Students and COVID-19: Important Clarifications
Information from the County of Humboldt’s Public Health for medical personnel about COVID-19 and in person school:
Dear Healthcare Providers:
Some Humboldt County schools are beginning on-site instruction this year. In order to reduce transmission in the school setting, parents are required to screen their child for illness prior to allowing them to come to school each day. Additionally, schools are being asked to screen students for illness and send ill students home immediately.
To avoid quarantining entire classrooms, it will be critically important to quickly distinguish COVID-19 from other common childhood illnesses. To that end, we are asking parents to contact their child’s healthcare provider for evaluation and possible testing for COVID-19, if they are experiencing symptoms consistent with this infection. If the child does not have a healthcare provider, parents are instructed to contact Public Health through our Joint Information Center (441-5000) to assist with obtaining evaluation and testing as indicated.
A child who is seen and has an alternate diagnosis made, may return to school per normal school guidance for various infections such as strep or conjunctivitis. If there is no clear alternate diagnosis, children should be tested for COVID-19. Please bear in mind that during flu season, co-infection is a possibility contingent upon increased disease prevalence, and testing for COVID-19 should be considered despite a plausible alternate diagnosis.
Testing:
• In symptomatic children, a rapid point of care test done in the office setting, is acceptable for ruling out COVID-19. Use of rapid tests in not recommended for asymptomatic individuals.
• Alternatively, a specimen may be collected and sent to the Humboldt County Public Health Lab for testing as is currently done. Please note on the requisition that this is a student sample.
• Unless there is compromised testing availability locally or the commercial lab you use is providing dependable, rapid turnaround time, please do not send these specimens outside the county for testing.
Management Post-testing:
• Children awaiting test results must be isolated at home until results are available.
• Children with negative test result may generally return to school when they have been afebrile for at least 24 hours and symptoms have improved however, illness-specific guidance should be followed for return to school.
• Children with COVID-19 will be required to isolate at home for at least 10 days after onset of symptoms and 24 hours post fever and have demonstrated a clear improvement in symptoms. They may then return to school. Siblings and other household contacts will be required to quarantine for the duration of the child’s infectious period plus an additional 14 days after the child has been cleared to return to school.
Should you have adult patients or non-school-aged children test positive for COVID-19 in your office, please advise parents regarding isolation and quarantine for all household members. It is important that children in these households are not sent to school if a household member is ill with COVID-19 until cleared to do so.Please contact Public Health at 268-2182 with questions. We truly appreciate your assistance with managing care for children in on-site education and for our entire community during this pandemic.
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🕯🌳It’s all about money not about the children’s emotional wellbeing.
Yep, these schools dont care about the welfare of their students. It’s all about the money. School boards should be ashamed.
Agree 100% luckily most of our schools have chosen distance-learning and a few other smaller schools in rural places contact tracing will probably be a lot easier than a big school in Eureka or Arcata where there’s a thousand students. I just wish people would realize the schools are not an isolated island where if an outbreak happens there it won’t affect the rest of the community. All those kids have parents who live in work in the community and possibly with vulnerable populations.
And how are parents to work in the community if there is no one to care for their children? Either someone will be out of work if there is no care or the child will be exposed to private care situations anyway. Of course schools are not “islands” but having no schools does not mean there will be no exposure. Children will either be isolated for a year or two if rigorous done or they will be exposed anyway.
I know it’s definitely a dilemma that’s why our government needs to step in and offer financial relief and support to people.
You do know that the government exists because we pay for it. When we can no longer pay for the government it must borrow. Who does it borrow from? Future generations pay for us, plus interest, and only if people have faith in the solvency of the almighty dollar. How many trillions of debt does the US need to bury future generations in before people lose faith in fiat Federal Reserve Notes?
That ship has sailed long ago. Deficit rises more under elephants than donkeys. You are tilting at windmills.
It’s debt that’s the concern. Deficits are just drops in the bucket.
Oops. Wrong word. Same point.
Not really. FDR(D) and Woodrow Wilson(D) easily increased the debt more than any other prez: 1048% and 727% respectively.
Total dollar amount was Obama(D) at $8.6 trillion and a 74% increase.
George W.(R) added $5.85 trillion and a 101% increase.
It looks like Trump(R) is going to add $5 trillion which adds 25% to the debt. (This term)
https://www.thebalance.com/us-debt-by-president-by-dollar-and-percent-3306296
https://www.thebalance.com/trump-plans-to-reduce-national-debt-4114401
The last President to reduce the debt was Truman.
Your right at least when the debt that Trump’s adding hand over fist to do just what Mama thinks is the solution to economic crisis created by government enforcing stay-at-home orders. What happens is that Democrats are good at setting up programs, especially social programs, increasing future mandated spending but are also not adverse to raising taxes some- not enough to offset the spending though. Then the horror of increased taxes pushes the Republicans into power because they promise to limit taxes. Unfortunately to do that in reality, they have to -gasp- reduce spending by cutting spending. And there are always people to object to that. In the end taxes get trimmed but not the spending so deficits increase under Republicans. The real pinch come when it is seen that discretionary spending- the things that cope with emergencies like this pandemic- are no longer available because the mandated spending is taking up 3/4ths of the budget, leaving little for anything else.
