"JN.1 is the Most Immune Evading Variant to Date." China is taking steps to protect children in schools. We'll look at the measures they are putting in place.
We have decent ventilation in my district, as at the start of the pandemic our union negotiated ventilation standards (8 exchanges per hour). They checked them often, offered hepa filters for older buildings or those that wanted them. I don't see them checking the ventilation any more, but it's still in our contract, so they continue. I have 2 district provided hepa filters in my classroom, I keep the windows open and my 2 ceiling fans going all year. My aide and I both wear masks, but none of my students do. Besides me, there are only 2 adults who wear masks, and both do this to humor me as neither wear them elsewhere. I'll take what I can get. Despite these precautions, my students are sick constantly, some over and over again. Recently, I'm also noticing a cognitive decline in a few students that is very concerning. It's not just a change in their academic abilities, but a loss of ability to make connections, to critically think, to figure out simple solutions to small problems. I've done Alzheimers care as a former nurse, and that's what it reminds me of. When I share this with my admin and other staff in the building, they point to the lockdown 2 years ago. We're in a liberal school, in a liberal district, in a blue city, in a blue state and the disconnect and gaslighting is still unreal. I don't see a change happening anytime soon and believe we are headed for disaster.
that is frightening. so sad for the kids and for all of us. my husband and i are old and retired so mostly stay home. social distancing into the 4th year now. it's lonely. most of our friends treat Covid like it's a cold. They don't even bother to don masks in the grocery store. Go figure.
That is all bad news but sadly, it is expected. Maybe if you show them the studies in this TACT post. There has been a lot more information put out since writing this so it needs an update but it lists multiple studies showing how COVID impacts the brain. "COVID Brain Infection"
"Appearances can be Deceiving. What we know and what we don't know." "There is no doubt that COVID can infect the brain, cause structural changes, and last for months or longer, even if the first symptoms are mild. This doesn't appear to impact everyone but appearances can be deceiving." https://tactnowinfo.substack.com/p/covid-brain-infection
(1) Do your students stay in your classroom all day or switch from teacher to teacher?
(2) Does it seem like the precautions have helped you and the other adults?
(3) I wonder if the students with cognitive problems might have long COVID? It might be inflammation in the brain that could be easily treated with curcumin or CBD or something. Hopefully it isn't something like alzheimers.
1. They switch between 3 other teachers. 2. I haven't been sick in 4 years so they definitely help. The other adult in my classroom wears a mask at school and has gotten covid twice over the summer due to situations when she didn't wear a mask, but not during the school year. 3. I believe that my students that get sick over and over again have long covid, and I believe that some of my students are experiencing brain fog. One recent student had an eye test and couldn't recognize some letters in the alphabet. They passed the eye test so it wasn't their vision and this student can read. The nurse was very concerned. There are other incidents like that where my assistant and I look at each other. I don't know what it is but it's not normally what I see in students and I've been teaching for well over 20 years.
Hi TACT...So there is something that really struck me when I was looking at one of the tables you presented. Now, I haven't read the paper so maybe I am missing something. Take a look and compare Column E and Column G from the Wisconsin School Study. Column E suggests persistent levels of virus in the schools being measured and yet Column G tends to suggest that RT-PCR is less efficient at picking it up than the air sampling. For example, the peak in RT-PCR occurs on December 18th whereas school absenteeism has been going on for months prior to that peak. The trend looks like it might be starting to get better at the end of the study in January...perhaps the testing labs switched PCR amplification primers which resulted in better detection by that point. The virus may be mutating faster than appropriate primers can be developed to detect it.
Regarding the new XBB booster vaccine, you might find this study of interest if you haven't seen it.
A little over year ago, I rode the bus with my students to our field trip destination, a local park. I wore my n95 mask, and there was a sprinkling of kids also wearing theirs. All windows were partially opened, the bus was full. I opened my window fully. I had my aranet 4 and even with the windows partially open, the air in there was over 1200 ppm, fluctuating just a little bit over the entirety of the ride. This was with warmer weather. I shudder to think what it's like now with winter weather and no masks. I no longer ride the bus on field trips, I take my car.
Thanks for sharing that. 1200ppm, with the windows open, is worse than I thought it would be. We are in a very bad situation, that keeps getting worse. The only positive thing is that now so many more people understand the impact of COVID and other viruses and how they spread. It has been a slow and grueling process to help people to understand that all of these airborne viruses are preventable, or at least significantly reduced, if we make the investments to adequately ventilate and filter the air.
REQUEST: can whoever runs T.A.C.T. (and thank you for what you do!) please provide some info on air filters or other UV systems that we can purchase, for home use, which are able to clean the air -- all of it -- in a room or home space. I'm worried enough to allocate meaningful amounts of precious $ for this purpose. Desperately need guidance on what systems might for for my home.
It can also reduce other indoor air pollutants. 1.Does Using Corsi–Rosenthal Boxes to Mitigate COVID-19 Transmission Also Reduce Indoor Air Concentrations of PFAS and Phthalates? https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.2c05169
Corsi-Rosenthal boxes, or cubes, can be constructed from materials found at hardware stores: four MERV-13 filters, duct tape, a 20-inch box fan and a cardboard box.
