Shit 
I donāt have to tell you that Iāve been relying on the kid playing outside with his friendsā¦ All parents are vaccinated so hopefully thatās enough?
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20 minute video talking about kid masks
The chart he made for various kids masks after testing them himself
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Iāve been impressed with LAUSD plans, but I wish there was more widely reported info on other local districts and private schools. Weāre at a high priced daycare in a very bad school district so Iām guessing most siblings will be at private schools.
Iām on my way to get the baby tested (again) this afternoon for a runny nose since they wonāt let her into daycare with a runny nose these days.
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medscape: youngest kids more likely to spread COVID to family: study
Youngest Kids More Likely to Spread SARS-CoV-2 to Family: Study
Editorās note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscapeās Coronavirus Resource Center.
Young children are more likely than their older siblings to transmit SARS-CoV-2 in their households, according to an analysis of public health records in Ontario, Canada ā a finding that upends the common belief that children play a minimal role in COVID-19 spread.
The study by researchers from Public Health Ontario, published online today in JAMA Pediatrics , found that teenagers (14- to 17-year-olds) were more likely than their younger siblings to bring the virus into the household, while infants and toddlers (up to age 3) were about 43% more likely than the older teens to spread it to others in the home.
Children or teens were the source of SARS-CoV-2 in about one in 13 Ontario households between June and December 2020, the study shows. Researchers from Public Health Ontario analyzed health records from 6280 households with a pediatric COVID-19 case and a subset of 1717 households in which a child up to age 17 was the source of transmission in a household.
When analyzing the data, researchers controlled for gender differences, month of disease onset, testing delay, and mean family size.
The role of young children in transmission seemed logical to some experts who have been tracking the evolution of the pandemic. āI think what was more surprising was how long the narrative persisted that children werenāt transmitting SARS-CoV-2,ā said Sam Scarpino, PhD, managing director of pathogen surveillance at the Rockefeller Foundation.
Meanwhile, less mask-wearing, the return to school and activities, and the onslaught of the Delta variant have changed the dynamics of spread, said Andrew Pavia, MD, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Utah.
āAdolescents and high-school-aged kids have had much, much higher rates of infection in the past,ā he said. āNow when we look at the rates of school-aged kids, they are the same as high-school-aged kids, and weāre seeing more and more in the preschool age groups.ā
Cases May Be Underestimated
If anything, the study may underestimate the role young children play in spreading COVID in families, since it only included symptomatic cases as the initial source and young children are more likely to be asymptomatic, Pavia said.
The Delta variant heightens the concern; it is more than twice as infectious as previous strains and has spurred a rise in pediatric cases, including some co-infection with other circulating respiratory diseases, such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
The Ontario study covers a period before vaccination and the spread of the Delta variant. āAs the number of pediatric cases increases worldwide, the role of children in household transmission will continue to grow,ā the authors conclude.
Following recommended respiratory hygiene is clearly more difficult with very young children. For example, parents, caregivers, and older siblings arenāt going to stay 6 feet away from a sick baby or toddler, noted Susan Coffin, MD, MPH, a pediatric infectious disease physician, and David Rubin, MD, a pediatrician and director of PolicyLab at Childrenās Hospital of Philadelphia, in an accompanying commentary.
āCuddling and touching are part and parcel of taking care of a sick young child, and that will obviously come with an increased risk of transmission to parents as well as to older siblings who may be helping to care for their sick brother or sister,ā they write.
While parents may wash their hands more frequently when caring for a sick child, they arenāt likely to wear a mask, said William Schaffner, MD, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.
āI imagine some moms even take a sick child into bed with them,ā he said. āItās probably just the extensive contact one has with a sick, very small child that augments their capacity to transmit this infection.ā
What Can Be Done
What can be done, then, to reduce the household spread of COVID-19? āThe obvious solution to protect a household with a sick young infant or toddler is to make sure that all eligible members of the household are vaccinated,ā Coffin and Rubin state in their commentary.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently wrote Janet Woodcock, MD, acting commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, asking for the agency to authorize use of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines for children under age 12 āas soon as possible,ā noting that āthe Delta variant has created a new and pressing risk to children and adolescents across this country, as it has also done for unvaccinated adults.ā
The FDA reportedly asked vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna to expand the clinical trials of children, which may delay authorization for younger age groups. Pfizer has said it plans to submit a request for emergency use authorization of its vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds in September or October.
