nightowl1975
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- Jul 17, 2016
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I am going to hazard a guess on a very affluent area, with high SES and low minority population. Covid is affecting our working class population very hard. They can't telework, and are usually in jobs with little to no social distancing.
The issue with the school system here, is that if they cut middle and elementary school, the kids have to go somewhere..sure, many middle school kids can stay home alone. But it gets more complicated when they are younger.
Our school district encompasses a large area that is extremely diverse. My particular immediate surroundings would be considered middle to upper-middle class with just over 25% identifying as a minority that is known to be disproportionately affected by Covid.
I work in healthcare, long term care to be specific, which has in general been all over MSM across the country due to massive outbreaks in the setting with an unbelievable number of elderly deaths. (Knock LOUDLY on wood...) But we have been incredibly fortunate thus far with only very sporadic, isolated cases in my facility among staff and residents. We have had no deaths, nor have we had anyone (staff or residents) sick enough to warrant hospitalization. However, our numbers are very, very low, so this isn’t altogether surprising.
I know of another facility that had zero cases among staff or residents for the first 7.5 months since our first positive in this city. Mind you, we universally test 1-2 times per week depending on the current positivity rate. They went from 0 cases in 7.5+ months to 20+ positive staff and 30+ positive residents in less than 7 days. I’ve seen this phenomenon multiple times. It’s fine until it’s not... I’ve often wondered/worried that our schools might face a similar situation. So far, that hasn’t been the case, but I do watch for this carefully when deciding how to proceed with my own children.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a choice when it comes to myself. I’m on the frontlines for any positive cases due to the nature of my job. We do have adequate PPE, and we have access to a great deal more PPE with any confirmed positive case. All staff have worn N95’s at all times while at work since early June, regardless of if there’s a positive or not (actually, we’ve only had a single positive at a time, three separate times, during the last 6 months). I’m a firm believer that our choice of continuing to use N95’s vs going back to a less protective mask has been the biggest reason we haven’t seen widespread outbreaks even when a staff member does test positive (we’ve had less than 10 total staff test positive over the entire pandemic).
Anyhow, I’m rambling. Personally, from what I’ve seen, schools being open aren’t a huge issue. It’s what people are doing outside of school that’s the problem. Most in my area appear to behave as if nothing is wrong. It’s only when you go inside healthcare facilities that things are clearly not normal.