a correlation also was noted between increased family time and these rising BMIs. Study presented by Rylie Mainville at
@AAPexperience
#AAP2022
Today is the first day of school for my kids.
6th grader's last normal year was 2nd.
5th grader's last normal year was 1st.
2nd and 3rd graders haven't had a normal year.
They will try to rewrite, but DO NOT forget who did this: Unions, CDC, and feckless politicians.
Study--masks have modest benefit to unvax older people. But all those people can be vax'd now.
Study--natural immunity better than vax. But still ignored for vax passports and mandates.
An inability to adapt to the scientific evidence is what causes a Forever Pandemic.
The point of the original shutdowns was to not overwhelm the healthcare system, NOT to eradicate covid.
But, by sending every kid with a sniffle for a PCR test, our schools are now overwhelming our healthcare systems by trying to eradicate covid.
Really
@NYT
? Masks in school for Mpx? Is there any data to support that?
Bc, it seems like Mpx is primarily spread through extended intimate contact...
If that's happening in school, there may be bigger problems than mask mandates.
🧵
Paper suggests 1/3 kids had alpha. Then a lot more got delta.
Think of all the quarantines and school closures that could be avoided if we counted these kids as immune.
We are not doing anyone any favors by continuing to ignore natural immunity.
Sitting in front of a screen all day, no gym, no recess, no sports, snacks whenever. Kids now obese, which will lead to a slew of short and long term health problems. But hey, at least they didn't get covid. Oh wait, they still got covid.
"Significant weight gain occurred during the COVID-19
pandemic among youths in large health system in S. CA, especially among the youngest children. These findings, if generalizable to the US suggest an increase in pediatric obesity due to the pandemic."
Those claiming with unwavering certainty that masks do no harm are largely the same ones that claimed with unwavering certainty that remote school was fine.
With the latter claim being such a horrifically bad take, perhaps we should take the former with a grain of salt.
Germaphobia has exploded during Covid. But germs are essential for our health and well being.
So, let's put away the Lysol wipes, retire the "clean" and "dirty" pen cups, and give it up for germs!
My latest with
@LeslieBienen
"Narrowing of what's acceptable on social media to what is "mainstream" at the time, freezes us, doesn't allow society to progress, for knowledge to grow, or for democracy to function." 🔥🔥🔥
-
@ShellenbergerMD
The best and biggest study of masks that showed a small effect of surgical masks looks ridiculous when looking at absolute numbers rather than relative risk. 340k people over 2 months, only 20 fewer symp cases in mask arm.
Appreciate authors of the 🇧🇩 RCT finally releasing raw data.
Dismayed at their topline conclusion on mask effectiveness that generated so much buzz
Out of ~340,000 ppl in mask and control arm.. the difference in symptomatic cases was 20 over 8 weeks.
South African doctor says omicron producing “very, very mild” effects.
Israel reporting similarly.
It's not just "hopium" if all the data we have so far is pointing this way.
Pet peeve: calling them covid tests. They're not. They're SARS-CoV2 tests.
Positive for viral genes or antigen does not equal covid disease, even less so now with vaccines. It doesn't even mean there's live virus in there.
With
@CDCgov
updating school guidance soon, I would like to remind them that there is only so much we can test a child's natural resilience before we break them.
Covid policies must be based on robust evidence and balanced against potential harms. School mask mandates do not meet that standard. The time has come to pivot towards mask-optional policies.
My latest with
@JeanneNoble18
and
@LeslieBienen
NPR(!) asked KIDS about masks.
"Hard to breathe...suffocates me...fogs glasses...itchy... hot...hurts ears...can't see smiles"
Teacher shocked bc she never heard complaints.
But they wear them so they can go to school. With no end in sight.
Another study showing prior infection is just as durable as vax. We can keep a WHOLE LOTTA kids in the classroom this year if we grant the same quarantine exemption to them as we do to those that are vaxed.
That flat line hovering on the x-axis. That's pediatric hospitalizations in MD.
Remind me again why we have 20,000 kids in quarantine this month and a statewide school mask mandate?
Large study showing lower chance of a reinfection after 12+ months with natural immunity compared to 4 months post-vax.
