Thread by @phaded_dubfix

@ChiPublicHealth I’ll get a head start:

1- if there was a measles outbreak at a school, would you recommend closing it? Or would you tell parents to grin and bear it?

#AskDrArwady

@ChiPublicHealth 2- If the answer is the former (close schools), then why is @ChiPubSchools open during a peak COVID wave with the most transmissible variant (Omicron) to date?

#AskDrArwady

@ChiPublicHealth 3- Are you aware that #Omicron is considered to be the 2nd most transmissible disease in the world (behind measles) by many medical professionals? If so, I again ask: why is @ChiPubSchools open during the peak of the Omicron surge in this city?

#AskDrArwady

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools 4- Are you aware that COVID-19 is NOT just a respiratory virus, and that it has “multiple avenues to induce long-term impairment, attacking the brain, heart, lungs, blood, testes, colon, liver, and lymph nodes, causing persistent symptoms in more than half of patients?”

/cont

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools If you are aware that Omicron is not just a respiratory illness, why are you advising people that Omicron “is like the flu” for children?

Citation for above quote by @IanRicksecker:

https://twitter.com/IanRicksecker/status/1478611657265868802?s=20

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools @IanRicksecker 5- Are you aware of the many effects of Long Covid? Are you also aware that "Up to one in seven (14%) children and young people who caught SARS-CoV-2 may have symptoms linked to the virus 15 weeks later"?

ucl.ac.uk/news/2021/sep/…

#AskDrArwady

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools @IanRicksecker 6- @ChiPubSchools had 3,551 positive COVID19 cases reported last week (1/9-1/15).

That's nearly double (+1468) the cases from the week prior (1/2-1/8).

#AskDrArwady

/cont

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools @IanRicksecker Are you aware of the CPS case count, and are you OK with this? If so, just how much exponential growth is acceptable to you before you would reccomend that schools need to close to protect children, parents, teachers, and the community at large?

#AskDrArwady

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools @IanRicksecker 6/ The total number of @ChiPubSchools cases from the begging of SY 2021-2022 now sits at 12,228 positive cases, a figure that is undoubtedly low when considering the failed CPS testing program and a contract tracing program that moves like sludge.

/cont.

#AskDrArwady

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools @IanRicksecker Do you still stand by your opinion, @DrArwady, that these 12,228 positive cases are not driven by in-school transmission?

If so, this seems to not align with the IDPH. Can you explain this?

dph.illinois.gov/covid19/data/c…

#AskDrArwady

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools @IanRicksecker @DrArwady 7/ Also from the IDPH: the rise in youth cases statewide appear to be similarly exponential in nature to the case rise for @ChiPubSchools.

Does this concern you, @DrArwady?

If not, can you please explain why?

#AskDrArwady

dph.illinois.gov/covid19/data/s…

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools @IanRicksecker @DrArwady 8/ Again from IDPH: When looking Emergency Department (ED) COVID19 visits for ages 0-17, would you still stand by your statement that #Omnicron variant is mild and "is behaving like the flu in kids"?

#AskDrArwady

dph.illinois.gov/covid19/data/s…

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools @IanRicksecker @DrArwady 9/ Do you disagree with this statement by Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia?

If so, could you please explain why?

#AskDrArwady

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools @IanRicksecker @DrArwady 10/ Are you aware that COVID19 "appears to be able to cross the blood-brain barrier and cause significant neurological damage"?

Source: @IanRicksecker

twitter.com/IanRicksecker/…

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33328624/

#AskDrArwady

/cont

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools @IanRicksecker @DrArwady If so, @DrArwady, wouldn't you agree that exposing 8005 students and 4223 adults to potential long-term brain damage is reckless and should be avoided? Even if it means a pause for in-school learning or provisioning a remote option?

#AskDrArwady

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools @IanRicksecker @DrArwady 11/ I ask again, @drawardy, are you aware of the mounting evidence that COVID19 attacks the brain, and is it not reckless to expose children to potential life long cognitive disabilities in the name of commerce and politics?

nytimes.com/2021/08/22/sci…

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools @IanRicksecker @DrArwady @drawardy More articles referencing COVID19's ability to enter & attack the brain:

nytimes.com/2020/09/09/hea…

neurosciencenews.com/covid-19-brain…

sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/…

news.gsu.edu/2021/01/19/stu…

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33328624/

#AskDrArwady

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools @IanRicksecker @DrArwady @drawardy @DrArwady I ask about your awareness in this thread because it seems from you public statements that either you are not aware, or you are intentionally misleading the people of Chicago.

In either case, you might want to consider stepping down.

#AskDrArwady

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools @IanRicksecker @DrArwady @drawardy More sources:

yahoo.com/news/covid-19-…

beaconjournal.com/story/news/loc…

ohionewstime.com/cincinnati-doc…

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools @IanRicksecker @DrArwady @drawardy Here's two massive threads for @DrArwady & whomever else has interest in learning more about COVID and it's effects on the body beyond respiratory illness:

https://twitter.com/IanRicksecker/status/1478611650760437765

https://twitter.com/IanRicksecker/status/1478615150873645056

@ChiPublicHealth @ChiPubSchools @IanRicksecker @DrArwady @drawardy Chicago deserves better.

/fin