Thread by @joannachiu

THREAD: I asked doctors if they’re sending their kids back to school amid fears of a #COVID19 second wave. Here’s what they said: thestar.com/news/canada/20… @TorontoStar #COVID19 #health #BackToSchool2020

Governments are releasing their back-to-school plans.

Ontario and Alberta will require masks all day. In B.C, the plan includes student “cohorts.”

In some places, families will have the option of a remote-learning alternative, or home-schooling. thestar.com/news/canada/20…

Send your kids to school, or keep them at home?

Especially for households with older or immunocompromised people, it's a difficult choice.

I spoke with Canadian doctors and health experts about how they weighed the risks. thestar.com/news/canada/20… @TorontoStar #COVID19

Dr. Murthy at @BCChildrensHosp will send his children to school:

"My main concern is not that they will get sick. I’m more concerned about them transmitting it to someone else, namely their teachers, custodians or someone else in the community." thestar.com/news/canada/20…

Dr. Murthy: "It boils down to how much the disease is out there. If we’re able to effectively test, track and isolate, the risk of a grandparent being exposed to a child they didn’t know was infected is vanishingly small."

thestar.com/news/canada/20…

Dr. @BogochIsaac will send his children to school.

"Some questions you can ask include: Are your kids at greater risk of severe infection because of a medical condition? Who do your kids come to? How is their school implementing the provincial plan?" thestar.com/news/canada/20…

Dr. @BogochIsaac: "The message is not that I’m doing this, therefore it’s safe; The message is everyone has to look at their unique situation, and make decisions that best fit their situation." thestar.com/news/canada/20… #COVID19 @TorontoStar

Dr. @AnnaBanerji will send her child to school, with a mask.

"I would explain that there are small things that float through the air that can cause people to be sick. By wearing this mask, it lessens the chance you can make other people sick and other people can make you sick."

Dr. @AnnaBanerji: "I realize that there is a risk that #COVID19 could be brought home, so I would try to make sure I practice good physical distancing and use a mask when going out, to reduce the risk of community spread from the home." thestar.com/news/canada/20…

UBC School of Nursing @ekjenkins will send her kids to school.

"For (vulnerable) populations, there are valid concerns, but ... there is a low risk of children themselves getting ill or adults having complications related to contact with children." thestar.com/news/canada/20…

.@ekjenkins lead this national survey of mental health impacts of COVID-19. It found that Canadian parents are struggling, particularly parents in poverty.

"The reopening of schools will provide a respite for parents struggling right now." sciencepolicy.ca/news/impact-co… #COVID19

Dr. @strauss_matt doesn't have kids, but wants to reassure parents.

"Both my wife and I were homeschooled ... For parents worrying about the impact of home learning on children, I would tell them to be more optimistic about what can be achieved at home." thestar.com/news/canada/20…

Dr. @strauss_matt: "I hope we put more energy into protecting the vulnerable. If a schoolteacher has risk factors for #COVID19, then I would support accommodations being made for that person to go on leave with pay." thestar.com/news/canada/20…

Dr. @strauss_matt: "Tragically, one child in Canada has died of #COVID19. While that is tragic, statistically speaking, it’s very low risk.

Every child in Canada unfortunately has a 1-in-10,000 chance of dying in a car accident each year." thestar.com/news/canada/20…

While the doctors I spoke to said they would send their kids back to school, they all stressed it was because of their own unique situations and each family has to weigh the risks with reliable information available. They cautioned against misinformation. thestar.com/news/canada/20…

Readers are asking about the type of schools these doctors' children attend. Some declined to give details out of privacy concerns but several specified their kids attend public schools in pretty dense city areas in Vancouver and Toronto.

"There are not many communities with a lot of cases right now in Canada. Of course, that could change with time. During a pandemic, it’s all about the unknowns. We’re all making big decisions in real time with incomplete information. That’s the reality." thestar.com/news/canada/20…

For mandatory mask-wearing in schools, please check government websites for exact details. Here is Alberta's policy on masks in schools: alberta.ca/k-to-12-school…

And the mask rules for Ontario: thestar.com/politics/provi…

Homeschooling/remote learning is a sensitive subject, so I wanted to post the full comments from @strauss_matt, acknowledging this isn’t a viable choice for some families:

Thank you for all the responses to this thread but wanted to stress that the tweets are a very, very incomplete preview of full comments. All Canadian experts interviewed said that each family must consult local health authority info and family doctors.

https://twitter.com/joannachiu/status/1294843063911604225?s=21

https://t.co/CAWq3XDR5y