<
https://truthout.org/articles/back-to-normal-pandemic-policies-are-harming-those-most-in-need-of-protection/>
"When epidemiologist and parent Rebecca Fielding-Miller heard that California
was going to allow asymptomatic, COVID-19-positive students to attend school
without quarantining, she was stunned.
Under California’s new policy, students (and school workers) can return to the
classroom “as long as they are asymptomatic and are improving” and have been
free of fever for 24 hours without medication. The previously required five-day
quarantine after testing positive, followed by 10 days of masking when in
public spaces, is no longer in effect. The policy mirrors a similar plan
implemented by the Oregon Department of Education in May 2023.
These changes, officials argue, support COVID-19’s transition from a public
health emergency to an endemic public health concern, putting it in the same
category as bronchitis, flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rhinovirus and
the common cold.
Unsurprisingly, reaction to the change has been mixed. Some parents, for
example, saw the previous requirement to keep a seemingly healthy, asymptomatic
child at home burdensome, forcing them to take time off from work or scramble
to arrange child care. But others, including Fielding-Miller, see the change as
risky since adequate mechanisms to protect public health are rarely in place in
either schools or work sites.
“The science is clear about the importance of ventilation and cleaning the
air,” Fielding-Miller, a professor at California’s Herbert Wertheim School of
Public Health and Human Longevity Science, told
Truthout. “Administrators
need to make sure that there is enough ventilation in every classroom to keep
everyone healthy.”"
Via Violet Blue’s
Pandemic Roundup: February 15, 2024
https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-roundup-98518046
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
