All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Kids with COVID have more viral RNA in their airways than adults do

Boy wearing mask and hanging on rings
Mary Van Beusekom | News Writer | CIDRAP News
Aug 20, 2020

The findings have implications for schools, daycares, and similar settings.

Texas begins publishing some data on coronavirus in child care centers | The Texas Tribune

The Texas state health agency will start regularly posting names and locations of all child care centers that have reported positive COVID-19 cases, after refusing to publicly release that information last month.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission published a spreadsheet on its website Thursday showing COVID-19 cases in 1,867 child care facilities, summer camps and before- and after-school programs in 127 counties. It excludes the names and addresses of child care centers run out of homes, but the agency included total cases from home-based centers in a separate spreadsheet.

 

Source: Texas begins publishing some data on coronavirus in child care centers | The Texas Tribune

3 Manatee County Schools Have Confirmed COVID-19 Cases (HIPPA does not stop schools from disclosing how many students and staff are sick or have been exposed)

At Ballard Elementary, the district said, “a contact tracing investigation was conducted by a Florida Department of Health epidemiologist, and it was determined that there were direct exposures to the confirmed case.”

The message went on to say, “The case is isolated to a portion of the campus, and anyone who had direct exposure to the confirmed case is being contacted and sent home to isolate for 14 days.”

At Parrish Community High School, the Florida Department of Health determined there was “minimal direct exposure” to the confirmed case.

The state of Florida requires all traditional public schools to report COVID-19 cases on campus, but that’s not the case for charter schools.

Spectrum Bay News 9 independently confirmed a case at Rowlett Academy for Arts and Communication.

The school notified the Florida Department of Health anyway.

“It has been determined that the confirmed case had limited exposure to distinct portions of our campus. These areas will be closed for the next 2-5 days for intensive cleaning and disinfecting,” Principal Chuck Fradley wrote in an email to parents and employees.

Both Ballard Elementary and Parrish Community High School also said their campuses were undergoing additional cleaning measures.

The district says it’s continuing “to take mitigation measures at our [schools] including taking temperatures, wearing masks, asking symptom-related questions of all students and staff daily and limiting access to our [campuses].

A spokesperson for Manatee Schools declined to comment on how many students or staff members were affected in each of these cases, citing HIPPA.

Source: 3 Manatee County Schools Have Confirmed COVID-19 Cases

Massachusetts General Hospital researchers show children are silent spreaders of virus that causes COVID-19

In the most comprehensive study of COVID-19 pediatric patients to date, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Mass General Hospital for Children (MGHfC) researchers provide critical data showing that children play a larger role in the community spread of COVID-19 than previously thought. In a study of 192 children ages 0-22, 49 children tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and an additional 18 children had late-onset, COVID-19-related illness. The infected children were shown to have a significantly higher level of virus in their airways than hospitalized adults in ICUs for COVID-19 treatment.

Source: Massachusetts General Hospital researchers show children are silent spreaders of virus that causes COVID-19

Teachers could stay in classroom if exposed to COVID-19 – ABC News – (Guide for destruction of schools and communities?)

New guidance from President Donald Trump’s administration that declares teachers to be “critical infrastructure workers” could give the green light to exempting teachers from quarantine requirements after being exposed to COVID-19 and instead send them back into the classroom.

Keeping teachers without symptoms in the classroom, as a handful of school districts in Tennessee and Georgia have already said they may do, raises the risk that they will spread the respiratory illness to students and fellow employees. Multiple teachers can be required by public health agencies to quarantine for 14 days during an outbreak, which can stretch a district’s ability to keep providing in-person instruction.

South Carolina health officials also describe teachers as critical infrastructure workers, although it’s unclear if any district there is asking teachers to return before 14 days.

Among the first districts to name teachers as critical infrastructure workers was eastern Tennessee’s Greene County, where the school board gave the designation to teachers July 13.

“It essentially means if we are exposed and we know we might potentially be positive, we still have to come to school and we might at that point be carriers and spreaders,” said Hillary Buckner, who teaches Spanish at Chuckey-Doak High School in Afton.

 

Source: Teachers could stay in classroom if exposed to COVID-19 – ABC News