We have decent ventilation in my district, as at the start of the pandemic our union negotiated ventilation standards (8 exchanges per hour). They checked them often, offered hepa filters for older buildings or those that wanted them. I don't see them checking the ventilation any more, but it's still in our contract, so they continue. I have 2 district provided hepa filters in my classroom, I keep the windows open and my 2 ceiling fans going all year. My aide and I both wear masks, but none of my students do. Besides me, there are only 2 adults who wear masks, and both do this to humor me as neither wear them elsewhere. I'll take what I can get. Despite these precautions, my students are sick constantly, some over and over again. Recently, I'm also noticing a cognitive decline in a few students that is very concerning. It's not just a change in their academic abilities, but a loss of ability to make connections, to critically think, to figure out simple solutions to small problems. I've done Alzheimers care as a former nurse, and that's what it reminds me of. When I share this with my admin and other staff in the building, they point to the lockdown 2 years ago. We're in a liberal school, in a liberal district, in a blue city, in a blue state and the disconnect and gaslighting is still unreal. I don't see a change happening anytime soon and believe we are headed for disaster.
that is frightening. so sad for the kids and for all of us. my husband and i are old and retired so mostly stay home. social distancing into the 4th year now. it's lonely. most of our friends treat Covid like it's a cold. They don't even bother to don masks in the grocery store. Go figure.
That is all bad news but sadly, it is expected. Maybe if you show them the studies in this TACT post. There has been a lot more information put out since writing this so it needs an update but it lists multiple studies showing how COVID impacts the brain. "COVID Brain Infection"
"Appearances can be Deceiving. What we know and what we don't know." "There is no doubt that COVID can infect the brain, cause structural changes, and last for months or longer, even if the first symptoms are mild. This doesn't appear to impact everyone but appearances can be deceiving." https://tactnowinfo.substack.com/p/covid-brain-infection
A few questions if you care to answer:
(1) Do your students stay in your classroom all day or switch from teacher to teacher?
(2) Does it seem like the precautions have helped you and the other adults?
(3) I wonder if the students with cognitive problems might have long COVID? It might be inflammation in the brain that could be easily treated with curcumin or CBD or something. Hopefully it isn't something like alzheimers.
1. They switch between 3 other teachers. 2. I haven't been sick in 4 years so they definitely help. The other adult in my classroom wears a mask at school and has gotten covid twice over the summer due to situations when she didn't wear a mask, but not during the school year. 3. I believe that my students that get sick over and over again have long covid, and I believe that some of my students are experiencing brain fog. One recent student had an eye test and couldn't recognize some letters in the alphabet. They passed the eye test so it wasn't their vision and this student can read. The nurse was very concerned. There are other incidents like that where my assistant and I look at each other. I don't know what it is but it's not normally what I see in students and I've been teaching for well over 20 years.
Wow.. that is very concerning. Thanks for sharing.
Hi TACT...So there is something that really struck me when I was looking at one of the tables you presented. Now, I haven't read the paper so maybe I am missing something. Take a look and compare Column E and Column G from the Wisconsin School Study. Column E suggests persistent levels of virus in the schools being measured and yet Column G tends to suggest that RT-PCR is less efficient at picking it up than the air sampling. For example, the peak in RT-PCR occurs on December 18th whereas school absenteeism has been going on for months prior to that peak. The trend looks like it might be starting to get better at the end of the study in January...perhaps the testing labs switched PCR amplification primers which resulted in better detection by that point. The virus may be mutating faster than appropriate primers can be developed to detect it.
Regarding the new XBB booster vaccine, you might find this study of interest if you haven't seen it.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.28.569129v1
These summaries are really helpful for me.
On the school transmission, I wonder if school buses have been looked at? Some children have a long ride in the bus, and they are packed pretty tight.
A little over year ago, I rode the bus with my students to our field trip destination, a local park. I wore my n95 mask, and there was a sprinkling of kids also wearing theirs. All windows were partially opened, the bus was full. I opened my window fully. I had my aranet 4 and even with the windows partially open, the air in there was over 1200 ppm, fluctuating just a little bit over the entirety of the ride. This was with warmer weather. I shudder to think what it's like now with winter weather and no masks. I no longer ride the bus on field trips, I take my car.
Thanks for sharing that. 1200ppm, with the windows open, is worse than I thought it would be. We are in a very bad situation, that keeps getting worse. The only positive thing is that now so many more people understand the impact of COVID and other viruses and how they spread. It has been a slow and grueling process to help people to understand that all of these airborne viruses are preventable, or at least significantly reduced, if we make the investments to adequately ventilate and filter the air.
REQUEST: can whoever runs T.A.C.T. (and thank you for what you do!) please provide some info on air filters or other UV systems that we can purchase, for home use, which are able to clean the air -- all of it -- in a room or home space. I'm worried enough to allocate meaningful amounts of precious $ for this purpose. Desperately need guidance on what systems might for for my home.
The least expensive yet effective air filter is to build a corsi-rosenthal box yourself or maybe with some help if needed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsi%E2%80%93Rosenthal_Box
It can also reduce other indoor air pollutants. 1.Does Using Corsi–Rosenthal Boxes to Mitigate COVID-19 Transmission Also Reduce Indoor Air Concentrations of PFAS and Phthalates? https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.2c05169
Corsi-Rosenthal boxes, or cubes, can be constructed from materials found at hardware stores: four MERV-13 filters, duct tape, a 20-inch box fan and a cardboard box.
UC Davis College of Engineering- How to build a Corsi-Rosenthal Box on YouTube https://youtu.be/hIuH-2naozI?si=68XWtvQm9mMNCNNT
Here are somethings I bookmarked from a few weeks ago (I am just a reader like you though):
https://tactnowinfo.substack.com/p/strategies-to-avoid-covid-and-other
https://engineering.ucdavis.edu/news/science-action-how-build-corsi-rosenthal-box