Hybrid immunity (infection↔️vax), where a lot of us will be eventually, appears strongest.
h/t
@angrybklynmom
Large nat immunity study in Qatar. Of 353K primary infections, only 1300 reinfections.
Of those reinfections, 90% lower chance of hosp or dying than an initial infection. Echos Israeli study.
Trust in public health is being lost bc this kind of data continues to be ignored.
Remember when Djokovic couldn't fly (although could sail...) into the US because he was unvaxxed? Remember those arbitrary travel rules that were enforced that needlessly kept families apart and decimated tourism?
Yeah that was just 4 months ago.
My county's daily case rate is 0.7/100K! 80% of >12yo fully vaccinated, 89% one dose!
School board has decided to keep masks for fall. Even if vaccinated.
There is no exit ramp when chasing zero Covid.
2020: It's just a mask. It's just 10 days.
2021: It's just a mask. It's just 10 days.
2022: It's just a mask. It's just 10 days.
2023: It's just a mask. It's just 10 days.
It's not just a mask.
It's not just 10 days.
They don't work.
Leave us alone!
Quick observation: the largest recent surge in the US is in the one state that still has a statewide school mask mandate. Maybe the school masks aren't helping that much...
Why not pause Pfizer for kids like we did JnJ for adults? Or consider one dose? Why the rush for such a low risk population? Sad to admit, but I feel like this is to placate teachers' unions 3 months from now.
Not sure anything was more damaging to public trust over the pandemic than the Biden administration allowing the teachers' union to write parts of the CDC school reopening guidance.
Rewarding political donors while millions of kids suffered. Short 🧵
My >99% vaccinated county has surveillance testing in school. 28,000 tests pulled out 18 positives, 0.06%.
Instead of devoting so many resources to hunting for a few asymp cases, shouldn't we be focusing on, you know, addressing learning loss?!?
“For almost 2 years, many of us told our children that once they were vaccinated, they could reclaim many of the ordinary joys they’d sacrificed. Omicron postponed that…. It shouldn’t be postponed a moment longer than necessary.”
@michelleinbklyn
"You refused to admit that the infection comes in waves that fade by themselves, despite scientific knowledge. You insisted on attributing every decline of a wave solely to your actions, and so through false propaganda “you overcame the plague."" 🔥🔥🔥
"For the White House to amplify a false message of high Covid risk for children undermines public health and erodes public confidence." -
@DrJBhattacharya
And you know what would be really, really bad for kids?
Messing up a *4th year* of school!
First it was everyone.
Then it was just school kids.
Then it was just preschool kids.
Now it is just poor preschool kids.
The world is laughing at us, right?
Mutations are not always bad. Viruses don't want to be more virulent. If they kill their hosts, they have nowhere to go. They want to be less virulent and more transmissible and this is the typical evolution of an endemic virus. This may be where we are with omicron.
My school is preemptively quarantining a whole class for just one mild symptom. Only if/when the kid tests neg, can they all return.
I know this because I had to watch my son flail around, once again, bored and disengaged. Back in jail for someone's sniffle.
If we need to pause vaxing kids to figure out inflammation issue, we can. If we need to wait for more data or full approval, we can.
We can "get there" without kids. Israel normal without having to vax anyone under 16. Healthy kids also low risk. Perspective is important.
Are there studies showing babies don't need to see faces? Or are there just no studies?
If the former, citation needed. If the latter, perhaps you should do some studies.
Babies and young children study faces, so you may worry that having masked caregivers would harm children’s language development. There are no studies to support this concern. Young children will use other clues like gestures and tone of voice.
Showing scientific studies that schools could reopen safely, they didn't want to hear it.
Veering from the science to accountability, they told me to stick to the science.
Telling them they can take off their masks, they don't want to hear it.
Fear monger much, NYT?
This story is about kids INCIDENTALLY testing positive for SCoV2! Kids with malaria and broken bones and jaundice. Reflects more transmission, more asymptomatic disease.
“The number of admissions overall has not increased.”
New study shows that omicron is milder than delta even in the unvaxed under-5s. Their incredibly low risk has gotten even lower, but because they're unvaxed, preschools are some of the most restricted settings in the country.
