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More context:
- we can& #39;t know how many of the hundreds of thousands of kids in preschool & daycare *might* be + bc most young kids never have symptoms. all symptomatic kids are excluded until they test -
- we can& #39;t know how many cases are not reported — that& #39;s how reporting works https://twitter.com/AngelJennings/status/1299390143275520002">https://twitter.com/AngelJenn...
- we can& #39;t know how many of the hundreds of thousands of kids in preschool & daycare *might* be + bc most young kids never have symptoms. all symptomatic kids are excluded until they test -
- we can& #39;t know how many cases are not reported — that& #39;s how reporting works https://twitter.com/AngelJennings/status/1299390143275520002">https://twitter.com/AngelJenn...
what I can tell you is I& #39;ve been covering preschool & daycare since March, I& #39;ve toured at least a dozen & talked to scores of caregivers & all of them are frightened of the virus & none of them has seen or heard of a single childcare-based case. precautions are extreme
there are more cases in caregivers than in children, but it& #39;s still a tiny fraction of a percent of the workforce. if there are lots of asymptomatic kids — which there *could* be, we don& #39;t have anywhere near the testing capacity to know — they are not infecting their teachers.
There were more kids testing + in the summer than in the spring. a) "kids" means anyone <18 b) we don& #39;t know if that reflects more testing or more infection or both c) we don& #39;t know if those infected kids had any symptoms or infected anyone else. We probably won& #39;t ever know.
We *do* know that lots of little kids have been in group care for months. We *do* know many 1000s of those were in places like LA w/ high community transmission. we know only a very few were hospitalized — a sliver in this age group — even when/where adult ICUs were full.
We can& #39;t know *for sure* that every pediatric Covid hospitalization is counted and reported. hospitalization data has some quirks
BUT, you can bet we count every pediatric death. Kids rarely die, so when they do — especially during a pandemic — we take note
BUT, you can bet we count every pediatric death. Kids rarely die, so when they do — especially during a pandemic — we take note
If there was any sense at all that pediatric Covid deaths were being undercounted or otherwise obscured, doctors would be screaming. Parents would be screaming.They& #39;re not. Tragically, California has had 2 pediatric Covid deaths. Both were teenagers.
Finally, daycare & preschool workers are under enormous economic pressure to remain open. MANY are older & high risk/live in high risk households. Tens of thousands care for kids IN THEIR HOMES. Without these essential workers, other frontline families couldn& #39;t do their jobs
The data at the heart of this story are a natural experiment on the backs of these lowwage workers — mostly women of color. By the mercy of G-d, they were spared. Science is still trying to explain it, but the statistical fact is irrefutable. The numbers speak for themselves.
