Articles like this just make me very angry

https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/it-s-ok-to-not-be-ok-how-to-help-kids-cope-with-covid-19-school-stress-1.5064095

She said parents can try to alleviate their children's concerns by assuring them that there's a plan in place to keep them safe, and their participation is a crucial part of it.

There is no fucking plan in place to keep them safe.

She noted that kids take emotional cues from the adults around them, so it's important that parents and teachers project confidence in public health leadership, even if they harbour private reservations.

The teachers already indicated they are not confident, me and my wife certainly are not and we both have no faith in the public health leadership. Psychologists now telling us to lie to our kids, FUCK OFF. /rant.

I was under the impression that Japan, Germany, and Sweden handled it well.

The school opening? Or overall?

Japan handled the pandemic so far well overall, they only have 8 deaths per 1 million inhabitants. But they are well into a second wave which is worse than the first. Dunno if that second wave was produced by school reponenings though:

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/japan/

Germany has handled the pandemic overall mediocre, with currently 111 deaths per 1 million inhabitants (compare that to japan). Germany currently reopens schools and slowly the infection rate is increasing. So no real second wave so far, but the cases are dangerously on the rise.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/germany/

Sweden had overall a bad handle on things with 572 deaths per million population. They have no second wave yet, although you might argue their new infections also slowly increased over the last two weeks.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/sweden/

Dont worry Hun! Its mostly the ones over 40 that get really sick (esp if they have pre-excisting conditions), and the ones 60+ that die.
And if you should get sick, and bring it home and kill either me or dad, we forgive you hun.
Its all part of a plan, dont worry, back to school you go.

Sweden tests about 1/3rd the amount the US does pr population. (so not alot)

They mainly test the really sick ones, ie. you show up at hospital looking deathly sick and possibly have covid19, you get tested.
Sweden manipulate numbers, around deaths.... basically they dont count them the same way other countries do.
So its likely their real numbers are much higher, if they were counted the same way as others.

Even then, look at Norway, 261 deaths, while sweden is like 5800 (in their funny counting ways).

So spread there is much higher than testing would indicate (because of low testing).
Actual deaths are likely much higher (and they are already like 10-20 times as high as the neighboring countries).

Also this ignores the fact that there are more than 2 outcomes to getting this sickness.
Its wrong to just go "this person lived, this person died".

Reality is a large amount of people get permanent heart damage, lunge damage, kidney damage, brain damage, ect. after getting covid19.
These people are alive, but could have to face a life very differnt from their prior one, because of this virus.

Sweden will have much higher amounts of such, than other places, because they let it spread so much.

"...Sweden handled it well."

Personally dont think so.
If theres a vaccine this year, or early next year that can mitigate much of this virus.
Then swedens route was obviously a bad one.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJMxPg66/

The school openings I thought they handled well since cases weren't spiking ip again. 

Single most important discovery is that herd immunity starts early at maybe 5-10% population infected which implies that the vast majority are already immune. There never was an exponential growth towards 100% infections.

https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=swe&areas=ita&areas=esp&areas=deu&areas=bel&areas=gbr&areasRegional=usfl&areasRegional=ustx&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usnj&areasRegional=usga&areasRegional=usct&cumulative=0&logScale=0&perMillion=1&values=deaths

Yep, don't worry about potentially killing your mother and your grandfather. (grandmother seems to be made of titanium, yet both my wife and her dad have pre-existing conditions)

Latest news from Lecce
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-stephen-lecce-schools-distancing-1.5685081

Ontario education minister 'unlocks' $500M to improve distancing, ventilation for back-to-school

Look at that, finally addressing the problem of ventilation with 3 weeks to go.

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce says he's "unlocked" $500 million in funding to enhance physical distancing and improve air quality as multiple teachers' unions claim the province's current plan violates provincial health and safety law. The minister also announced an additional $50 million for upgrades to ventilation systems and $18 million for online learning amid concerns over student safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Thursday, Lecce also said the province is confident that children can return to schools safely in the fall, even amid the pandemic. "Let me be perfectly clear. If the best medical minds in the province did not think it was safe for your child to go back to school, the choice would have been simple," he said. "We're in a position where we are able to safely and confidently reopen schools, but with strict health and safety protocols."

But Lecce's opening up of new funding follows weeks of criticism of the province's back-to-school plan from parents, teachers and medical professionals, particularly when it comes to class sizes. The announcement also comes on the heels of Ontario's four major education unions alleging that the current back-to-school strategy breaks provincial law by violating occupational health and safety legislation.

The unions, which represent more than 190,000 teachers and education workers, issued a press release Thursday afternoon saying the plan "fails to meet legal health and safety requirements," and that teachers and students are not protected against COVID-19. They raised red flags over the lack of mask requirements for children under 10, larger class sizes, poor ventilation in schools and lack of adequate screenings and safeguards for students. They've asked to meet with Minister of Labour Monte McNaughton and representatives from the Ministry of Education to discuss their concerns.


So much bullshit. It's too late now, there's no way schools can be upgraded with new hvac systems in a few weeks. His answer to that was to 'delay' going back to school. Elementary day 1, grades 3 and up day 2, rest day 3 lol.

The TDSB is also looking into how to use its portion of the $50 million in HVAC upgrades with the school year just weeks away. "Given this significant change, staff would have to assess if the necessary arrangements could be made in time for the first day of school on Sept. 8," she said.

Protests are already underway

At that protest, teachers spoke about how the two-metre physical distancing rules would be impossible for many classrooms based on their size.They also raised concerns about building repairs that are needed to increase airflow in many schools. Parents and teacher coalitions at Wednesday's protest asked the province for $3 billion in funding to allow for smaller class sizes and updated ventilation systems.

However I need to project an aura of confidence and tell my kids it's perfectly safe to go back to school.


Principle's statement



Numbers for today

30,137 tests taken, 6,377 more pending (35,426 pending total)
95 positives,  0.39% positivity rate, -2% week over week change.

That seems like a bold claim, can you show me anyone with expertise in the field that thinks that 5-10% is enough for herd immunity?