33 Cases in Ontario today? I am humbled and so grateful. It's the masks and the physical distancing and being outside when we socialize. We have come so close to whipping this thing. So close......
"Canada performed well during the COVID crisis because of our social contract, the bonds of community, the trust for each other and our institutions, our health care system in particular, with hospitals that cater to the medical needs of the collective, not the individual, and certainly not the private investor who views every hospital bed as if a rental property. The measure of wealth in a civilized nation is not the currency accumulated by the lucky few, but rather the strength and resonance of social relations and the bonds of reciprocity that connect all people in common purpose." The Unraveling of America by Anthropologist Wade Davis
But I dread the fall and winter. I dread the return to school without the proper public health guidelines in place.
WE MUST REDUCE CLASS SIZES. I can imagine what a tough decision this must be for our provincial government. I CAN'T imagine how they must have wrestled with all the facts, the pros and the cons to come up with a back to school plan. What they are trying to do, the balancing act, tight rope walking, stressing, negotiating? I am glad it is not me. I am grateful for the work they have done up until now to keep us on the right track. Their leadership and our collective response is why there were only 33 new cases today, why we are so close to smashing COVID 19.
But, WE MUST REDUCE CLASS SIZES in some way in order to prevent this good work from unravelling by October.
In Canada, there have been 9500 cases of COVID 19 which is 8.2 % of the total infections. Twenty-six of them ended up in the ICU and one died. That is not nothing.
In Israel, hundreds of schools were shut down when the new cases of COVID 19 increased after a return to school. In the US, 97,000 kids have been infected with COVID 19 during the last 2 weeks of July in part because of schools re-opening and a president who pushed for a too early return. That man has caused a significant and shameful loss of life. Thousands have been sent into quarantine. Canada will not suffer the same fate even if we send our kids back to school under the present guidelines. Our incidence of infection is so low that a return is so much safer. But can we risk a return if not all of the public health guidelines that we all have adhered to so well, are not in place in our schools?
Denmark and Finland sent their kids back to school and both countries have not seen an increase in spread of COVID -19. Why? Because they split their class sizes in two.
"Once the decision on which schools to reopen first is made, a clear plan must first and foremost prioritize the health and safety of students, educators, and families. In both countries, a number of public health measures were put in place. Among these, schools prohibited the usual morning meetings held in classes at the beginning of the school day, forbade food sharing, and introduced new preventative practices like staggered student arrivals and much more frequent cleaning and hand-washing practices throughout the day. In Denmark, where average class sizes were around 20 students prior to COVID-19, classes were divided into two to three smaller groups and, whenever possible, held outside."
We must do this too. I am a physician, not an educator. But, at this point in time, all professions that care for kids and all the parents who love their kids need to stand together and insist on a safe return to school.
BC is delaying their return to school to give teachers time to learn the CDC guidelines around COVID 19 prevention and to make sure they get this right. We must advocate to delay a premature return in this province too.
More on my thoughts on COVID 19 and how to survive the winter months in an upcoming post.
I would like to clarify a couple of things. There is proof from countries that are now in winter ( in the southern hemisphere) that mask wearing has not only curtailed the spread of COVID 19 but also the spread of colds and flus with some countries seeing a 75 % reduction in flu infection rates. This means that if kids wear masks at school, regardless of whether physical distancing is possible, we will not see the usual onslaught of colds and flus this fall. That is good news. Your child is less likely to develops signs and symptoms that are cold/flu related, which reduces the frequency at which you will have to decide to whether or not to keep a child home from school. If your symptomatic child is sent home with symptoms, a COVID 19 test is recommended but will not be enforced. A two week quarantine from school without a negative COVID 19 test will be enforced. I would opt for the testing but no one can be forced into a test.
Such tough times folks. My heart aches for our teachers and parents who are stuck in this mess.
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