Thread by @HuffmanLabDU

My OpEd today
Yes, everyone needs to wear high-quality #masks in #schools, but that’s not the only urgent action necessary to keep kids safe -- we desperately need to focus on air quality by adding #HEPA filters & by addressing the risks at lunch time,🧵👇
denverpost.com/2021/08/19/sch…

2/ Opinion: As an aerosol scientist, I know schools need masks, HEPA filters and outdoor lunches

A link to the same OpEd, but with hyperlinks to various articles and support: bit.ly/3ATKzPD
#DeltaSchoolsAirborne #MasksInSchools #HEPAInSchools
denverpost.com/2021/08/19/sch…

3/ "We all want children to attend school in person & avoid bouncing to online modalities. To make that happen, [we] need to follow the near-unanimous advice ... to mandate indoor mask-wearing, install more portable HEPA filters, & institute safer lunchtime procedures ... ."

4/ "While mask-wearing indoors is the cheapest and among the best strategies against airborne virus spread, it is not the only strategy that school districts need to improve."

5/ "Layered defenses reduce risk of inhaling viral aerosols as no individual layer is a silver bullet to prevent infection. The combination of approaches lowers overall risk."

6/ "High rates of ventilation & portable HEPA filters clean viruses from the air, reducing build-up. Improved school building air quality using these measures has shown add'l long-term benefits — such as lower absenteeism, lower asthma & allergy rates, and higher test scores."

7/ "But free approaches add significant health benefits to risky, indoor spaces where masks come off, such as lunch and music rooms. Those spaces need special care. Moving lunch outdoors is the most important strategy to reduce exposure. ..."

8/ "... Otherwise, it is imperative to increase the distance between students at meals, reduce time indoors while eating, add multiple extra HEPA units in lunch and music rooms, and sufficiently flush out air between groups."

9/ "School leaders that rely on low COVID transmission rates from last year ignore that the war has changed due to the delta variant. Officials that go against public health advice disrespect their students ... model that admin ideologies trump prof. scientific & med. expertise."

10/ "You, as students, parents, & staff must contact school district leaders to press that they listen first to experts. Be respectful, but make sure they mandate masks indoors, deploy portable HEPA filters, & publicly release details ... incl. ventilation & filtration upgrades."

11/ "Until children in Colorado have widespread access to the COVID vaccine, the risk to our children and community is simply too high not to follow basic public health advice."

12/ Also look into this excellent, multi-disciplinary #DeltaSchoolsAirborne event yesterday: gospeakupamerica.com/deltaschools

My analogy of risks during #school meals, below (adapted from @Poppendieck) #EatOutside
Video clip:

https://twitter.com/NyCovid/status/1428111735890796553

13/ A short, not comprehensive thread on some of the challenges of messaging on the importance of #schools having #LunchOutside:

https://twitter.com/HuffmanLabDU/status/1426035546757885956