Thread by @MonicaGandhi9

Proud to have written with @tracyhoeg, @doctortara, Dr. Daniel Johnson. Please read data on relative risks to children from COVID vs school closings. "Our next national priority should be to reopen all America's schools for full time in-person learning"
thehill.com/opinion/health…

Important to know data, epidemiology, clear facts when making decisions: "COVID-19 deaths in children are tragic but rare. To put the mortality risk in perspective, in California, there were 14 deaths among children ages 5-17 from COVID-19 in 2020, lower than the number of

children who die of influenza in a typical year. COVID-19 also poses a much lower risk of death than suicides in youth... 213 deaths among 5-17 year olds in the U.S. from COVID-19 in the past 12 months...nearly three times as many deaths by suicide — 596 deaths — in

in 2018 the smaller cohort of children between the ages of 10 and 14...suggesting that suicide and mental health disorders continue to remain a much larger threat to children’s health than either COVID-19 or influenza". Kids need other kids, schools safe, US should open schools

"When our country is compared to the rest of the world, we are a clear outlier in our failure to return students to the classroom in a timely and science-based manner....Our choice to not prioritize the well-being of our children, especially the most disadvantaged, will be felt..

.. for decades. Every pandemic has groups disproportionately affected and, when it comes to COVID, we will look back and see it was our children, our elderly and our poorest...Mahatma Gandhi "true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”