Thread by @ChandraPasma

It's important that the conversation about re-opening schools and the plan to do so be based on actual facts, not magical thinking. The reality is that kids CAN get sick; kids DO get sick; and some kids get SERIOUSLY sick or remain sick for a LONG TIME. ctvnews.ca/health/parents…

In that respect, the comments of Dr. Anna Banerji in this article are deeply disappointing, verging on irresponsible. She says cases of kids with chronic symptoms are extremely rare. How does she know? What data is she pointing to? What surveys or tests have been done?

I remember back at the beginning of July when I did a radio interview & the doc who followed me on air also said that the vast majority of ppl who got COVID-19 recover in two weeks or less and that this issue of chronic symptoms was not really an issue.

Then the CDC came out with a report that 1/3 of patients never hospitalized have chronic symptoms lasting 3 weeks or more. A survey of Swedes with at least 1 symptom of Covid also suggests 1/3 had symptoms for at least 10 weeks. Surveys from Italy & Holland had even higher rates.

The reality is that nobody is bothering to ask how many kids have had chronic COVID symptoms. I know there are many more kids besides my own because I've been talking to parents across Canada & around the world about our shared experience.

Until they bother to ask systematically, doctors should not be dismissing kids with chronic symptoms as basically the COVID equivalent of Snuffleupagus and telling parents don't worry, a serious or long-term illness can't possibly happen to your kids.

Instead, we should be building a plan that is based on preventing kids from getting COVID and minimizing the number of infections by doing what we know works: small class sizes with limited interactions in well-ventilated spaces. #COVID19 #LongCovid #CovidandKids #CovidLonghaul