Trustworthy and accurate health info for moms like me! Monday updates
(A disclaimer: this post will be more speculative than my usual posts, however I intend to back up my speculation with data where available.)
After months of outbreaks, COVID-19 cases are now declining in most U.S. states. This is great news in the short-term, but many of us are wondering whether and how soon COVID-19 outbreaks will return.
Welcome back! My apologies for my unexplained absence these last two weeks. I’ve been researching information for a post on COVID-19 vaccine development, and I kept telling myself that I would finish it soon and not to start a post on another topic until that one was ready to go, but I’m sorry to say that I let the perfect get in the way of the good. I’ll be back with that post when it’s ready, but in the interim the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published a very interesting case series this week describing limited spread of COVID-19 among child care programs in Rhode Island following state requirements for reopening.
It’s hard to believe it’s already August. If you’re a parent like me, that means that pretty soon, if you haven’t already, you’re going to need to decide whether to send your children back to school, do distance learning this fall, or some combination. I’m not going to lie and tell you that it’s a simple decision. It’s complex and depends on many factors: your child’s age, any high-risk conditions they or other people living in your household have, the current level of COVID-19 in your local area, your own ability to do distance learning and/or your child’s needs for on-site services, and how prepared your school is to protect your children from the spread of COVID-19.
In this week’s post, I’m going to review the available evidence, prominent expert statements on whether schools should reopen, and share resources to help you make your decision.
