CDC is recommending #TestToStay. But focuses only on the unvaccinated. Breakthrough cases of vaccinated people jumped 64% suddenly recently in Northern Virginia. We need to ramp up RAPID testing for ALL kids, vaxed and unvaxed, who are exposed to COVID.
Short additional 🧵: There are important qualities of such a #TestToStay program that APS would need to emulate. Can't pick and choose, get same results.
#1 - The kid who got exposed limited exposure b/c both parties WORE MASKS. Eliminate masks, gotta quarantine 'cuz certain 🤮.
#2 - No symptoms ever developed. Had to agree to either 2 (LA) or 4 (Lake County) tests, or go quarantine at home.
#3 - For "close contact" #TestToStay kids, mask wearing was required everywhere: indoors, outdoors, on bus. They didn't go to extracurriculars or after school care.
#4 - The schools had other layers of mitigation, including surveillance testing programs and physical distancing.
Also, for distance, they went back to 6 feet. Close contacts who had **unmasked** exposures within 6 feet of a COVID-19 patient were NOT eligible for #TestToStay.
(Just a side note here for a second, but that indicates that if there were 8 kids sitting within 6 feet of each other in a cafeteria indoors, they would all need to be quarantined at home if one of them had COVID, per CDC recommendation.)
#5 - #TestToStay kids had to have >6 feet of distance between themselves & other kids at lunchtime if indoors. But ideally, they just went out with the school's outdoor lunch program.
An exposure eating lunch in cafeteria would require at-home quarantine, so not on this list.👇
#6 When not at school, the #TestToStay kids were asked to remain at home and not go other places. A few who became infected did also infect family members.
#7 - This program coincided with #Delta variant being dominant, not #Omicron, which is more infectious.
1/ It would be easy to call out some of the schools that have done little for #APSOutdoorLunch, because they have a "can't do" attitude. But today, we're going to call out some of the bright points. Hope to see more of the "can do" attitude across APS, like these examples:
2/ Kenmore 2020-21: Cafeteria staff noted that #APSOutdoorLunch has turned out to be more organized, more relaxed, quieter, less stressful, and less restricted for them and for students. Thanks @apskenmore for keeping our kids safe!
3/ Barcroft 2020-21: The community @BarcroftEagles came together to keep students safe: donated yoga mats, sit-upons, and stumps made #APSOutdoorLunch a fun part of the day last spring.
1/ Risk reduction in a room that has at least 5 air changes per hour. @APSVirginia, another study shows how layered mitigations work. We need to add True HEPAS to rooms *now* to #CleanTheAir, and boost filtration, because #DeltaVariant is far more infectious.
2/ The blue line👆 is where most APS rooms are, if not WORSE for about 1/3 of our rooms. APS chose the most minimal goal it could (4 ACH). We haven’t prioritized providing the same BETTER 6ACH ventilation for all kids.
3/ APS’ ionizers produce 20% less extra clean air, so they’ve underestimated ventilation.
They’ve doubled capacity, which means now 1/2 the clean air for each student returning to school in a week, against #DeltaVariant, which is 2x more infectious.
1/ Regarding music classes, @APSArts, students who participate in indoor singing were 2.8 times MORE likely to get #COVID19 in Omaha schools study. Also, air samples from choir rooms contained virus, even w/ kids singing in masks. medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
2/ CDC: "High-risk extracurricular activities are those in which increased exhalation occurs…” CDC recommends activities be canceled or held virtually (unless ALL participants are fully vaccinated) when a community is in high transmission. cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…
3/ APS, go outside to sing; it’s best and requires little to no mitigation!
Best resource so for performing #arts and #COVID19, including other recommendations for band and orchestra 👇
Caveat: #DeltaVariant requires extra precautions, not minimums!
1/ #CO2monitors: How cool! San Diego Unified put CO2 monitors and particle counters in schools to monitor #ventilation and #filtration — making sure it was adequate to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in every room.
Using science + data to target and actually fix problems!
👏👏
2/ Here's a great thread 🧵 explaining how this works.
1/ This is why we need to #AlertTheClass, and the lack of mandatory #COVID19#testing for all in place before opening #schools here may be a big mistake.
The #DeltaVariant is surging in #Arlington County, but the people who spread it "feel just fine."
2/ There was some inaccurate information being put forth that these machines were not ionizers, because they were not listed by the California @AirResources Board as ionization devices.
But these machines do indeed have an ionizer. 👇
3/ The use of additive and electronic air cleaning devices, often marketed with HEPA in the name although they ARE NOT HEPA cleaners, has come under scrutiny this year.