In other words, Democrats tie up more and more government money forever into the future without arranging for it to be paid while Republicans can’t manage to cut any if it but instead try to reduce the pain of paying previous commitments. The Democrats created most mandatory spending. The Republicans of course want to spend for their own goals but find that the public doesn’t have the will power to cut programs so all that gets cut is taxes while every emergency is met by charging it to the future. We have become a credit card indebted country. Trump couldn’t do anything about it if he wanted, which I think does not concern him at all. Where as the Democrats’ rhetoric is all about creating more perpetual debt.
Maybe someone should have thought about that before passing a trillion dollar giveaway to the 1%!
You’re right. No tax dollars should be handed out to any special intrest groups… like the $1200 that cost every taxpayer $8k.
Supported by Asses and Elephants.
People with agendas say things like that all the time but usually are pretty fuzzy on the details. What specifically were the “1%” given?
“And how are parents to work in the community if there is no one to care for their children? ”
So are you saying that school is just a glorified babysitting service?
I never said nor implied that. But that would be the spin put on any mention of reality by those who believe that there is a magic government money tree and details of actually paying for what they use are an unnecessary drag on their world vision.
Your probably the type of person that would just give a kid another pill to deal with their emotions. Drugs are the answer, take another pill. Big pharma loves you.
I wish people would just focus on the COVID-19 and its affects on people. Seems like people on the comments come on here to push their political agendas that really have nothing to do with the Covid.
You can say whatever you want but I try to come on here and be a neutral person just concerned for the health and safety of our kids, our elders and our community.
I just don’t understand why public health and the greater good has become so politicized. It’s because we are putting profits over people and our government has failed to step up and provide the relief we need. We have money for the prisons, a border wall, and the military industrial complex but not for own people it’s a shame.
I just wish all these people would realize that there’s many leaders in the world who don’t care about us. They know how bad the Covid is but they are more worried about the economy. A sick and dying population is a lot easier to control. I just worry for the long term health of the people who do survive but most people aren’t and I think they are short sighted and foolish. When did people stop caring about their health and wellness and other human beings?
I’m being kind of a hypocrite right now getting political on here but I feel that I am just stating facts. But everyone’s version of the truth comes from their perspective I suppose.
Yes. As in “an afraid population is easier to control.” A sick population is not.
“The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum—even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there’s free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate.“ -Noam Chomsky
Claiming you don’t want to talk politics and then quoting Chomsky. Rich.
As in manufacturing consent? -Noam Chomsky
So stop fearing science.
Be free to learn.
“Science” is not a magic word to curse those you do not like. Unless of course you believe it is- that would be really weird. You might try some context rather than insult.
Maybe you don’t read Swine comments.
Maybe you do and don’t remember.
But if you’re interested in context and confused by my comment, read Swine’s comments over the last 3 weeks.
Just try to get an article published that doesn’t conform to group think….Then lets talk about science. It’s just another club.
And you ain’t in it.
Like randall carlson. A genius man but the club limits his exposure because je puts a wrench in what science club thought has happened..
Focusing just on the disease IS the problem with most of the decisions being made in this pandemic. You’re right about the best protection from infectious disease is total social isolation. But the attempt to achieve that creates to many other problems and fears, leading to long lasting damage. There would be a sizable percentage of children who, besides having poor learning from inexperienced or ineffective parents while the isolation goes on, would suffer longer problems of fear of change and not learning to cope with groups and competition. If short less than three month long routine summer breaks set back a child’s learning, needed teachers to work to reset their focus each fall, what will a break of a year or more do? Some children would have great difficulty in overcoming fears or stresses created by going back congregate learning and might never be thoroughly comfortable in groups again. Setting and keeping a pattern learning in cooperation is important and is worth some risk in exposure. Either schools are important or they are not but consistency in either way is what allows a child to figure out how to adapt.
You make some very valid points and I would be more in support for the schools reopening if we didn’t have a rising case count locally, if we had effective testing and contact tracing, and we had a community taking the gravity of the situation more seriously, but we don’t.
We can’t just move forward with reckless abandon when we don’t have the infrastructure to test and isolate people in a timely manner. And there’s no repercussions for people who don’t take this seriously and don’t quarantine even if they’ve been exposed or are sick.
Then, if you believe that schools have value, you should be insisting on that happening. There are many ways to make it possible but quarantining is not one of them. In fact constant social distancing just extends the length of the pandemic danger without a solution and, if you don’t want to be saying the same thing two years from now only with more desperation, then not insisting on it is the only way forward. There’s been way too much insisting on avoiding rather coping already. It is a waste of time be having an angry debate about having or not having school. It should be a discussion on how to do it with the most safety.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/covid-19-school-infection-prevention-1.5681326
How does any part of the above press release suggest anything to do with money?
Lol agree it’s a little off topic but at the same time, all the decisions by our government both locally and nationally that have been made since the beginning of this pandemic are about money.
