1. Dr. James Hildreth, CEO of Meharry Hospital and adviser to Nashville Mayor John Cooper, makes a powerful statement about schools and airborne transmission. A MUST WATCH example of excellent public health communication about #COVID19
Part 1 of 3
Part 1 of 3
2. Dr Hildreth is very clear: if schools reopen without masks for all, we will not get control of the #SARSCoV2 virus. Our children will be at risk. He is unambiguous: some will get ill. Some will die.
Part 2 of 3
Part 2 of 3
3. Dr Hildreth is also clear about who should be making public health decisions: experts.
Politicians are not qualified to do so.
What do the uncharacteristically quiet @CMO_England & @uksciencechief think of the UK government’s plans to reopen schools?
Part 3 of 3
Politicians are not qualified to do so.
What do the uncharacteristically quiet @CMO_England & @uksciencechief think of the UK government’s plans to reopen schools?
Part 3 of 3
4. Instead of arguing about what airborne really means, I would like to see public health experts unite in a call for masks for all as a precautionary measure. Without them, schools will become powerful vectors for transmission.
5. This graph doesn’t prove causation but it is interesting to see that Sweden’s sharp decline in cases came 12 days after schools closed for the holidays.
6. As Dr Hildreth points out, we do not know whether this virus will have any long term impact on children, but we do know that other pandemic viruses did. The evidence tells us we can greatly reduce risk by wearing masks.
Why gamble?
Why gamble?
7. What do you think? @dgurdasani1 @BillHanage @EckerleIsabella @DrEricDing @devisridhar @Dr2NisreenAlwan @DrZoeHyde @EricTopol
8. Source video for anyone who wants to make sure the above clips have not been edited out of context and have simply been cut to meet Twitter time limits. Dr Hildreth begins his briefing at 9 mins 15 secs
9. Thank you @JamesEKHildreth for such a clear and powerful message. I hope people listen.
10. Human error. I added the wrong clip to tweet 3 of this thread. This is how the briefing ends.
11. Reposted in correct order here:
13. Adding government’s own scientific advice on airborne and aerosol transmission.
