July-Covid Politics

[starbuck]

I'm tired and bitter today, y'all.

[elle]

So fucking sad. It didn't have to be this way..

[willow]

Today was the first day we sent my oldest to pre-k with their new updated mask guidelines (encouraged but not required for ages 3+) and I was very worried that peer pressure would make him not want to wear his mask anymore. I checked the app on my phone and the photos show that about 5 kids (including him) in his class of 12 were still masked. So not quite 50%. It is disheartening but I guess not surprising. I thought maybe living where I do would mean all parents would send the kids without masks. It is not lost on me that my son is the ONLY white kid with a mask. The other kids with masks are POC. Why are white people the way we are?

I know the risks are low and my area is doing well even with an increase due to Delta. I still just worry for him, and for him bringing it home to his brothers. And I'm freaking out inside about school in September now that it looks more and more likely that it might be up to individual districts to decide what to do.

[doublestuf]

Our state just announced that masks will be optional for vaccinated staff and students at high schools but that everyone is middle and elementary schools has to continue wearing them.

I'm nervous for H (who will continue masking), but feel like that's about as good I could hope for.

[klw]

elle that is heart breaking. 💔

[klw]

Jul 21, 2021 7:10:21 GMT -6 blurnette989 said:

Jul 20, 2021 20:02:10 GMT -6 doublestuf said:

She wasn't feeling well...swollen lymph nodes and some other symptoms.

Sorry blurnette989, I know it's MOTN there. I hope you're resting well and feeling better! Could be a mono flair-up?

Yeah MH was just telling me it could be aono flair up which is bananas. I didn't realize i could have long mono.

When I was about 20, I was exhausted all of the time. Tests showed that I did not have mono, but I did have Epstein Barr. Most people infected with it don't even know. It can lay dormant and then cause flare ups. For me, I get super swollen lymph nodes and I basically feel like crap. It's like my body is warning me to slow down. I drink extra water and rest and it usually passes fairly quickly.

[athn64]

I'm anxious about our school board meeting tonight. Hopefully at least elementary will keep masks.

[orangebird2020]

willow I hope it all goes well with this change. I imagine that's hard to deal with. Many of us may be in this optional mask school world in the weeks to come.

Our state hasn't made any decisions on masks or other protocols for the next school year, so our school board won't make any decisions until then.

[byjove]

From VA DoH today: Virginia is urging all elementary school students, staff and teachers wear masks indoors this fall — even if they are vaccinated — and that students, staff and teachers in middle and high school wear masks indoors if they are not fully vaccinated.

The state’s departments of health and education published the highly anticipated fall masking guidelines in a news release Wednesday afternoon. The guidance, although “strongly recommended,” is not binding, according to the release. Schools will have the freedom to “implement local mask policies” as determined by district health officials.

Also, state mandates expire July 25, so expect school districts to make statements thereafter.

www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/virginia-schools-masks-fall/2021/07/21/a3d090ee-ea3e-11eb-97a0-a09d10181e36_story.html

non-wapo info, but I'll warn you it is poorly written and a tad confusing

[byjove]

That does make me feel better about Uncaripswife 's and my school district, at least. I'd be shocked if they don't follow the recs for elementary school now that has come out at a high level.

[notblanche]

Jul 21, 2021 13:15:49 GMT -6 byjove said:

That does make me feel better about Uncaripswife 's and my school district, at least. I'd be shocked if they don't follow the recs for elementary school now that has come out at high level.

The guidance is in line with what I've heard over here too. My toddler's OT has a K teacher friend who said masks very likely for elementary but maybe not secondary.

[enchanted]

Jul 21, 2021 11:28:34 GMT -6 starbuck said:

I'm tired and bitter today, y'all.

Me, too.

Not just today, though. I've been there for awhile.

[byjove]

Ugh. We are so far from this being over.

[fancynewbeesly]

And yet our governor was quoted this week he doesn’t recommend masks for the fall in schools. He did say he may change that but right now up to the district and not recommended.

Our democratic governor is up for reelection come November. 🙄🤬

[Deleted]

Man it’s just going to end up acting like the flu isn’t it? We’ll have to stay updated on our shots and hope we don’t get a breakthrough case or that the current vaccine is effective against the current variants. Blah.

[DavidRose]

Jul 21, 2021 14:13:45 GMT -6 fancynewbeesly said:

And yet our governor was quoted this week he doesn’t recommend masks for the fall in schools. He did say he may change that but right now up to the district and not recommended.

Our democratic governor is up for reelection come November. 🙄🤬

I just cannot believe the complete 180 (360? 90? who knows) that he did during this pandemic.

[teraiin]

Jul 21, 2021 13:21:07 GMT -6 byjove said:

Ugh. We are so far from this being over.

