1/ Reported coronavirus cases in Texas child care facilities are rising quickly.
The state is providing little information on where and how the virus has spread in these centers.
Parents are now faced with terrifying uncertainty and difficult choices. bit.ly/38Gm1Ni
The state is providing little information on where and how the virus has spread in these centers.
Parents are now faced with terrifying uncertainty and difficult choices. bit.ly/38Gm1Ni
2/ According to the state health agency, as of Wednesday, Texas children and staff reported 1,695 positive cases at 1,078 child care centers, about 8.8% of the centers open as of this week.
About a third of the cases were children. The rest were staff. bit.ly/38Gm1Ni
About a third of the cases were children. The rest were staff. bit.ly/38Gm1Ni
3/ Whether those numbers should be alarming is unclear because details beyond the case totals have not been made public.
That’s giving parents and caregivers little information with which to make informed decisions about their children’s safety. bit.ly/38Gm1Ni
That’s giving parents and caregivers little information with which to make informed decisions about their children’s safety. bit.ly/38Gm1Ni
4/ Public health and policy experts say they need more information to know whether the recent jump in cases means Texas child care centers pose an unacceptable risk for children and staff. bit.ly/38Gm1Ni
5/ That information could include, for instance, whether people were infected inside the facility, or how concentrated the cases are.
But that information is nearly impossible to get. bit.ly/38Gm1Ni
But that information is nearly impossible to get. bit.ly/38Gm1Ni
6/ In response to a public information request from The Texas Tribune seeking a breakdown of total cases by age, geography and race, @TexasHHSC asked the state’s attorney general to agree that it need not release the data. bit.ly/38Gm1Ni
7/ The Texas health agency also doesn’t keep data on the number of children in care or staff employed in child care centers, making it hard to know whether 555 infections in children and 1,140 in staff represent troubling numbers. bit.ly/38Gm1Ni
8/ Emily Oster, a professor at Brown University, said that while people should be “really cautious and thoughtful and careful,” there’s also “a risk of overreacting and saying, ‘Child care centers are the highest-risk location,’ when actually, it’s not a bar.”
9/ Meanwhile, much remains unknown about how the disease spreads, especially in children.
Public health experts agree children are just as likely as adults to get infected with the virus, but their symptoms are more likely to be moderate or nonexistent. bit.ly/38Gm1Ni
Public health experts agree children are just as likely as adults to get infected with the virus, but their symptoms are more likely to be moderate or nonexistent. bit.ly/38Gm1Ni
10/10 Experts have warned parents that even the limited data Texas has released on cases in centers may not be complete, since the state has not kept up with demands for testing throughout the pandemic.
Read more: bit.ly/38Gm1Ni
Read more: bit.ly/38Gm1Ni
