MAJOR BREAKING NEWS (NBC): As many schools (K to college) are announcing re-opening plans that depend significantly on taking students' temperatures, a new study reveals those under 35 are less likely to get a fever with COVID-19—exhibiting, rather, abdominal pains and headaches.
PS/ This news may invalidate the *core component* in the fall re-opening plans for tens of thousands of educational institutions at every level across the United States. At present there is *no clear plan* for testing young people for the symptoms COVID-19 *actually* causes them.
PS2/ In my work both online and off, and in researching the pandemic for my forthcoming book, I haven't encountered a single U.S. institution—in business or government or higher education—that has *not* put temperature checks at the forefront of its entire pandemic response plan.
PS3/ While some will say "just ask students to stay home if they have abdominal pains or a headache," I'm sure most of us see the problem with that—which is that those symptoms are so nonspecific that America will see students staying away from class in the hundreds of thousands.
PS4/ This complication adds to what were already *significant* problems with temperature checks as a key COVID-19 safety valve. For instance, many Americans have low body heat. My core temperature is 97.7°—when I run what for others is a "high temperature," I likely have a fever.
PS5/ And I'll add what I've written about here many times, which is that studies suggest 25%-75% of people with the virus are asymptomatic, and even those who'll be symptomatic often aren't for days. Temperature checks are simply not a panacea—but schools are pretending they are.
NOTE/ This was breaking news live on-air on MSNBC, which is why I didn't immediately have a link and still do not have one from NBC. Sometimes there's a lag in these stories going up. In the meantime, this less useful link still references the key study: tweaktown.com/news/73828/und…
NOTE2/ The same Vanderbilt expert is quoted here discussing the positivity rate among children in Florida—much higher than that of adults, suggesting kids are transmitting the virus at a high rate despite often being asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic. insider.com/third-of-flori…
