The CDC has a new report out on a COVID-19 outbreak from May of this year in Marin County, Calif. where an unvaccinated teacher who pulled her mask down to read to the class ended up infecting 12 of her students who were all fully masked after she — wait for it — came to work despite having symptoms:
New CDC MMWR#covid19 outbreak among school children in Marin County (May, 2021)— index case was an unvaccinated teacher
As we have said many times, the best way to protect our children is by vaccinating the adults they come into contact withhttps://t.co/HMyCcQneTp pic.twitter.com/cgYuDxeTeq
— Dr. Abraar Karan (@AbraarKaran) August 27, 2021
And:
2/
12 students out of 22 tested were positive w/ increasing attack rate by proximity to the teacher.At the time, 72% of the county was vaccinated (very high for May 2021); but as we know, an outbreak requires just one person. pic.twitter.com/r3xEarPBkH
— Dr. Abraar Karan (@AbraarKaran) August 27, 2021
Here’s the part of the report detailing the mask use in class:
The school required teachers and students to mask while indoors; interviews with parents of infected students suggested that students’ adherence to masking and distancing guidelines in line with CDC recommendations (3) was high in class. However, the teacher was reportedly unmasked on occasions when reading aloud in class. On May 23, the teacher notified the school that they received a positive result for a SARS-CoV-2 test performed on May 21 and self-isolated until May 30. The teacher did not receive a second COVID-19 test, but reported fully recovering during isolation.
The infection then spread to other classes, again, despite mitigation measures in place:
Recommended
On May 22, students in a another classroom, who differed in age by 3 years from the students in the class with the index case and who were also ineligible for vaccination began to experience symptoms. The two classrooms were separated by a large outdoor courtyard with lunch tables that were blocked off from use with yellow tape. All classrooms had portable high-efficiency particulate air filters and doors and windows were left open. Fourteen of 18 students in this separate grade received testing; six tests had positive results. Investigation revealed that one student in this grade hosted a sleepover on May 21 with two classmates from the same grade. All three of these students experienced symptoms after the sleepover and received positive SARS-CoV-2 test results. Among infected students in this class, test dates ranged from May 24 to June 1; symptom onset occurred during May 22–31.
In addition to the documented infections in the two initial grades, cases were identified in one student each from four other grades. Three patients were symptomatic; dates for testing were May 30 or June 2. These four students were siblings of three students with cases in the index patient’s class, and exposure was assumed to have occurred in their respective homes. In addition to the teacher and 22 infected students, four parents of students with cases were also infected, for a total of 27 cases (23 confirmed by RT-PCR and four by antigen testing) (Figure 2). Among the five infected adults, one parent and the teacher were unvaccinated; the others were fully vaccinated. The vaccinated adults and one unvaccinated adult were symptomatic with fever, chills, cough, headache, and loss of smell. No other school staff members reported becoming ill. No persons infected in this outbreak were hospitalized. This activity was reviewed by Marin County and was conducted consistent with applicable law.
But this coming to work while sick is really the damning part:
“The teacher reported becoming symptomatic on May 19, but continued to work for 2 days before receiving a test on May 21. On occasion during this time, the teacher read aloud unmasked to the class despite school requirements to mask while indoors.” I grew up in Marin. Oy gevalt.
— Alessondra Springmann (@sondy) August 27, 2021
Over to you, Randi Weingarten.
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