🕯🌳Because the underlying story is the money if you come to Fortuna. The middle school will open August 31 to distance learning and be reevaluated in October, the High School staff is more or less about the money. I agree that the students need some kind of socializing but if there’s an outbreak then contact tracing alone will be an issue.
Teachers and staff get paid whether they are in or out, you make no sense Willie, FUHS went back because that is what the kids wanted otherwise they wouldn’t be there, this is America, the land of the free. If you don’t agree with freedom then you are not American .
Well… he has the freedom to not be free. He doesn’t have the freedom to deny others their freedom.
You never explained the part where it’s about $.
🕯🌳They don’t get paid if there not working. Plus the parents were in a disparate need of a break and what better why to make it look like your doing something for your child by saying it’s all there mental health or socialization when its actually for there own peace of mind. If you don’t live here and haven’t talked or socialized with the parents then you have no clue.
I am a parent, and I advised my kid to distance learn, and the first day of school my kid did distance learning with me by their side. If you haven’t sat through a distance learning class then you have no right to speak. My child begged to go back to school and was hard for me to argue with bad sound quality and stop and go streeming. Now what Willie? I’m always open for rational ideas. What you got ?
As a teacher and former homeschool parent, I’d say what you do depends on your kid’s age. But make sure the basics are taken care of: pick out books that your kid might enjoy, get two copies, you read one, they the other then have your own book club. A lot of computer resources are available for different books for those who are tentative about teaching literature and how to analyze it. Have them write five days a week (very rough rule of thumb is one sentence for every grade level probably more at higher levels but it depends on your kid). Assign essays, show them their errors (the edit process), and insist on them correcting and “publishing”–to family or in a blog online. Google Docs shared with you is a great way to see if your kid is working on that essay if you are online.
Khan Academy is an amazing resource for working through math levels and science. If possible have your kid work near you so you can gently prod them forward. Watch history documentaries and assign essays based on that. Insist your kid learn correct typing. Mavis Beacon is the best I know. Set up a schedule and stick to it.
Though this isn’t a perfect school year, you will be amazed at how if you pay attention to your kid, they will make strides even beyond what they would have in a public school with 30 bored kids in a classrooms. Your kid might thank you in the end.
My question was , how do I make a valid argument to do distance learning if your kid wants to go to school? Thanks for the home school pointers.
Ah, that’s much harder. You know your kid much better than I do. But when my 18-year-old’s friends were having a graduation party in violation of SIP orders and he longed to go, I just reminded him that while he would probably be fine if he caught COVID-19, his grandparents–who we care for—would not.
Top reasons I loved homeschooling (distance learning):
More time for your kid to pursue his own interests outside of school.
More control over what he studies.
Ability to sleep in (this is a favorite!)
Of course they are paid. https://www.chalkbeat.org/2020/3/17/21196037/teachers-are-getting-paid-even-as-the-country-s-largest-districts-shut-down-substitutes-not-necessar
California faces $54B budget deficit
By KEVIN YAMAMURA
05/07/2020 11:02 AM EDT
SACRAMENTO — California faces a $54.3 billion deficit as the coronavirus pandemic hammers the economy, the state’s worst budget gap since the Great Recession, state finance officials said Thursday.
The shortfall is almost 37 percent of the current $147.8 billion general fund budget and foretells widespread program cuts absent a federal bailout. K-12 schools and community colleges stand to lose $18 billion alone and are clamoring for money to adapt campuses to a new social distancing reality.
https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/05/07/california-faces-54b-budget-deficit-1282926
Which state has the highest state and local debt?
https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/compare_state_debt
Fyi – afebrile means ‘without fever’
I think the whole self monitoring for symptoms thing is a joke when we know people can be asymptomatic and spread the virus. Obviously it’s important because it will keep people who are very ill and having symptoms home hopefully, but I don’t think it’s 100% effective.
Nothing is 100%. But, as one tool in a wider tool box, it helps reduce exposure. Harm mitigation.
No one would have ever gone to school at all in the days before wide spread vaccinations for things like polio or measles if that was the only course. Instead they developed procedures to cope with the potential. And that coping will never take place if there is no school.
It seems that the demand for keeping schools closed is fueled by those afraid of getting infected by the children instead of those afraid of infecting children. Certainly setting up various methods of in person according to the needs of some of the families while letting those capable of distance learning keep at it is possible. Why is it not even being considered?
Schools did shut down over the years because of Polio.
In 1937, the kids in Chicago had their own version of long distance learning, using the radio.
The success of trying to give children a bit of normalcy will be the ability to isolate and test as soon as possible. Like the need to test medical personnel and elder care providers, children need to be a priority by public health. I do not understand why public health or the schools themselves does not have a regular population screening available in-school, especially as this illness has such a high percentage of asymptomatic infections. Without such an effort, it seems inevitable that schools, like much of the US, will be on a constant swing back and forth of opening and closing yo no one’s advantage.
Spot on. And I don’t think we should be rushing to reopen things when are testing infrastructure and turn around times on testing is no where near where it needs to be for that.
I think that in school testing protocol will never happen if people wait til everything is over to start school. They still be waiting a year from now.
That sounds like the best kind of schooling! My kids did Saxon math also but it isn’t for everyone. I liked it a lot though.