News and Notes
In the News! Outdoor Lunch Petition Launched
Indoor dining during the pandemic is widely recognized as a high risk activity. The CDC, Dr. Fauci, epidemiologists, experts and the Arlington School Health Advisory Board all recommend that schools hold meals outdoors. Yet, APS has only "encouraged," but not required, outdoor dining in its schools, leaving this critical safety measure to the...
Research Round-up: New Studies on Kids, COVID, Higher Risks for In-Person School Households, and How to Reduce Risks
Recent studies have a deluge of new information about kids, COVID, and schools. Here we go on a quick round-up of some major research: .... CDC MMWR featured study: Actual number of kids infected with COVID-19 is much higher and simply under-reported. (Our note: Seems like that whole "kids don't get COVID" thing is so 2020.) Reviewed serologic...
Smart Restart on NBC National News!
We're partnering with teachers and scientists, like Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding and the Covid Action Group, to push for more federal dollars to help schools quickly implement the short-term projects recommended in the new CDC guidance on ventilation and filtration. And we were featured on national news this week, as more of our youngest students returned...
Recent Tweets and Facebook Posts
Been monitoring VDH stats and downloading data, but @VDHgov and @GovernorVA have STOPPED giving details about outbreaks as of July 1st. The impact of Delta seems apparent — back to April levels for congregate living. PROVIDE the WHERE & HOW MANY cases. Public deserves to know.
Devastating 🧵 from Texas. So far, haven’t seen a dramatic uptick in kids cases in our region, but school doesn’t start for 30 more days… Also alarming is doctor struggling with new cases of respiratory failure in babies.
Folks, PLEASE get vaccinated, and please wear a mask.
We are officially back to getting crushed by #COVID, and for #pediatricians this wave feels *worse* in many ways. And as a pediatric hospitalist who has been a front-line COVID doctor for the entire pandemic, I’m going to share what I’ve seen the last 8 days on service. 1/
Saw a parent today arguing that nothing bad ever happens to kids with COVID so any mitigations in schools are stupid.
Gentle reminder that so far in this pandemic we've had 630 kids hospitalized in VA (1 of 50 of total hospitalizations) and 7 child deaths... (cont.)
COVID Update: An internal document from CDC shows Delta is a whole “new war.”
First real estimates of spread & breakthrough cases. And a clear sense of why CDC policies are changing.
More here soon. 1/
Many @mcps cases this week. Strathmore ES not on dashbd. Please covid test in schools. Re delta, parents want virtual now but deadline over @mocoboe @ShebraEvans @brendawolff1 @hanaolooney @KarlaSilvestre6 @Lynne4Students @Marc_Elrich @tomhucker @MC_Council_Katz @Andrew_Friedson
🧵 from @Poppendieck on engineering considerations to ask about at your building. Fresh air matters as we head into fall with more infectious, more severe variants. Meeting ASHRAE guides for Outdoor Air is a starting point. Might need 3x this (HEPA cleaners) too.
#AskAboutTheAIR
Many building operators standard response to occupants during the pandemic is our building is operated according to ASHREA 62.1 "Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality". I wonder how many can back that up... 1/4
"Vaccine failure" sounds like a bad trajectory.
Strongly recommend reading this doc from SAGE on virus evolution released today. Alongside several scenarios, it assesses the risk of variants emerging that lead to 'vaccine failure' as 'almost certain' & recommends controlling transmission to avert this. This is a stark warning.
74% of 469 cases fully vaxxed. 🙄 In today's MMWR: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7031e2.htm?s_cid=mm7031e2_w
TL;DR: #1 - Vaccinated infected folks had similar amounts of virus to spread as unvaxed.
#2 - Wear a mask at events, especially indoors. Even if most guests ...are vaxed, that alone can't prevent outbreak.
*New* CDC report on Provincetown outbreak. Super important. 🙌🏽THANKS to contact-tracers & hundreds of men who participated in contact tracing.
-74% of 469 cases fully vaxxed
-4 of 346 vaccinated people were hospitalized (1.2%)
-NO deaths
-90% of 133 sequences Delta
...
Specifically, in Table 8.1 requires every five years to "Verify the total quantity of outdoor air delivered by air handlers." So if you are complying with 62.1 and your building is more than 5 years old you should have this quantitative data. 2/4
Uh oh… APS Policy: Don’t notify kids/staff if they were near a COVID-19 case, if were wearing a mask? Hmmm…Confusing. An upset parent just sent us this APS note about contact tracing and asked us if we understood it. APS cites CDC…
@DrTedros @WHO @DrMikeRyan @mvankerkhove “Delta is a warning”, says @DrMikeRyan.
“It's a warning that this virus is evolving. But it's also a call to action: That we need to move now, before more dangerous variants emerge."
Terrific paper on how enhanced ventilation can help us compensate for higher vulnerability (like a classroom of unvaxed kids) and the good news is that achieving 6-7 filtered air changes with two HEPA cleaners in a classroom can be done for less than $500 or <$20 per occupant.
Ventilation matters: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.28.21261300v1
Yup. This…
I mean it's not great, but it's not CDC's fault if the vaccines don't prevent infection by and transmission of Delta well.
But it would be CDC's fault if people refuse to follow actually good CDC guidance because CDC had tried to tell them one-sided versions of the facts.
UK - booster recommended over age 50 from september
Joint Council on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) issued interim advice to the NHS to begin preparations for a Covid vaccine booster programme from September for everyone over 50 + all vulnerable patients
(independent)
@EricTopol ICYMI, Walgreens offers free Rapid Antigen Tests at some locations.
https://www.walgreens.com/topic/promotion/covid-testing.jsp?ban=covidfy21_newtestingpg_brandstory_main_053021
Walgreens now offers drive-thru and take home COVID-19 testing. Get the latest information & answers to frequently asked questions about coronavirus...
www.walgreens.com
@EricTopol In Germany, people can get free tests once a week in town, many bars and restaurants have quick testing - free - set up, and pharmacies sell 5-packs of rapid home tests for about $6.