Wait, hold up. You're just realizing there's a mental health crisis now?? C'mon AAP. Have you been just playing on your phone all year or something? Yeah, we all know this. And we know you haven't helped.
As health professionals, we have witnessed soaring rates of mental health challenges among children, adolescents, and their families over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. 🧵
I'm not sure which is more absurd, the 10 day mask mandate or the Pre-K having to wear their wet, saggy Paw Patrol masks forever. Party of science indeed.
Now peer-reviewed in Lancet, study shows that, even in a delta world, few "close contacts" in school test pos.
AND Test-to-stay works as alternative to quarantines! No excuse to continue this crude and harmful "mitigation".
Today's update: MCPS scraps insane quarantine guidance!! No longer based on symptoms, tests on site, even considering test-to-stay.
While I believe schools should be normal, this is a HUGE improvement. Our children deserve the best year ever! Parents, WE NEED YOUR VOICES!
Mic drop moment.
@MSmelkinsonPhD
ripping into Montgomery County, MD school board.
They allowed one headache to put 1000 kids into quarantine. Impassioned words from a mother who has the gall to want her kids in school.
#OpenTheSchools
Students without age-appropriate immunizations in MD
2019: 62
2021: 23,000
Covid myopia mean forgoing childhood vaccines for high-risk diseases in order to "stay safe" from a virus that has very low-risk of childhood disease.
To those calling for school closures due to a rise in cases of an endemic virus in a society where practically everyone can be vaccinated and thus protected against severe disease, remember that 20% of Maryland's youth thought about killing themselves last year.
There are 9 kids under 18 hospitalized in the whole state. Out of 900,000. Which is down from a month ago. I would assume that ~0 of the 17,000 had a severe outcome.
As of last week 16,500+ public school students in Maryland had been forced to "quarantine." You'd think the official data-gatherers might occasionally want to look into how many students actually experienced an adverse health outcome, but that info always seems to be missing
My kids have asked how the Holocaust happened. No TV, no internet...maybe people didn't know, they say.
But, today, we see VIDEOS of raped girls, beheaded babies, & elderly burned to death.
And there are celebrations in the streets for it.
This is how the holocaust happened.
Quarantines are destroying another school year. Accept that SCov2 is here to stay, update policies accordingly, and finally let our kids have a proper education.
We have srsly failed the kids if we let 3/13 school years be disrupted.
Adults can unmask here in MoCo when enough little kids are vax'd. But those same vax'd kids can't unmask because it's required in school. So, if the kids are still not safe enough to unmask even when vax'd, why do we need them to be vax'd to unmask adults? My head hurts.
A group that clearly doesn't understand how vaccines work, should not be allowed to help write cdc policy. Vax adults protect unvax children (whom are at v low risk anyway). Stamp out this nonsense narrative NOW before these guys ruin yet another school year.
"In elementrary schools, until we have the vaccines, it seems like unfortuantely we still going to have to keep wearing our masks and keep social distancing because we don't want outbreaks."
@rweingarten
The fed gov't is mandating masks for preschoolers in Headstart because they don't want to admit failure.
But jokes on them.
Because this is *exactly* what failure looks like.
If a 97% vax rate doesn't get us back to normal, than there won't ever be a rational reason why we get back to normal.
Just someday we are all going to get back to normal for an irrational reason.
This is what it looks like when public health wants to "just do something" to fight rising cases.
No science, no cohesion. Just strange rules which are transparently foolish and ineffective.
From the epicenter of COVID theater, Berkeley reinstates mask mandate for schools only, while Alameda county reinstates mask mandate for everyplace "except schools" (but includes summer school/camps), despite falling case rates.
My kid was not allowed to play her trombone in class because she lost the piece of mesh that goes over the horn. (Don't worry, she still has her mask with the hole.)
She asked me to buy a new mesh. I found it on Amazon.
Having a hard time clicking "purchase".
Just...no.
Why do COVID mandates keep coming back?
"Because we never successfully cut the head off the dragon. That is, getting policymakers to admit out loud that masks and many other mitigation efforts were pointless."
Latest with
@LeslieBienen
Haven't been on here in a while, but come back to find a local school is reinstating a mask mandate on 9 year olds. What year is this? Will the need to do something, no matter how ineffective or harmful, ever end? Parents, the ball's in your court. You can end this.
