News and Notes
SR Leader Files Amicus Brief with Supreme Court in Support of Universal Masking
We are so proud of one of our leadership team members, attorney and special education advocate Wendy Pizer. On Monday, (January 24, 2022), she filed an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief in support of the parents who sued Governor Youngkin in Castillo v. Youngkin. This case challenges Governor Youngkin’s Executive Order that requires schools to...
PRESS RELEASE: We Support APS Keeping Masks for All, in Defiance of the Governor’s Anti-Science Proclamation
We support Superintendent Duran, and the Arlington County School Board, in announcing that under their constitutionally invested authority they will continue to mandate universal masking in our schools. This is an effective health measure that ensures all children have access to in-person education, and in a recent survey of more than 70 studies,...
APS’ Ionizers Got Lab Tested: The Results Weren’t Great
We have received the results from the Illinois Institute of Technology lab that is evaluating the efficacy of electronic air cleaners. They tested the Blueair 211 units (which APS bought). Results are disappointing to us. 📌 Project: https://t.co/ldULfLB2B1 📌 Report: https://t.co/kfEWZTIwKW There was some inaccurate information being put forth...
Recent Tweets and Facebook Posts
Kids should not be dying of preventable diseases.
Honestly, no one should be dying of preventable diseases.
But if we don't care about kids, it really says something especially bad about us as a society, doesn't it?
A precious young life ended much too soon. So extremely sad. A scholarship fund has been set up.
"He adored his teachers and classmates at Saint James School," the parents of Christopher Hoynes Louloudakis write. "In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Christopher Louloudakis Memorial Scholarship Fund."
MORE: https://bit.ly/3Fb36Mo via @DignityMem
#Virginia is one of the states with the worst #influenza rates RIGHT NOW.
Only 28% of Virginians got a flu shot, VDH reports. The achievable goal is 70%.
We are in a really bad place this year, right NOW.
Flu data out today. Holy crap.
New @EPAresearch (Holder, @bahannahphone, Virtaranta) study evaluating DIY air cleaner performance with #wildfire smoke. #CorsiRosenthalBox is most effective design and lowest cost per CADR (for both initial and operating cost) @JimRosenthal4 @CorsIAQ
https://t.co/Woct96Dlzs
APS facilities problems cause a school closure.
La escuela intermedia Dorothy Hamm está cerrada hoy, viernes 2 de diciembre. El cierre se debe a los impactos de una fuga de agua que han afectado tanto al agua como a la calefacción del edificio. https://twitter.com/APSVirginia/status/1598638258396725250
COVID hospitalization data on @CDCgov's tracker posted overnight shows admissions now climbing in wake of Thanksgiving across the country
Among seniors 70+ years old, the rate thru Nov 28 is now up 19.6% relative to the week prior
https://t.co/cHTC0LjqLP
CDC covid tracker reports 1,921 pediatric covid deaths
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#demographics
Excellent, evidence-based standards from Canada that will massively reduce air-transmitted illness spreading in schools and other places. #CleanTheAir
@APSFacilities, @SuptDuran, @APSVaSchoolBd — adopt a policy for QUALITY air standards in new buildings. Don’t blow $250-million
The @O_S_P_E Indoor Air Quality Advisory Group has published 3 documents:
- 6 Core Recommendations for Safer Indoor Air
- Face Coverings Guidance
- How COVID-19 Spreads
These documents can be found here: https://ospe.on.ca/indoor-air-quality/
Here's an overview 🧵
Disappointing news for providers & patients: the dominance of BQ1 & BQ1.1 variants means we have NO effective monoclonal antibody treatments left.
And Evusheld—an important pre-exposure therapy—is impacted as well.
Not great heading into a rough winter.
...https://t.co/DxfkSJjWb7
1/ New variant data finally out from Biobot wastewater analysis (from 2 weeks ago). Looks like our latest spike in COVID in #Arlington #Virginia is affected by arrival of BQ.1 (50% of virus sampled) and we are back to where we were in May at the height of the BA.2 spike locally.
Fascinating video about the history of mask use since the time of the bubonic plague @NEJM. China's experience with Manchurian plague probably made mask wearing more acceptable there. Anti-mask sentiment in US during 1918 flu. https://t.co/yAz0OH4NrH HT Julian Tang. My take... /1
1/ New in Nature— 4 subphenotypes of Long Covid identified by machine learning analysis
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-02116-3
RSV hospitalization rates for newborns are seven times higher than they were in 2018. Flu hospitalizations are the worst they’ve been in a decade.
Is this a national emergency yet? My latest for @GuardianUS:
https://t.co/whLcUmPVyN
Maybe 1.1-million dead Americans is just too much, too big, for the human brain to comprehend.
We have a parent member, a mom, who has been living a similar nightmare, trying to deal with surprise blood clots post COVID. Extremely scary and stressful.
Don't take your health for granted.
#COVID19 is not "just a cold."
More than 1,075,779 Americans have ...died.
#COVIDIsntOver
Al Roker has been readmitted to the hospital after revealing last month he was treated for blood clots. https://nbcnews.to/3VJsC0Q
In my experience schools that have children and staff disabled by Covid are taking ventilation and air cleaning seriously. Schools that haven’t had that experience are not.
🚨 My message to school leaders: don’t wait until one of your students is disabled - act now.