The NYT’s David Leonhardt is out with a new piece today arguing that the flu is far deadlier than COVID-19 for children under the age of 18:
For adults, Covid has been unlike any other infectious disease in memory, killing about 16 times as many Americans as a typical flu season.
For kids, Covid has not been nearly so distinct a disease…
— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) April 22, 2021
Covid has killed fewer than 450 Americans under the age of 18, which is less than a flu season often does.
The flu can be deadlier for children than Covid has been even though most children receive a flu vaccine.
— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) April 22, 2021
Well, the good news is the NYT has caught up to what we were reading last summer:
Children 5 to 14 are nearly 7 times more likely to die of flu or pneumonia than COVID-19. https://t.co/jL4A7VsL2f
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) May 18, 2020
It wasn’t like we were just making the numbers up back then. It was data from the CDC:
According to the CDC, “For children, COVID-19 hospitalization rates are much lower than influenza hospitalization rates during recent influenza seasons.” As of May 6, only 10 children 14 or younger had died from COVID-19, according to CDC, as opposed to 174 from this flu season.
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) May 13, 2020
And health “experts” like Dr. Anthony Fauci KNEW THIS at the time:
This is the most revealing thing about Fauci. He is willing to sacrifice the entire nation over a threat that we already have data for that proves it doesn't exist. Kids aren't harmed by it. Fauci's dial risk to 0 approach is suicidal.https://t.co/fRaArdd1b8
— Jordan Schachtel (@JordanSchachtel) May 12, 2020
What this means is that schools never should have been closed:
There is little to no evidence schools are serious vectors of covid transmission; children are at extraordinarily low risk from covid, far lower than from the flu. If you have evidence to the contrary, please present it. Otherwise, stop shouting SCIENCE! while promoting panic.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) July 22, 2020
Recommended
The evidence of child-to-adult transmission remains weak; there are a bevy of studies from places ranging from Iceland to Australia to China to this effect. Covid is primarily passed between adults in closed spaces with air conditioning for prolonged periods of time.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) July 22, 2020
If teachers are particularly vulnerable (serious pre-existing condition, age), they probably shouldn't risk being in schools. But that holds true for literally any public place.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) July 22, 2020
Anyway, here’s the rest of Leonhardt’s thread that *is* worth a read and hopefully it changes some lib minds:
“For the average kid, Covid is a negligible risk,” @AaronRichterman says, adding that he would not upend his own family’s life to avoid every possible exposure to children. pic.twitter.com/T1juvwfFny
— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) April 22, 2021
Obviously, *low* Covid risk is not the same as *no* Covid risk. The question is how should families respond to this risk?
Some will choose extreme caution, given the uncertainties, which is understandable. Others will choose to begin opening up, which is also understandable.
— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) April 22, 2021
Unfortunately, there is no risk-free option available to parents in the coming months. Keeping children at home — away from their friends, activities, schools and extended family — can also harm them, as multiple studies have suggested.
— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) April 22, 2021
“It’s really important to look at a child’s overall health rather than a Covid-only perspective,” @AmeshAA says.
Keeping children isolated is particularly fraught for lower-income parents, because it forecloses child-care options and can keep them from working.
— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) April 22, 2021
For more than a year, many Americans have reordered their lives because of the extreme danger of Covid. And Covid continues to dominate our thinking. Whether it should dominate our children’s lives is a different question.https://t.co/C1HElMCvp1
— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) April 22, 2021
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