Thread by @smartrestartaps

#Arlington #COVID19 #Cases

VDH outbreak list now reports 78 linked COVID-19 cases, the result of attending or working at #Taylor elementary school in late April and May. It’s one of the larger documented school outbreaks in Virginia since they began keeping track.

#Arlington #COVID19 #Cases

VDH outbreak list now reports 41 linked COVID-19 cases, the result of attending or working at #ArlingtonTraditional elementary school in May.

The new variants are so contagious spread to family members is extremely common after exposure at school.

#Arlington #COVID19 #Cases

VDH outbreak list now reports 19 linked COVID-19 cases, the result of attending or working at #Discovery elementary school in May.

Why are we tolerating so much COVID in schools and putting infectious kids & teachers back into schools every week?

#Arlington #COVID19 #Cases

Are parents ready to sign up for kids and families getting COVID-19 two to three times next year? As we experience wave after wave of COVID-19 with virtually no common sense policies and mitigations at all?

Really think there will be no consequences?

There is a lot of space between “close everything” and “do nothing.”

APS has gone from failure to problem solve at the beginning, to get schools open, to failure to problem solve as this school year concludes, promoting constant infection risk for our families.

That space in between includes:

#TestToReturn policies that get well kids/staff back to school ASAP but keep contagious folks out; better communications to exposed families. #NotifyTheClass

#BetterMasks provided all the time with clear directions when to mask in surges

That space also includes:

Increasing efforts to #CleanTheAir in schools beyond mediocre projects to date, utilizing DIY Corsi boxes, and start installing germicidal UV; Any new building constructed w/o this is a fail.

Smarter use of #testing w/increased access, convenience

We could cut down our rates of transmission in our school buildings. It won’t ever be zero, but it doesn’t have to be somewhere between 7,000 and 14,000 cases a year, or more. This huge amount of COVID affects our community. Behind every case is an entire family getting exposed.

That space also includes:

Investment in innovative outdoor classroom spaces that can be used to get kids outside, and for things like #APSOutdoorLunch.

As nationally studied events, and other research have shown us, eating inside w/variants that are this contagious = infection.