Relevant News

Face Masks and Kids: Separating Fact From Fiction

“Vaccination is number one, but masking is number two and is therefore the most effective way to reduce spread of COVID in settings where people [including children less than 12] cannot be vaccinated,” said Dr. Mike Smith, a professor of pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine. He co-authored the ABC Science Collaborative study published in Pediatrics, which tracked the effectiveness of mitigation efforts in 100 school districts across North Carolina.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has consistently supported universal masking for all vaccinated and unvaccinated children and adults in schools, even when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention briefly suggested earlier in the spring that vaccinated individuals could go without masks.

School outbreaks and what it means for hospital capacity

Well, to no one’s surprise, we’re setting records for kids across the nation as schools re-open. We have no national COVID19 school surveillance program in place, so we’re relying on anecdotal evidence, state-level data, and data gurus in the private sector to piece together an epidemiological picture. As of today, this is what it looks like…

SARS-CoV-2 Transmission to Masked and Unmasked Close Contacts of University Students with COVID-19

What are the implications for public health practice?

Universal masking and fewer encounters in close proximity to persons with COVID-19 can limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in university settings.

Studies show face masks reduce droplet emission, infection risk, and COVID-19 incidence.

In addition to the studies cited below, the Ohio Schools COVID-19 Evaluation, published Jan. 29, 2021, showed that
children who were close contacts and appropriately masked had rates of COVID-19 that were similar to children with no
known COVID-19 exposure in school.

The Impact of Community Masking on COVID-19: A Cluster-Randomized Trial in Bangladesh

Summary: A randomized-trial of community-level mask promotion in rural Bangladesh during COVID-19 shows that the intervention tripled mask usage and reduced symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections, demonstrating that promoting community mask-wearing can improve public health.

‘Out of options.’ Texan who led anti-mask efforts is hospitalized with COVID, wife says

A Texan who led anti-mask efforts and publicly opposed mandatory COVID-19 precautions is hospitalized with the coronavirus, and his pregnant wife says his chances of survival aren’t good.

Caleb Wallace is also a dad of three girls with another on the way, his wife Jessica said. Their baby is due Sept. 27, about two months after Caleb was hospitalized.

Your local epidemiologist: Schools: Mitigation measures in the light of Delta

We know that mitigation measures like masks, ventilation, and distancing worked very well in schools last year. Study after study after study after study after study showed this. But this was pre-Delta. Do the same mitigation measures still work in schools? This is what we know so far…

School-level COVID-19 Modeling Results for North Carolina

Recently NC State University developed a simple model to illustrate COVID-19 spread within a hypothetical school over the course of a semester, given different assumptions regarding mask usage, incoming protection, and testing policies.

Students are returning to classrooms at a time when the Delta variant of Covid-19 is circulating. The Delta variant is about 50% more infectious than the Alpha variant, which was as much as 50% more infectious than earlier strains in the US. That means Covid-19 is now significantly more transmissible than it was in the previous school year.

Families of High-Risk Children Despair Over Covid Resurgence

When a 7-year-old in Utah tested positive for the coronavirus, his mother vented her frustration on social media. Low vaccination rates in her state are to blame, she says...

What I Don’t Want My School to be Like this Covid Year

If teaching in 2021-22 requires wearing a mask and even getting a third booster to the Covid vaccine, I’ll do it.

You know why?

Because I am an adult.

Even if we have to go back to teaching students completely on-line (which I don’t want to do), I’ll put on my big boy pants and do it.

It’s not optimal. It causes problems for working parents, but it’s better than the alternative if infections continue to rise..

COVID-19 Hospital Capacity in Hamilton County on the rise

This page shows COVID-19 capacity for hospitals in Dearborn County and Franklin County in Indiana plus Boone County, Campbell County and Kenton County in Kentucky plus Warren County, Clermont County, Butler County and Hamilton County in Ohio...

Your Local Epidemiologist's State of Affairs: August 9, 2021

Well, things continue to worsen in the United States. Cases are exponentially increasing and we are now averaging more than 100,000 new cases per day.

And kids are getting swept up in this wave. Child hospitalizations are the highest they’ve been during the whole pandemic. And increasing fast.

Read Andrew Beck's thread on COVID-19 in Cincinnati

Time for another thread on current state of #COVID19 in Greater #Cincinnati. Short summary of all - #CovidIsNotOver and the data point to presence of #DeltaVariant in our midst. Every indicator going in wrong direction. What can you do? #MaskUp #GetVaccinated. Ok here we go...

As schools resume, COVID-19 outbreaks are dominating the headlines

Since there are too many to link here, we've included a Google search so you can see the most recent school closures across the country as schools without a mask mandate don't stay safe for long.

Children's Hospital releases recommendation for masking in schools; districts and parents weigh in

Cincinnati Children's Hospital is recommending that all students returning to in-person learning wear masks to guard against the spread of COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status. A group of Sycamore Community Schools parents are united in a strong belief that the district should require masks when the school year begins, instead of making it optional.

Sycamore Community Schools parents split on issue of masks in schools

As school districts across the country weigh all options about whether to require masks in schools, a similar debate is going on in one Tri-State community following the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who recommended students K through 12 wear a mask in school.