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> I don't want your dad to get covid either. Welp, students in my classes wearing their masks is a big part of how I'm still able to see my dad and not kill hi

by mlyle 5y ago

> I don't want your dad to get covid either. Welp, students in my classes wearing their masks is a big part of how I'm still able to see my dad and not kill him. > Instead, everyone has to wear some kind of cloth mask to show that "wearing is caring". Because it's one of the most effective measures we have. Research (both observational and based on aerosol modeling) implies that surgical/cloth masks and getting windows open each reduces risk of infection about 4-5x, and they stack on top of each other for a ~20x total reduction. That's enough, with vaccination, to make me comfortable seeing my dad (masked). > The risk to children is absurdly low. About 70k kids hospitalized in the US so far-- so that's not absurdly low. And, again, the risk to children's families and faculty (and faculty families) counts too.

actfrench 5y ago
There is a huge risk to kids. My friends Jeremy Howard and Rachel Thomas recently compiled research on this topic. Especially of concern is long-term effects of COVID on children. Rachel says, "research shows we downplay long-term effects of Covid on children" https://twitter.com/math_rachel/status/1454242957259800578 https://twitter.com/math_rachel/status/1454242957259800578 https://twitter.com/jeremyphoward/status/1420981223535517696 https://twitter.com/jeremyphoward/status/1420981223535517696 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01935-7 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01935-7
- mlyle 5y ago
  Who knows, right? As the Nature article you cited points out, the research we have now is poorly controlled and hopelessly confounded and pointing in many different directions. My personal belief is that COVID-19 and influenza are probably similar in children. But even that is more risk than people generally realize: a whole lot of permanent impact happens from influenza in children, but we just accept it and shrug it off as inevitable. And, of course, while the average risk to kids may be moderate, there's also the much higher risk of cases communicated by children to their family, faculty, and the community at large.

by mlyle 5y ago

actfrench 5y ago

There is a huge risk to kids. My friends Jeremy Howard and Rachel Thomas recently compiled research on this topic. Especially of concern is long-term effects of COVID on children. Rachel says, "research shows we downplay long-term effects of Covid on children" https://twitter.com/math_rachel/status/1454242957259800578 https://twitter.com/math_rachel/status/1454242957259800578 https://twitter.com/jeremyphoward/status/1420981223535517696 https://twitter.com/jeremyphoward/status/1420981223535517696 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01935-7 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01935-7

mlyle 5y ago
Who knows, right? As the Nature article you cited points out, the research we have now is poorly controlled and hopelessly confounded and pointing in many different directions. My personal belief is that COVID-19 and influenza are probably similar in children. But even that is more risk than people generally realize: a whole lot of permanent impact happens from influenza in children, but we just accept it and shrug it off as inevitable. And, of course, while the average risk to kids may be moderate, there's also the much higher risk of cases communicated by children to their family, faculty, and the community at large.