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17 Apr, 26 tweets, 13 min read
1/ #COVIDisAirborne, a 🧵

We have seen multiple public health officials, epidemiologists, doctors, politicos, and school officials just blow off airborne transmission of COVID-19, because they really don't understand what this means.

2/ Infectious virus is in the smallest particles that float for a long time — INDOORS primarily. Floating particles — let's call those AEROSOLS — can get inhaled when you get very close to someone. OR farther away.

Incredible information resources:

3/ So as IAQ expert @Poppendieck has been gallantly tweeting, #DropletsDrop. Yeah, you can get hit by a "ballistic" drop from a sneeze in your mouth. It's *possible*

Way more likely to inhale "airborne" microscopic particles emitted while talking.

4/ The words matter because they're built into regs. If a disease is "airborne" then health care facilities and other workplaces would need to provide N95 style masks to make SURE that workers masks aren't gappy and don't leak in/out small particles.

5/ The description of virus as "airborne" has also been used by physics/chemistry/bioaerosol/engineering experts to describe particles that build up in enclosed indoor spaces OVER TIME.

It honestly seemed obvious to us, given this choir's story...

nytimes.com/interactive/20…
6/ And SO MANY OTHER super-spread type of events where the conditions of the indoor setting clearly played a role.

its-airborne.org/covid19-timeli…
7/ Experts have debated this for a year, including at an actual debate... where acne was given as a reason for not making sure more health care workers had N95 masks.

8/ Here's the video of the full discussion...

9/ There were many, many, many articles before this too... This sums them up.

10/ A lot of this information has been known for a long time, too.

11/ And explained again and again in seminars... and webinars...

12/ And built into transmission models you can use to fix your indoor spaces to eliminate 95% of the risk.

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…

safeairspaces.com/safeairspaces-…
13/ We think you really need to give a REALLY clear explanation and end the debate so we can all get on the same page about fixing the problems.

@CDCDirector

We could follow this road map endorsed by nearly 700 engineers and ventilation experts.

who.int/publications/i…
14/ CLEARLY stating #COVIDIsAirborne can still save lives, @CDCDirector. Some MPHs & MDs won't accept evidence until you emphasize it.

We see it in Twittersphere and civic meetings. #DropletDogma excuses need for better masks, IAQ and protecting workers.

15/ We thank the scientists who stepped up where @CDCgov and others failed.

Scientists wrote FAQs.
tinyurl.com/FAQ-aerosols

They made facts and data accessible.


And here; masterful 🧵

@jljcolorado (and others!) went 🌎 via Zoom.
16/ Many used these #SciComm heroes' work in advocacy to reduce risks in school buildings, even if our district's expert claims ventilation plays but a "small role in infectious disease transmission." (CYA?)

17/ ASHRAE, the HVAC industry flagship org, now says, "Airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is significant and should be controlled."

This is helpful from such an influential professional organization, so schools understand the solutions they need are 👇

nytimes.com/interactive/20…
18/ A clear focus on air would mean our schools might 🛑 👇

Hygiene Theater, as @NotPodium knows, is the least funny comedy venue ever.

@APSVaSchoolBd even disinfects a lectern after a speaker. (1 in 10,000 odds of touch transmission)

Wipes ≠ Safety
Need new🖼 in slide deck Image
19/ If primary route of transmission is inhalation of airborne particles, then ... better masks, more new air, more filtration of old air, lower occupancy, and less time indoors, are what reduce risks.

Distance also reduces "close contact" air swapping.

20/ But no distance is "no risk" inside, especially when not wearing tightly fitted PPE.

Watch exhaled breath touch everyone in a class in 2 minutes. Masks are last line of defense.

This is why schools should have outdoor lunch; keep masks on indoors.

21/ @APSVirginia has about one third of classrooms well below minimal ventilation code.

They bought air cleaners to filter the air, and last fall, committed to get rooms to 5-6 ACH. Then, decided to quit at 4 air changes b/c Harvard said "good" enough.

22/ Sadly, many schools (including ours) also bought air cleaning technology with ionization.

We're now supporting efforts to help "fresh air schools" measure harmful compounds created by many such devices and provide evidence when marketing is false.

justgiving.com/fundraising/pa…
23/ So, if @CDCDirector and @VDHgov had simply started with recognizing #COVIDIsAirborne LAST YEAR

then... set clear targets for ventilation

then... explained EXACTLY what technologies to use

... a lot of $ wouldn't have been misspent, and we'd be in a much healthier place.
24/ For now, we're left still trying to figure out how safe the air is in our schools...

smartrestartaps.org/vital-issues/v…

... trying as a coalition of parents & teachers to amplify expert guidance from scientists and engineers, like...



