2) This 🇬🇧 report was done on Dec 17th, released on Dec 31, based on data before Dec 2nd. In other words, before new variant has dominated UK 🇬🇧 in Dec.
Good news is that kids are less susceptible—less likely to contract virus in the household. #COVID19 gov.uk/government/pub…
3) As for teachers, it seems positivity % is similar between teachers and other professions. This is neither good, nor bad. It just means teachers are no worse or safer as an occupation.
4) What about positivity in students compared to teachers in primary (elementary) schools vs secondary schools?
📌It seems secondary schools may have somewhat higher infection levels (though CI’s overlap slightly).
📌Students and teachers similar though within school.
5) What about HIGH vs LOW RISK area schools?
📌Students vs teachers seem to have very low risk in primary schools—but only in the **low risk** geographic areas (green).
📌In the high risk area primary schools, they are similar to low risk area secondary schools (blue).
6) Furthermore, in secondary schools + in high risk areas, students and teachers had together the highest risk, shown in red color.
Also notable is that in all the scenarios, green or blue or red, pupil and teachers always had similar positivity %.
9) Furthermore, UK data shows that prevalence of #COVID19 in children (2-3%) is higher than all other age groups over age 25, according to @Dr2NisreenAlwan.
10) And how does school closures compare among all the non-pharma interventions? It’s one of the most effective containment measures, **lowering R value by -0.15 to -0.21**.
11) Look, I hate hate hate school closures just as much as anyone else with kids. I don’t share it for doom and gloom or any agenda—other than stopping then pandemic so that we can return to normal lives sooner and send kids back to school **sooner**. #ZeroCovid is the way.
12) If we have enough vaccinations delivered to keep the current virus transmission R below 1, then I think we can open schools. But we all know that vaccine rollout is too slow now, & the epidemic is just too hot, and we don’t have much hospital space left. Out of good options.
13) UK experts now say the pandemic is “out of control”. And recommends new measures. And takes bold step to prioritize the 1st dose.
15) ⚠️the new 🇬🇧B117 is a beast of a #SARSCoV2 variant. The variant adds ~ 0.4-0.7 to the R (Reproductive number). What could keep in check via containment, R<1, now with +0.5 added infectiousness, means the virus will go unchecked—very bad. #COVID19
16) and now we know the relative increase in children vs old strain compared to adults. It’s relatively greater increase in kids 0-9.
⚠️PFAS IS BACK—recall the EPA plan to ban dangerous forever chemicals from drinking water ➡️Well, Trump WH just cancelled it… once again allowing big corporations to discharge PFAS into rivers. PFAS cause cancers & many diseases. Does this make American healthy again?
2) “There really isn’t a system within the human body that isn’t affected by PFAS. They are toxic in many ways, but they’re also very long-lived. They’re designed not to break down in the environment or not to break down to heat and chemical stress.” michiganpublic.org/politics-gover…
3) CDC also just got banned from seeking any advice or input from the WHO — CDC can’t communicate or even enter any WHO building anymore. Perfect way to politically isolate CDC from outside science.
NEW—CDC officially ordered by Trump WH to cease working with the @WHO, effective immediately. This is the first time in almost 77 years since WHO’s founding after World War 2. This is a dark day.
2) the memo said the stop-work policy applied to “all CDC staff engaging with WHO through technical working groups, coordinating centers, advisory boards, cooperative agreements or other means — in person or virtual.”
3) It also says @CDCgov staff are not allowed to visit @WHO offices.
CDC ordered to stop working with WHO immediately, upending expectations of an extended withdrawal
🛑JUST CANCELLED—Trump HHS has just cancelled key meetings of the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (PACCARB) & CDC’s Environmental Public Health Threats meeting—➡️all because of Trump WH’s new blackout of all HHS external comms. My god.
2) Trump WH is literally blocking all of this… including all CDC science reports and all FDA public alerts!
NEW—Trump WH has blocked all CDC science reports (eg MMWR) & suspended all CDC / FDA / NIH external communications of all HHS agencies until further notice... including all FDA & CDC Health Alert warnings & all social media. Public health be damned.
⚠️BREAKING—ICU Hospitalized human bird flu case in Canada now officially confirmed as H5N1. Worse, it is the same 2.3.4.4b virus clade (variant group) as the one found in BC🇨🇦 poultry and in Washington state🇺🇸! The hospitalized teenager (with no pre existing conditions) had no animal contact, does not live on farm, had “deterioration quite rapid” and now critical in ICU with ARDS. Canada officials says infectious period is 2 days **prior to symptoms** (ie asymptomatic transmission) and infectious up to 10 days.
2) Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg confirmed that the individual has avian influenza H5N1 canada.ca/en/public-heal…
3) details…
⚠️BAD UPDATE—BIRD FLU HOSPITALIZATION IN CANADIAN TEEN
Summary 🧵 of the live press conference with Canada’s British Columbia health officer.
📌The teen is in intensive care.
📌Condition is ARDS
📌Teen was healthy prior; no underlying conditions