As with adult vaccination, hesitancy is likely to be a barrier. Less than half of parents said they are very or somewhat likely to have their children get a COVID vaccine, according to a national survey conducted by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The Ontario study provides valuable evidence to support taking steps to protect children from transmission in schools, including mask requirements, frequent testing, and improved ventilation, said Scarpino.
āWeāre not going to be able to control COVID without vaccinating younger individuals,ā he said.
JAMA Pediatr. Published online August 16, 2021. Study, Commentary
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Most of our spread is still unmasked and inside, particularly within homes but there has been some transmission through fleeting contact, which makes it jump between communities so much faster.
Unfortunately we have a lot of people ignoring the advice regarding family gatherings in the home and it spreads in and between households quickly.
My city seems to luck itās way out of things. We appear to have stopped the latest delta outbreak we had (though Iām not that convinced it isnāt spreading silently at the moment). For us the delta transmission only happened indoors where masks were not required - schools, extracurricular school events, and homes. That said, we were lucky that we happened to have a mask mandate that included outdoors (except while exercising or alone) when this outbreak took hold. There is talk of dropping masks again soon and while I donāt love wearing one all the time, I do think they made a huge difference for us.
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I refuse to like or click that. But I strongly believe it. I doubt any of us would want to refuse love to the littlest even if he tested positive. But we can now isolate adults
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Yep thatās part of what they talk about in the article- touch is so integral to caring for a sick little kid.
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Iām in Melbourne in Victoria. Weāre in lockdown at the moment - trying to get on top of a Delta outbreak. Have been averaging 20+ cases a day but the worry is the number that cannot be associated to a cluster. As of last night we have increased restrictions - a curfew 9pm to 5am and playgrounds closed which is very tough - the rationale is to go hard for a short period of time 
. Anyhow outdoor and playground transmission is not surprisingly a hot topic! Our Chief Health Officer made this comment at todayās press conferenceā¦
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So rough. Thank you for taking part in the lockdown 
itās been bloody hard on all of you.
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Iām sorry you are facing another lockdown. They are exhausting. I hope you are doing ok and that VIC can get on top of it quickly.
I am getting a lot of the playground stuff on my social media because I have family in Melbourne. It isnāt easy for sure (my daughter cried every time we walked past a playground last year because she wanted them to open), but I also feel like kids are being used as a political football by some, definitely by the āDictator Danā crowd in my family.
I really hope you start to get more good news. Hard and short lockdowns have worked for us up here so far 
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And Dane County has issued an indoor mask mandate starting tomorrow morning.
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I appear to be back to normal today. Iāll take it.
And someone should check the calendar to see if itās Opposite Day or something because the city council in College Town just mandated masks inside city-owned buildings. They didnāt even do that at the meeting the day after a former city councilor died this past winter. Doesnāt affect much, of course, as itās only city government buildings, but itās a mask mandate! Iāll keep you posted on the reactions - there will be some.
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A nearby county is now requiring masks in schools, I had to double check this morning because I thought Iād misheard the name of the county. It must be opposite day there also, but Iāll take it.
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Weāre not that wild and crazy with Opposite Day yetā¦
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It appears that Massachusetts isnāt requiring masks but recommending them for kids. Is that right? @haypug16? (In schools)
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Indoor mask mandate in Chicago starting Friday!!
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Thank you @LadyDuck and @Pancakes! Weāre fine but over it.
The playground thing is sad. It was so great to see them open and all the happy faces after the initial lockdown - I really didnāt think theyād ever close them again after the surface/fomite stuff was discounted. But if they have to close to give us a chance of beating Delta, itās got to be worth it!
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Do I go to indoor family gatherings with delta on the loose? What is even happening? What do I dooooo? 
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Sounds right, The Governor has said he wonāt be enforcing masks again but will leave it up to the schools and businesses to make those decisions and Iāve heard from parents of school age kids that they will have to wear masks when they start back up in class.
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No one is going to mask in our preschool. Sigh. Weāll see how it goes I guess.
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