Fogbow

Anecdotal but whatever. As you know my son and his wife are teachers. Their 2 yo son was asked to quarantine by his preschool cuz his teacher tested positive last week. My DIL's Mom didn't want to watch the grandson cuz she couldn't afford to miss work. Mrs. Reeve didn't want to watch him cuz she didn't want to risk infecting me (Mrs. Reeve is 3x vaxxed and has recently had COVID so isn't worried about herself much). Teacher DIL took the week off to stay with her son which means she isn't teaching kids and I doubt (but don't know) that they found a substitute for her. Grandson has a fever but tested negative today but DIL is worried that she didn't get enough sample for a good test (he is 2 and fucking hates getting the swab up his nose and wiggles all over the place). She is out of home tests so Mrs. Reeve will bring her some from our stash tomorrow and hold the grandson down while DIL shoves a swab up his nose. Son still teaching this week but isolating from his wife and kid (he is 3x vaxxed and also had Covid). Life kinda sux for them.

As someone who’s never tested…how far up the nose does the swab have to go?

pipistrelle wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 10:03 pm As someone who’s never tested…how far up the nose does the swab have to go?

Not so far - maybe 1/2 to 3/4 inch. Not like the brain swabs but a 2 yo does not like it.

scirreeve wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 10:11 pm

pipistrelle wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 10:03 pm As someone who’s never tested…how far up the nose does the swab have to go?

Not so far - maybe 1/2 to 3/4 inch. Not like the brain swabs but a 2 yo does not like it.

What are the brain swabs?

I looked at the CDC instructions after asking. Not as bad as I thought. For an adult.

What about those saliva swabs they use now for pcr test? not approved for toddlers?

I observe those posts that mention states or districts not ordering remote school. They are waiting until teachers drop out ill? Cause then teachers cannot possible teach the kids.

RTH10260 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 10:18 pm What about those saliva swabs they use now for pcr test? not approved for toddlers?

Not sure but I am not aware of saliva tests available here in stores. Might have to check it out more.

scirreeve wrote: ↑Wed Jan 12, 2022 12:27 am

RTH10260 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 10:18 pm What about those saliva swabs they use now for pcr test? not approved for toddlers?

Not sure but I am not aware of saliva tests available here in stores. Might have to check it out more.

Here in Switzerland only qualified locations may take the swab for the PCR test guaranteeing its properly taken and identifying the (potential) patient.

There are spit tests as well. An acquaintance was tested that way b/c she hated the nasal swab. It's not a free test - cost her about $130. Also, she said it took awhile to collect enough saliva. She went back to the nasal test.

There is a conspiracy thingie about the mouth & nasals tests - the disinfectant will give you cancer. Some naturopaths write letters to employers who mandate the tests, claiming they are violating the Nuremberg Code. I've seen the letters.

sad-cafe wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 6:09 pm We have been back to school for a week- I alone have 30+ kids out due to corona



I teach a total of 126 kids a day

Our daughter had 3 students absent from her class of 19 on Monday. As many school districts all around us are closing hers remains open. Yesterday her district sent out a reminder email about cleaning desks and making students wash their hands but they are not requiring masks.

Substitute teachers are not to be found so administrators, aids and office staff are covering several classes.

Our daughter has had 3 dosses of the Moderna vaccine and wears an KN95 mask all day.

Jim Roberts
@nycjim
·
1m
NYC Mayor Eric Adams rules out remote learning for the next 6 months. https://the74million.org/article/adams- ... -6-months/

Volkonski wrote: ↑Wed Jan 12, 2022 12:42 pm Jim Roberts
@nycjim
·
1m
NYC Mayor Eric Adams rules out remote learning for the next 6 months. https://the74million.org/article/adams- ... -6-months/

That's just foolish, who knows what the next six months hold? But then I lived under Eric Adams as Brooklyn borough president for years, so I'm not surprised he would do something foolish and short sighted.

Also, in sunny AZ...

200 students & 20 staff OUTdue to being sick or exposure YET @GreatHeartsAcad Scottsdale intends to stay open bc “continued education is more important than the current dangers from the pandemic” #WearAMask @Right2SafeAz @TheAngryEpi @NicoleSGrigg @AZEdUnited

French teachers go on strike over handling of pandemic
French teachers expressed anger at the way the French government is handling the virus situation in schools, denouncing confusing rules and calling for more protection in a nationwide strike Thursday

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory ... itter_abcn

Exhausted by the pressures of surging COVID-19 cases, many teachers answered the call by 11 unions to protest virus-linked class disruptions and ever-changing isolation rules.

France is at the epicenter of Europe’s current fight against COVID-19, with new infections topping 360,000 a day this week, driven by the highly contagious omicron variant.

Health Minister Olivier Veran announced on Twitter Thursday that he tested positive for the virus and was self-isolating in order to continue working.

The teachers' strike puts the government of President Emmanuel Macron under additional pressure a week after opposition lawmakers delayed implementation of a key measure that mandates proof of vaccination for entry into restaurants, cultural and sport facilities.

