It’s so mind-blogging to see @AdrianaLaGrange talk like we’ve done great with handling pandemics in schools. Here’s my experience, for what it’s worth. In September I was genuinely terrified. Like, I was completely melting down. I felt like things were about to blow up.

I felt like any hope of seeing my family or friends in the near future was disappearing because my kids being in schools with no funding or govt support to manage responsible covid practices, like smaller classes, would make it too risky for anyone to be around us.

The UCP said we (myself and other parents protesting their weak back to school plan) were fear mongers and that there was no reason to fear for our kids, since children rarely become seriously ill from covid. We were clear that community spread was the problem, but...

They ignored that, focusing on the straw man argument that we thought kids specifically were in danger. I was terrified then by the possibility of kids watching their teachers, their grandparents, their parents become sick and maybe die. I hoped I was overly pessimistic.

My son was exposed to covid in late October. It was our first time dealing with close contact isolation. Panicking, we immediately isolated our entire family. Which was good, because several days later we learned my son was positive. His preschool class was declared an outbreak.

The rest of us never tested positive. But because we couldn’t isolate an autistic 4yo from us inside our apartment, that meant nearly a month of isolation. Hugely disruptive to all of our lives. I still hear other parents of his classmates talk about the effects of “long covid”.

In order to manage finances (I lost my job during covid and am still under-earning) and reduce exposure, my grade one kid is watched by family after school instead of daycare. This month, a family member she had been around tested positive. She needed to isolate.

Coincidentally, someone at school exposed her in the same week. She’s tested negative but is in isolation. Because it affected her entire class, they’re all doing online learning. It’s disruptive for my work, but better than when we were isolated before.

It’s helpful in this situation to have her whole class in the same boat. I would prefer a temporary move to online learning to having to randomly, unexpectedly isolate. But anyway. Back to the family member who tested positive.

An entire household in our family, who we are close to, tested positive. Contact tracers linked it to an outbreak at a high school that one of the kids attends. They were all exposed before they learned of the outbreak or any of them started displaying symptoms.

Unlike my son’s asymptomatic case in November, all of them became ill. A bad cold. Not scary, for them. Just disruptive. Until it became apparent their dad was getting worse instead of better. He’s now in the hospital. The nightmare scenario all along.

This is documented. Unlike in November, when no one from AHS *ever* contacted us when my son tested positive, contact tracing appears to be happening now. They informed the family they were part of the school outbreak.

But you won’t see evidence of that further spread in the list of school outbreaks. The numbers given only include people who caught it AT the school. Students, staff members. The further spread is known but not reported to us.

So one person caught covid at school and the other 5 in the family caught it from household spread. This is why I rolled my eyes in the fall/winter when they weren’t contact tracing schools and tried to lay all the blame on household spread and private gatherings.

OF COURSE covid spreads throughout households. Most people, and all children, live in close proximity with others. We are all as vulnerable as the most exposed member of our household.

Most of the adult members of my family were vaccinated this month. Most are still in the window before full immunity is achieved. Shutting down spread right now by truly locking down for a few weeks would make a huge difference.

The lack of action is astonishing. People are dying. With most seniors now vaccinated, it’s young people filling up our hospitals and pushing them to capacity. My relative on the COVID ward is 42. These cases are preventable.

This school year has been as bad as my worst fears. I’m so tired of being pessimistic and still underestimating the scale of this disaster. The lack of leadership is astonishing. We could end this. We’re choosing not to. Please don’t stop demanding better. And please be safe