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We all know that children make up a very small minority of detectable COVID-19 cases, but this adds some real game-changing information for parents:
What caught me by surprise: If you do a google search, you can find multiple clinical studies from European countries, that reopened schools, to find that children are not a major source of spread for COVID-19!
Counter-articles that insist children ARE a source of infection seem to rely on a single study indicating COVID-19 viruses were present at similar levels, making them hypothetically as likely to transmit the virus.
The AAP calls for maximum precautions, but favors every-day school over reduced schedules with "distance learning" when the choice is between the two (For instance, when there's not enough room in a classroom or available outdoor area).
I also think it depends on what is going on in the area that you live in. I’m in MA which was pretty bad this past spring but we are doing very well now and cases continue to go down. The town we live in had very few cases all throughout. I have a 4 yr old who is on a waitlist at a preschool. The teacher said a few parents have pulled kids because they’re nervous about corona. It kind of suprises me because the cases in this town are so low. I’m about an hour south of Boston. I can’t imagine how parents in Boston must feel where the cases are higher.
This could be true. Europe has done a better job of controlling the virus, so it's possible that a low level of community spread translated into too few cases to cause spread in the schools.
Still, the studies took this into account and looked at COVID clusters and the general population.
Also YMCA's and other childcare centers in the USA that remained open for essential worker childcare have nonscientific reports of much lower levels of infections and spread than what we're seeing from places where adults congregate (home gatherings, churches, stores, bars, restaurants). There's an NPR article on this: https://www.npr.org/2020/06/24/88231...ring-lockdowns
I would guess pediatricians are seeing children developing anxiety disorders and depression from being isolated.
It seems this next month will be telling - how the spread goes, and how many become seriously sick or die.
I'm more worried about lack of academic progress. My kids are doing great with STEM subjects, but I don't really know how to teach 1st graders the other stuff like social studies.
I hope we get more clinical studies about transmission to/from children, so schools/childcare can make some evidence-based plans. What are these tens of thousands of "tracker/tracers" doing with their time if they're not providing data on who, how, when, and where the virus is being spread?
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