(Not our daughter's district.)

Carrigan Center closed again due to lack of test kits

https://thefogbow.com/forum/posting.php ... eply&t=268

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - WFISD announced Thursday that COVID-19 testing at the Carrigan Center will be closed until further notice due to a lack of testing kits.

The school district has been fighting to stay open during the latest surge in the pandemic, which has seen other districts close down for the rest of the week due to staffing shortages. The Carrigan testing center was offering tests only for symptomatic students and staff, and the effects of the closure remain to be seen.

When the testing center closed in September due to a similar issue, it told the community it would reopen within two weeks after receiving new supplies, and advised students and faculty to reach out to primary care doctors or other community resources for COVID-19 testing in the meantime. In this case, no timeline has been given for when the district might receive more testing kits.

Here's a way to keep schools open - don't report the number of cases!

42 Hawaii public schools have not reported their COVID-19 case counts since before winter break
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2022/01/ ... ter-break/

Forty-two Hawaii public schools as of Tuesday had not posted their COVID-19 case counts to the state Department of Education’s public dashboard since before winter break, even though they are required by state law to do so weekly.

That means many families, educators and community leaders have not had the reliable, publicly accessible case counts for their neighborhood schools that the law was designed to provide.

Some schools had made no coronavirus case reports since as far back as August or September, through the surges of the COVID-19 delta and omicron variants.

Schools with missing case counts included some of Hawaii’s largest schools, such as Mililani High School, and schools in areas with historically high coronavirus case counts, such as Waianae High School.

Our daughter has a student in her class that is the only member of his family who is not positive for Covid.

However, he tests negative so he is allowed to attend school. They've got to keep those attendance numbers up to maximize state funding.

And these aren't small districts either. My local district is transitioning to remote due to staffing shortages. My ZIP code is at a 40.83% positivity rate for the week. It's crazy.

Multiple school districts in Maricopa County have COVID-19 test positivity rates upwards of 30%, county data shows

Volkonski wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 11:10 pm Our daughter has a student in her class that is the only member of his family who is not positive for Covid.

However, he tests negative so he is allowed to attend school. They've got to keep those attendance numbers up to maximize state funding.

WTF!

LM K wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 11:44 pm

Volkonski wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 11:10 pm Our daughter has a student in her class that is the only member of his family who is not positive for Covid.

However, he tests negative so he is allowed to attend school. They've got to keep those attendance numbers up to maximize state funding.

WTF!

Gov. Abbott wants schools open if at all possible. That is why exposed students who test negative are allowed to attend.

Schools that close will continue to get state funding only if they absolutely can't get enough adults (who are able to pass background checks etc.) on campus to operate safely. Schools that remain open get state funding based on a formula based on average daily student attendance. That's the normal way state school funding is doled out.

Teachers confront half-empty classrooms as virus surges

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/tea ... itter_abcn

Teachers around the U.S. are confronting classrooms where as many as half of students are absent because they have been exposed to COVID-19 or their families kept them at home out of concern about the surging coronavirus.

The widespread absences have only added to the difficulty of keeping students on track in yet another pandemic-disrupted school year. In the nation's largest district, attendance has been so low that New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday reversed an earlier pledge to keep children in schools and said he would consider allowing a return to some form of virtual instruction.

“This is really taking a toll on the learning. If you have three kids in your class one day and you’re supposed to have 12, you have to reteach everything two weeks later when those kids come back,” said Tabatha Rosproy, a teacher in Olathe, Kansas, and the 2020 national Teacher of the Year.

Some of the country's biggest school systems report absentee rates around 20% or slightly more, with some individual schools seeing far higher percentages of missing students.

My grandson's school is closed today. My daughter said last week that the principal of the school had assured the parents personally that the school was being super careful and would not close unless circumstances within the school were dire.

PPS is opening and closing on a daily basis for each individual school in the system. I don't know exactly what the criteria are, but it's going to be a long semester.

South of DFW



Mansfield ISD closes ALL campuses due to a spike in COVID-19 cases https://t.co/zIMxbgHGMV

Just east of Dallas.



Jessika Harkay
@JessikaHarkay
·
7m
Mesquite Independent School District joined several other North Texas districts impacted by the growing number of COVID-19 cases.

Not our daughter's school district.

WFISD teachers asked to clean bathrooms because of lack of custodians


https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/n ... 156951002/

As COVID surges again and labor shortages drag on, Wichita Falls ISD teachers, coaches and principals are being asked to do something outside their usual range of duties: clean school restrooms.

The district is hoping to remedy a shortage of school custodians after a recent media blitz for new hires.

“I’m hearing a lot of complaints about teachers and coaches and principals all being asked to clean bathrooms," At-large Trustee Katherine McGregor said during Tuesday's School Board meeting.

McGregor said educators also returned from the winter break to find trash cans weren't emptied.

nice job enrichment plans.

next request will be to fix the heating befor the next cold spell....