We need a CDC Epi-Aid to the Boston Public Schools to investigate COVID transmission at Curley, Manning, and Orchard Gardens Schools.

Please read our recent Op-ed in the Boston Globe where we describe the situation in the Boston Public Schools. 

An Epi-Aid is an investigation of an urgent public health problem, such as infectious or non-communicable disease outbreaks, unexplained illnesses, or natural or manmade disasters. When a public health authority requests assistance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an Epi-Aid allows rapid, short-term (1–3 weeks), generally onsite, technical assistance.

We want a CDC Epi-Aid because the SARS-Cov2 virus is changing all the time, and could become more transmissible, vaccine-resistant, or deadlier. We don't know where the COVID transmission is occurring in our schools, and the CDC can help us find this out.

We need an investigation now because children are sometimes sickened or killed by COVID. In nearby Holyoke, Massachusetts, 13-year-old Gigi Rodriguez died from COVID recently - which was likely acquired at school (photo above).  

So far in this Boston Public Schools outbreak we have been lucky, but our luck may not last.