So much to unpack. This may take a few posts.

KIDS AND A RETURN TO SCHOOL So much to unpack. This may take a few posts. First and foremost, the Omicron wave will end and much sooner than you think. Admissions to hospitals are already starting to slow and Dr. Peter Juni, the scientific director of Ontario's Science Advisory Table, believes admissions will peak next week which may mark the peak of the Omicron wave. What does 'the peak' mean? It means the decline to the trough is coming and when it does, we will open up again and I believe that COVID-19 will begin it's descent to an endemic disease. Don't quote me on that but it all just makes sense. Schools should open on Monday. Get angry if you need to but please be polite in your comments. Anger usually comes from fear and make no mistake, we are all living with a whole new level of fear that no one has ever experienced before. But we can manage it. We are managing it. We will get there. Respect and kindness are healing to those to whom they are given. Let's unpack all the confusing information out there. Many of us use Ontario's Science Advisory Table as our go to for scientific, trustworthy, accurate and unbiased information. The people in this group are science superstars. I am summarizing information from this pdf released on Jan 12/22 entitled, 'Ontario Returns to School: An Overview of the Science'. You can stop reading this post and just read the pdf if you'd like. It is SPOT ON. For those of us who have been trying to find and follow the science, don't stop now. Teachers, school staff, students, parents.....don't stop now, keep following the science. https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Ontario-Returns-to-School-An-Overview-of-the-Science_20220112-1.pdf 1/ Evidence shows that school closures are associated with substantial mental health and educational harms. 2/ Evidence suggests Ontarians aged 5-19 years appear to be at low risk of hospitalization and severe disease from Omicron. THIS RISK IS FURTHER REDUCED BY VACCINATION. I have seen this with my own eyes in the last two weeks. Kids with no symptoms or mild cold symptoms. No one seriously ill. And with two vaccines, kids and their parents who are surprised they tested positive. They are so well. 3/ Evidence suggests that closures of schools has a very small effect on reducing the spread of COVID-19 compared to other health measures like VACCINATION, good air filtration, masking with good quality masks, co-horting, testing and staying home when you are sick. These measures need to be the top priority as we open schools and it would appear that the Minister of Education has made it his top priority. God bless the educators and administrators who are now working day and night this week and this weekend to put these measures in place. 4/ School closures are associated with educational and social challenges for children and families. A good review of this is in the document. 5/ School closures are associated with serious risks for children. This is so important for those who are trying to decide whether or not to send your child back to school. The risks of continuing online learning now far outweigh the risks of COVID-19. THE RISKS OF KEEPING OUR CHILDREN OUT OF SCHOOL NOW FAR OUTWEIGHS THE RISK OF COVID-19. The proportion of children with clinically significant symptoms of depression and/or anxiety have tripled during the COVID-19 pandemic to 1 in 4 for depression and 1 in 5 for anxiety. As a physician who treats some of these kids, writing a prescription for anti-depressants for a 13 year old is heartbreaking. Fielding hundreds of calls a month from distressed parents and young people is distressing. I worry about this generation. So. What ARE the risks associated with sending my child back to school? Ontarians ages 5-19 are the LEAST likely to have serious disease with Omicron. Please study the graph on page 2 of this document: https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Ontario-Returns-to-School-An-Overview-of-the-Science_20220112-1.pdf THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF INFORMATION THAT PARENTS NEED! Look at that graph. It is recent, dated Jan 10/22. That's approximately 1/100,000 cases of COVID-19 in this age group end up requiring hospitalization ( similar stats in other countries). Let's put that into even greater perspective: In Ontario, since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 9 deaths reported in people under the age of 19, most of these people had underlying, serious health conditions and most before vaccinations were available. In Canada, there have been 23 deaths in people under 19 since the beginning of the pandemic and again most were unvaccinated and had underlying health conditions. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1228632/number-covid-deaths-canada-by-age/ I am not minimizing the deaths of these kids or the unfathomable pain and anguish their families now live with. God bless you. I am stating cold, hard facts but believe me, I am an empathic person who struggles with the pain of others Two vaccines reduces the risk of serious illness requiring hospitalization by 70 %. So, to summarize, the risk of people under the age of 19 developing serious illness requiring hospitalization is extremely low. The risk of death from infection is even lower and vaccines make these risks infinitesimally low (page 7 in this link). https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/ncov/epi/covid-19-daily-epi-summary-report.pdf?la=en&sc_lang=en&hash=6 There are 2 million school-aged children in Ontario. If one in four are now depressed, that's half a million kids. If one in five now suffer from anxiety, that's 400,000 kids. One in 100,000 kids ( mostly unvaccinated) end up in hospital with COVID-19, that's 20 kids out of 2 million. Again, I am not minimizing the suffering here. Cold, hard facts.... There is no longer an option of returning to school with no risks to your child but understand the risks. And remember the layers of protection the powers that be are putting into place which are not factored into any of the above numbers: masking, testing, co-horting, vaccinations, staying home when you are sick. Please review the key messages on page 10 of the Science Advisory Return to School Document. Very important. And finally this: Public health measures will mitigate Omicron transmission in schools; a number of these measures are underway or implemented- page 9 of the document. Your community leaders are focused on these measures. The risk is there. The risk is extremely low. We can and will mitigate that risk. Let's get these kids back to school and start putting Omicron and the educational, emotional and economic consequences of COVID-19 in our rearview mirror. Anne-Marie Please share. Feeling pretty hopeful after writing this. Thank you to all the teachers, school staff, school boards, all of our community leaders. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you public health and all of the healthcare teams who keep on going. You are all marvellous! Get your child vaccinated. It truly and dramatically reduces the risk and these vaccines are safe. No serious adverse events in 8.1 million vaccinated kids in the USA. For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here: https://braceletofhope.blogspot.com/ For mental health support here: https://familyserviceguelph.on.ca/ For local assistance with anxiety and depression: www.here4help.ca CMHA WW Website: www.cmhaww.ca Here 24/7 at 1-844-HERE-247 or www.here247.ca. And for post-secondary students, Good2Talk https://good2talk.ca/