A DC area elementary school — Montgomery County, Maryland — is reinstating a mask mandate — N95’s — for third graders over a few kids testing positive for covid. Here’s the letter. They’re coming with masks for your kids again. Get ready. Read this insanity.
And to think, that just one month ago, my article with
@LeslieBienen
and
@JeanneNoble18
, questioning the effectiveness of mask mandates in school, was considered the third rail. Now it's fodder for SNL. Guess we are officially allowed to move on now.
This is my county, where parents were told over and over again that remote learning was "ROBUST" while insisting it was too dangerous to open schools.
This was EXPECTED. They abandoned my K, 1st, 3rd, and 4th grader and 160K other kids.
#cleanslate
Prelim SA hosp data looking 👍:
1. Fewer on O2 than prev waves
2. 76% in hosp WITH covid, not FOR.
3. Mostly unvax, (may be why skewing younger?)
4. 6.6% hosp death rate vs. 23% prev waves
5. 2.8 day hosp stay vs. 8.5 in prev waves.
If Om outcompetes delta, may be a good thing.
[Thread] JUST IN:
1. NEW
#OmicronVariant
data from the Steve Biko/Tshwane District Hospital Complex via
@MRCza
. Tshwane = where SA's Omicron outbreak started
1. Data = for the 1st 2 weeks of the outbreak (14-29 Nov)
2. Past 5 days (29 Nov-3 Dec) = exponential increase in cases
The
@AmerMedicalAssn
says that kids are "great little vectors" for Covid, thus school closures were/are all justified.
But this meta-analysis of 54 studies looking at index cases says just the opposite. The gaslighting is endless.
A summary in 4 dots. A near perfect linear correlation between in person instruction and academic performance.
There could be a million charts like this showing virtual sucks. But schools will continue going remote because they don't care.
Updated chart of one of the analyses we cited in our
@TheAtlantic
piece. Davidson has a mask mandate. Neighboring Williamson had an opt out rate of ~25% and then went completely optional on Nov 16. Identical number of cases between districts.
Since August 9th through Jan 29th, the cumulative Cases/1000 student population in Davidson County is 136. In Williamson County it's 133. Statistically Identical
DC Council: changes the name of Woodrow Wilson High School to Jackson-Reed bc of Wilson's racist legacy.
Also DC Council: barring 40% of black students from attending school by requiring them to be vaccinated against a virus that most of them already had.
Sounds like the CDC plans to ease outdoor masking restrictions this week. YAY! But they also just updated camp guidance with maximal masking of children. BOO!
Is this all theater to make our vaccinated adults feel safe?
91% of 5+ are fully vaccinated. Cases are plummeting. But we've normalized school closures and old habits die hard.
For the next few weeks, these kids will be able to do just about anything in this county. Except go to school.
Israel is checking kids for prior infection for exemptions from school quarantines. Just as protected as vaxed. Smart. Priorities education.
Meanwhile, not even Sept, and US has already quarantined 1000s of students.
I'd like to take a minute to talk about how reading is taught in the early years, because I think it explains the risks for K–3's created by COVID era instructional changes.
Let's look into a kindergarten to see how kids learn the code of the English language.
(thread)
NYC schools upgraded their HVAC during the pandemic. But instead of capitalizing on this, they chose to close for pollution, forcing many children into homes that lack air filtration or cooling systems.
Another situation where being IN school would actually be safer for kids.
.
@MCPS
claims they've always had mask mandates for flu.
This is laughably false. There were absolutely NO masks in schools before COVID. And everyone knows this.
They are so desperate to justify their decision to bring masks back, they are lying to do so.
Our Review of Cloth Masking for COVID19 is OUT 👇👇👇
60 Pages
371 References
3 Tables
25,000 words
1 must read
I hope part of the COVID19 healing process is finally telling the truth about this evidence
W/ Ian Liu (Colorado) &
@JonathanDarrow
(Harvard)
Here we go again.
There are no high quality studies showing masks to be effective against seasonal viruses!
Exaggerating value, calling for mandates, giving a false sense of security...
It's all a GIANT mistake!
With
@LeslieBienen
and
@JeanneNoble18