I have a friend who lives in Rwanda and works with a foundation that helps teach skills as well as provide supplies to the people living in remote villages there. She posted the current vaccine statistics there and… yikes.

Also the last thing I recall was her saying her area was entered the toughest lockdown to date in attempt to curb a spike

[jkjacq]

Wrong thread

[athn64]

Well, masks are going to be "recommended" at our school district. They are using the CDC guideline word for word. Can't really blame the superintendent, but it's really frustrating. The silver lining is that they are going be offering weekly screenings using the UofI saliva test. And they are saying that if the students are masked, distanced, and screening, if they were to be a "close contact" of someone who tests positive, they wouldn't have to quarantine. Hopefully that will help some parents make the right decision.

I was the only one at the school board meeting tonight advocating that we keep masks, at least in the younger cohorts that are unable to vaccinate yet.

[mrsweasley]

I need to email all our school board members after the BS I got from the superintendent. Honestly the best I can probably hope for is them recommending masks, but it'd be better than their current "looking forward to seeing your smiling faces" messaging 😒

[athn64]

Jul 21, 2021 20:08:15 GMT -6 mrsweasley said:

I need to email all our school board members after the BS I got from the superintendent. Honestly the best I can probably hope for is them recommending masks, but it'd be better than their current "looking forward to seeing your smiling faces" messaging 😒

It's nonsense. My mother is a preK teacher and she's vaccinated. She has a heart condition that makes it hard for her to breathe in masks, yet she wore them wherever it was required, and says that she would still wear it with her class, because those kids should be wearing masks. And her boss's dad died of covid last year. But pretty much every school in our region is using the CDC language/

And parents are very much behind the optional push. One board member said people were calling him and stopping by his house to argue against masking requirements. Holy crossed lines, Batman.

[mrsweasley]

That's insane athn64

My local FB moms group has people screaming that if masks are required they're going to pull their kids out of school because it's child abuse, should be a personal choice, blah blah blah.

Fine, pull your kids out! They're the ones that should be staying home!

[byjove]

WHAT A MESS. White House in talks with CDC to push for masks again.

SCREAMS INTO THE VOID AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-masks-delta-covid/2021/07/21/

Also this quote

During a CNN town hall meeting Wednesday evening, Biden suggested that in the fall, children under age 12 will have to wear masks in school, implying that it was unlikely that a vaccine would be approved for them by then. “The CDC is going to say that what we should do is everyone . . . under the age of 12 should probably be wearing a mask in school,” Biden said. “That’s probably what’s going to happen.

[byjove]

And this quote

CDC officials “always say they want to follow the science, but they did not prepare the public early on to say ‘we are looking at multiple factors, including how science fits in with reality and social science, and how it fits with expected and unexpected changes, especially sudden changes, where we have to turn on a dime to try to protect more people,’ ” Lanard said.

But, she added, the CDC could gain credibility by directly acknowledging to the public the confusion and mixed messaging. Such a message could be: “We have delta. We are going to take a chance of enraging people who are already understandably enraged by our mask advice. … This is a new phase of the pandemic not being under control, but it’s better than the last phase.”

YEAH IT'S A GOD DAMN PROBLEM ALRIGHT.

[byjove]

Kind of feeling like I could use a Santa to punch right about now. My frustration is boiling over.

[addymac]

Im so frustrated and anxious. We’ve been planning a trip to FL to see my dad for his 80th bday. My parents are so excited for DS to go. I am so worried about taking DS on a plane and to Florida with delta. Same for my sisters wedding at the end of September in California. I don’t know what the right answer is and I know I have some time to see how things pan out. I’m even looking at driving to FL - 20hrs! I’m beside myself.

[jaygee]

Something that is running through my head is that back in May I remember the fever pitch over vaccinated people still wearing masks (particularly politicians) and it was like “how do you convince people to get vaccinated if they can’t even ditch their masks” and “there has to be some incentive to getting vaccinated so if you tell people they don’t have to wear masks they will do it”. I MEAN. How about the incentive is the vaccine? What is even the problem with our American mentality that we can’t get the vaccine and also still wear the mask. I hate it.

[addymac]

My hospital sent out an email yesterday saying they’re requiring the vaccine for every employee (barring medical exclusion) the way they require the flu shot.

Im surprised but happy. But we will see what happens. I know I have some CWers that will flip a shit.

[byjove]

addymac, I'm sorry <3 things were so different at the beginning of the summer. It's really frustrating.

[jkjacq]

Jul 22, 2021 8:12:00 GMT -6 addymac said:

My hospital sent out an email yesterday saying they’re requiring the vaccine for every employee (barring medical exclusion) the way they require the flu shot.

Im surprised but happy. But we will see what happens. I know I have some CWers that will flip a shit.

We ended up with protests and news stories here, along with the LT Gov requesting information from the 3 systems asking if they are getting federal $$ for vaxing all employees. 

so good luck.