Some intriguing new studies related to children and COVID-19 have recently been reported.
A major study in the United Kingdom confirms that children are at an extremely low risk from infection by SARS-Cov-2.
Scientists from University College London, and the Universities of York, Bristol and Liverpool say their studies of children are the most comprehensive yet anywhere in the world.They checked England’s public health data and found most of the young people who had died of Covid-19 had underlying health conditions:
- Around 15 had life-limiting or underlying conditions, including 13 living with complex neuro-disabilities
- Six had no underlying conditions recorded in the last five years – though researchers caution some illnesses may have been missed
- A further 36 children had a positive Covid test at the time of their death but died from other causes, the analysis suggests
- Though the overall risks were still low, children and young people who died were more likely to be over the age of 10 and of Black and Asian ethnicity.
Researchers estimate that 25 deaths in a population of some 12 million children in England gives a broad, overall mortality rate of 2 per million children.
Additionally, the Journal of the American Medical Association has published a research letter suggesting high levels of carbon dioxide detected in children wearing masks.
The study included 45 children ages 6 to 17 years old (20 girls and 25 boys) and suggested early signs of high CO2 levels within minutes of mask-wearing.”This carbon dioxide mixes with fresh air and elevates the carbon dioxide content of inhaled air under the mask, and this was more pronounced in this study for younger children.”We took this data to Dr. Deepak Srivastava, President of the Gladstone Institutes and pediatric cardiologist.”It’s worth for further exploration,” said Dr. Deepak Srivastava and added, “The wrong thing to do would be to draw conclusions from this small study that these levels of carbon dioxide are causing trouble.”
The Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new guidelines for schools, saying vaccinated students and teachers don’t need to wear them amid proper physical distancing.
However, ignoring all the science related to children and COVID19, and in the interest of “fairness”, California will insist on keeping masks on children during the new school year.
The new school year in California will start with students and teachers wearing masks, state officials announced Friday, staking out a cautious position on a day when new federal guidelines stressed the importance of fully reopening schools and recommended masks only for those who are not vaccinated….“We’re going to start with a requirement K through 12 that the year begins with masks,” said California Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly. “At the outset of the new year, students should be able to walk into school without worrying about whether they will feel different or singled out for being vaccinated or unvaccinated — treating all kids the same will support a calm and supportive school environment.”
In news that must surely be related, home school application in the state are triple pre-pandemic levels.
According to new statistics released by the California Department of Education, home schooling in California continued to grow during the 2020-2021 school year, reaching record levels of students learning from home.The number of new home schooling affidavits filed by parents with the California DOE has nearly tripled in the last few years, going from 14,548 in the 2018-2019 school year, to 22,433 in 2019-2020 and 34,715 in 2020-2021. A further 3,215 affidavits for private schools with 6 or more students were also filed in 2020-2021, another large increase from previous years.
There are so many good reasons to homeschool children nowadays, and California certainly has added quite an incentive for parents to consider as they prepare for a new school year.
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