I'm a teacher. I really don't want to catch COVID from a kid and bring it to my immunocompromised dad. So, irrespective of the risk to students (which is not high but I would not characterize it as low either), there are additionally risks to students' families and faculty.
Welp, students in my classes wearing their masks is a big part of how I'm still able to see my dad and not kill him.
> Instead, everyone has to wear some kind of cloth mask to show that "wearing is caring".
Because it's one of the most effective measures we have. Research (both observational and based on aerosol modeling) implies that surgical/cloth masks and getting windows open each reduces risk of infection about 4-5x, and they stack on top of each other for a ~20x total reduction. That's enough, with vaccination, to make me comfortable seeing my dad (masked).
> The risk to children is absurdly low.
About 70k kids hospitalized in the US so far-- so that's not absurdly low. And, again, the risk to children's families and faculty (and faculty families) counts too.
Rachel says, "research shows we downplay long-term effects of Covid on children" https://twitter.com/math_rachel/status/1454242957259800578 https://twitter.com/jeremyphoward/status/1420981223535517696
My personal belief is that COVID-19 and influenza are probably similar in children. But even that is more risk than people generally realize: a whole lot of permanent impact happens from influenza in children, but we just accept it and shrug it off as inevitable.
And, of course, while the average risk to kids may be moderate, there's also the much higher risk of cases communicated by children to their family, faculty, and the community at large.
Yes, the risk to kids is low, but they are unvaccinated so outbreaks can and do happen. Substitutes are hard to get right now in most school districts and if you have an outbreak and even 5 percent of the teachers are home sick it is a very real possibility there won’t be a substitute to cover. In my local school district principals and administrators are covering classrooms for sick teachers because there are not enough subs. Teachers would traditionally just go to school sick, because they don’t get much sick time and even if they are sick they have to write a lesson plan for the sub, but now what do you do? Do you go to school even though you have a cold that could be covid? Do you write sub plans for a sub that might not be there?
Bus drivers are also opting out because many are elderly and at high risk and the pay sucks so the risk reward isn’t there even if they are vaccinated. Same with lunch ladies, janitors, you name it. There is a staffing crisis in education right now. Teachers are burned out and those that can retire are at a higher rate than before. It is a mess.
So no, children, even unvaccinated, aren’t likely to have complications from Covid, but wearing masks in schools might help just enough to keep schools open and operating.
> wearing masks in schools might help just enough to keep schools open and operating
I think those are great points and I often try to look at it from the perspective of my child's teacher, not to mention the regulatory nightmares the administration goes through. I am friends and family with many public school teachers. I also think that's the point of the article though. It's hard to get a sub because teachers are quitting, not because of being out sick.
And, anecdote: I'm at a school with windows open & masking. We have a fair amount of mandated testing, and there's been no transmission at school detected despite several primary cases. Compare to other schools with a lot of transmission detected.
I don't financially need to work. I find teaching rewarding, but I'm not willing to kill my dad for it, kthx. I'm glad to be at a school which is making a reasonable compromise in this area.
Re: risk, I think that is a completely reasonable position for you to take. I also think it is reasonable for parents to prefer an environment that they feel is optimized for their kids needs.
[1] https://www.sfusd.edu/covid-19-response-updates-and-resource...
That just says those supplies will be available. They're available at my workplace, too.
This is the one thing that we've de-emphasized this year:
> Staff will clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces like door handles, desks, countertops, phones, keyboards, light switches, handles, toilets and faucets at least once daily.
OTOH, I do run a lab and now wipe down the frequently used tools a couple of times per day. It may or may not make a difference for COVID, but it probably will reduce the transmission of stomach bugs and influenza.