25/ Every day, we make a similar expression to
@kprather88 or @DFisman, when we see the minimization of:

📌> 100,000 youths in VA infected
📌 > 644,000 total cases
📌 10,000 dead, just in VA

We can end this when we focus on solving #COVIDisAirborne.

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More from @smartrestartaps

@SmartRestartAPS Profile picture
23 Apr
1/ When faced w/ uncertainty in a crisis, assuming best outcome can be a mistake. As @dgurdasani1 noted: "It's not alarmist to be cautious. In the face of uncertainty, when the losses can be large, the best strategy is to reduce risk as far as possible."
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1384778…
2/ This is @APSVaSchoolBd's plan for fall: Normal. Full buses. Normal lunch. (Full cafeterias indoors?) APS hopes that CDC drops its 3' guidance so there won't be any distancing, even among unvaccinated younger kids. (Contingency is 3' distance.)

Or anyone can choose virtual. Image
3/ This is @FCPSSupt's plan: force most to in-person. Limit access to virtual accommodations. But have "large-scale" testing and purchase tents to take class activities outdoors — plan now to reduce risk until kids vaccinated. (Critics: not enough done.)

washingtonpost.com/local/educatio…
Read 5 tweets
@SmartRestartAPS Profile picture
22 Apr
We learned that teachers in APS are now allowed to remove Plexiglass barriers on desks because they muffle sound, make seeing kids harder.

Here are a few other reasons schools should remove this snake oil... Short 🧵.

📌 First, CDC deleted guidance to use them in March.
📌 Second, this, this, and this... examples where flimsy plastic barriers on didn't stop 🦠.







📌 Third, and this and this and this...




Oh, and a bioaerosol expert on a our leadership team also tested these in his lab and found them to be utterly ineffectual at doing anything to block small floating particles!
Read 5 tweets
@SmartRestartAPS Profile picture
22 Apr
arlnow.com/2021/04/21/two…
2/ Here's the breakdown of COVID-19 exposures and positive cases by school community as of the start of the week.
3/ The trend on youth cases in Arlington... via VDH data.
Read 20 tweets
@SmartRestartAPS Profile picture
22 Apr
1/ A big myth of the "return to school buildings" debate is that COVID-19 magically🧙‍♀️ doesn't spread in kids.

A preprint from an Omaha pilot project debunks this bigly (again).

Another 🧵 with evidence for TESTING to detect and 🛑🦠. #SafetyIsVITAL

abcnews.go.com/Health/study-s…
2/ University of Nebraska Medical Center found:

📌 Lots of asymptomatic COVID-19; testing caught cases MUCH higher than typical school reporting (self-reports and symptomatic).

📌 Staff: 2.5x more COVID

📌 Students: 6x more

📌 10x more 🦠 at school than in community stats
3/ Turns out schools may have missed up to 9 of 10 student cases and 7 of 10 staff cases — before better testing to detect and #StopTheSpread of COVID-19.

📌 District also mitigated risks:
✔️ hybrid
✔️ ¼ occupancy
✔️ 😷
✔️ 6 ft distancing

(HS & MS schools in study)
Read 23 tweets
@SmartRestartAPS Profile picture
20 Apr
1/ Study finds indoor sports most likely setting in our schools to spread COVID-19.

Secondary attack rates by setting:
📌indoor, contact sports like🏀, wrestling, cheer (23.8%)
📌staff meetings or lunches (18.2%)
📌elementary school rooms (9.5%)

academic.oup.com/cid/advance-ar…
2/ Tracked COVID-19 cases Dec 11, 2020, to Jan 22, 2021, in an Atlanta district that included 8 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and a high school. Students were in-person 4 days per week and wore masks, with desks spaced 3 to 6 feet apart. More kids in ES rooms than MS/HS.
3/ All cases confirmed by PCR testing. Secondary attack rate (SAR) — % of contacts who become infected— was calculated by setting (classroom, bus, indoor sports); student or staff; symptomatic or asymptomatic, and time of exposure.

Overall, 9% secondary contacts got sick.
Read 9 tweets
@SmartRestartAPS Profile picture
20 Apr
Ordering...
Read 7 tweets

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