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Covid

Statistics related to Covid, quarantine, and vaccine policies

Our group has been researching the school policies related to Covid.

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Number of Covid cases | Deaths under age 18 |How other states are handling | How nearby schools are handling | D158 Covid relief funds | Parent questions | Vaccine mandate concerns | 42 peer-reviewed studies regarding negative effects of masking

Covid cases nationally have declined 33% over the past four weeks (as of 9/29/21.)

In McHenry County, as of 9/26/21, these are the current Covid positivity statistics. McHenry County’s positivity rate is 3.14%.

Nationally, rates below 9.99% are considered “low transmission.” Why are we told that we’re still considered “high” when the county rate is so low?

As of 9/30/21, Illinois is ranked #46 on the national list of states with highest Covid infection rates, meaning 45 other states have higher rates than Illinois does. Illinois currently has one of the lowest infection rates in the country.

The number of people in Illinois under the age of 18 who have died of Covid throughout both 2020 and 2021 is 19. Just 19.

 

Covid has a .02% mortality rate for those under 18. This is lower than the flu death rate for under-18s.Since 1/1/20, 478 children under the age of 18 died of Covid in the entire nation. While any loss of life is tragic, there are currently 73.1 million children in the USA under the age of 18. Statistically,  0.0006539% of children under 18 have died of Covid – on average, fewer than ten children per state.

To compare, during the 2018-2019 flu season, 477 children died of the flu. Statistically, the pediatric Covid death rate for 2020-2021 of 478 deaths is in line with the previous 2018-2019 flu deaths of 477.

A UK study notes that of 627 children hospitalized for Covid, just six out of 627 pediatric patients died, “all of whom had profound comorbidity.”

The 2020 teen suicide statistics do not yet appear to be available, but the 2019 data shows that 2756 children under the age of 19 took their own lives, and that was in a pre-pandemic year. Children are more than five times as likely to die of suicide than of Covid.

Currently, there are only five states with statewide mask mandates: Illinois, Louisiana, Washington, Oregon, and New Mexico.

Illinois’ neighboring states are handling Covid school policies very differently than Illinois is.

Iowa

Indiana

How nearby schools are handling Covid response

Township District 211 is the largest high school district in Illinois, encompassing areas of Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, and Palatine. Despite the district’s size, 211 has had only 17 Covid-related quarantines since the 2021-2022 school year began. View their live counter of school quarantines by school at this link.

Township also has 11857 students to Huntley’s 8900 students. Currently, D158 has 77 students in quarantine this week alone as of 9/29/21.

The Illinois State Board of Education “affirms the fundamental importance of in-person learning for the well-being of students, families, and communities. We know that children learn best –
and educators teach best – when they are physically present together in the same space.

“In-person learning with the appropriate protective measures should be both safe and essential to students’ mental health and academic growth.

“The majority of students need full-time in-person access to their teachers and support network at school to stay engaged, to learn effectively, and to maintain social-emotional wellness. A recent study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that remote learning can be challenging for many students, leading not only to learning loss but also worsening mental health for children as well as parents. “

Huntley District 158 has received $2,521,955.00 in Covid relief ESSER funds. In order to receive this money from the government, schools were told that they needed to agree to the five prevention strategies shown above.

However, Indiana has also received ESSER funds, as has Iowa, and neither state is adhering to these strategy steps the way that Illinois is. We have been led to believe these steps must be put in place to receive the money, but that appears not to be the case as other states have not implemented them.

Questions our parents are asking:

  • How many students placed in quarantine actually become symptomatic / positive cases?
  • How many students have been double quarantined? Triple?
  • How many hours of education have been lost?
  • We were told at last month’s meeting that the turnaround for SHIELD tests is 2-3 days. Is that still the case, or is it longer now?
  • Are you aware that students with close-contact quarantines are not actually being placed into quarantine up to six days after the contact?
  • How many students were quarantined pre-2020 when exposed to a virus?
  • How much time and money is being spent on contact tracing? Is there a written policy on exclusion?
  • Does the teachers’ union have influence over our district’s policies?
  • Why is the assistant superintendent Rocio del Castillo declining mask exemptions from students’ own doctors?
  • Is calling DCFS on students who refuse to quarantine a current D158 protocol? Was Dr. Belin disciplined when he did this? Who gave authority for Dr. Belin to call DCFS on a student?
  • Recently, an entire class was quarantined at Conley. It took three hours to call the parents as the entire class was moved from the classroom to the gym. How does this reduce their contact when they still remained together?
  • Quarantine policies are very different for classroom, athletics, and activities.
  • Parents are currently avoiding putting children on buses to avoid the close-contact quarantines affecting busing “for safety.” Yet students are still seated on the floors of buses — also “for safety?”
  • Currently, 15% of the D158 staff is not vaccinated. How many will you terminate if they continue to choose not to be vaccinated?
  • Why does each different school’s nurse have different policies?
  • Will you force vaccination on our children if one of the vaccines is approved for 5-year-olds and up?
  • We now know that those vaccinated can still catch and spread Covid, which is a change from what the CDC initially said. Have you researched the viral load and spread of vaccinated people versus unvaccinated? Fully vaccinated people carry the same viral load as the unvaccinated.
  • The district is recommending 2.5 hours of Zoom instruction for students in quarantine. Are you aware that some students are only receiving 45 minutes of instruction per day while home?
  • Are you aware that five Illinois school districts are being sued for their quarantine policies?

If our school district is planning a vaccine mandate, please consider that the following groups are currently exempt from vaccine mandates. If all of these are exempt, why must schools enforce a mandate?

  • White House staff
  • Congress and congressional staff
  • Judicial branch
  • CDC employees
  • FDA employees
  • USPS employees
  • NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) employees
  • Pfizer employees
  • Moderna employees
  • Illegal aliens

According to the VAERS database, Covid vaccines have already injured and killed more people than all other vaccine-related deaths over the past 30 years combined. As of August 28, 2021, the CDC notes that more than 150,000 people’s deaths have been caused by the Covid vaccines.

Additionally, the FDA issued a briefing document on 9/17/21 discussing the Pfizer / Comirnaty vaccine. On page 22, this document notes that people receiving the Pfizer vaccine are actually more likely to contract Covid:

An additional analysis appears to indicate that incidence of COVID-19 generally increased in each group of study participants with increasing time post-Dose 2 at the start of the analysis period.