Coronavirus spreads. But don't panic! (topical thread)

[mordant]

The virus numbers have been going steadily down in California, praise the Lawd.

The state-wide rolling 14 day test positivity rate on August 2 was 7.0 percent. Today it is 2.8 percent.
The numbers in my densely populated county are also going down.
There are even rumblings that public schools (including my daughter's school, praise Jebus) might start to reopen in October. 

I've said it before and I'll mention again that California's numbers are tallied by California and they aren't "Trump numbers."

-Teresa

Do they  show testing by school?

My kid's school went from 1 case at the beginning of the week to 7 this morning, while other schools, including the public school just 1/2 a km down the road is covid free. He said it's because of Ritchie St which is in our school's boundaries. Ritchie St. is notorious for gang related violence & drugs. Now I take what my son tells me with a grain of salt but, it fits.

Why not the public school 1/2 km down the road? turns out school boundaries make a big difference.

I'm trying to pull him out of school and go online only, but it turns out there's a waiting list. If the cases double to 14 then I'll pull him out regardless. It's not about him or even me. It's about my wife.

None of my county's public schools have been open since mid-March, when there were zero coronavirus cases in any school. I see the county that borders mine reopened their schools weeks ago and they have been sending out press releases when there are any school cases so our schools will probably do the same if/ when they reopen.

Interestingly, most if not all childcare centers in California have been open throughout the pandemic and few if any clusters or outbreaks - for children or adult staff - have been reported at those facilities. 

Also, I just checked the state Covid-19 website (California numbers, not "Trump numbers"). 
10% of California Covid-19 cases are ages 0-17. 
0.0% of California Covid-19 deaths are ages 0-17.

The virus is real but I'm not overwhelmingly worried about her school opening for in-person classes.

-Teresa

None of this accounts though for the risks to teachers and staff or to the old folks at home.

Some kid who is symptomless (or whose symptoms are indistinguishable for his normally runny-nosed state) but infected with Covid could take down a lot of people before / if infection is detected.

A year from now we can probably vaccinate everyone and reduce the risk to a dull roar. It would be far better overall for all concerned to stay battened down for another school year. But:

1) We won't allocate the funds to properly execute on distance learning

2) We won't allocate the funds to modify schools for social distancing, air filtration / circulation, adequate testing protocols, etc

3) We insist on not providing relief to families, forcing them to choose between risking their lives by returning to work or face financial ruin, which creates more pressure to have the schools return to their role of daytime childcare


So like everything else it's a clusterfuck.