Covid risk extremely low for Children and Support LetTheBandPlayCA
COVID-19 deaths in children are tragic but rare.
To put the mortality risk in perspective, in California, there were 14 deaths among children ages 5-17 from COVID-19 in 2020, lower than the number of children who die of influenza in a typical year.
COVID-19 also poses a much lower risk of death than suicides in youth: There have been 213 deaths among 5-17 year olds in the U.S. from COVID-19 in the past 12 months; in 2018, there were nearly three times as many deaths by suicide - 596 deaths - in the smaller cohort of children between the ages of 10 and 14.
This suggests that suicide and mental health disorders continue to remain a much larger threat to children's health than either COVID-19 or influenza. These statistics that deaths from COVID-19 among children remain rare are mirrored around the U.S. and the world.
As the data continue to accumulate that K-12 schools are not a major contributor to disease spread within a community, the growing negative impacts school closures are having on children are becoming increasingly unjustified.
"When our country is compared to the rest of the world, we are a clear outlier in our failure to return students to the classroom in a timely and science-based manner....Our choice to not prioritize the well-being of our children, especially the most disadvantaged, will be felt for decades. Every pandemic has groups disproportionately affected and, when it comes to COVID, we will look back and see it was our children, our elderly and our poorest...Mahatma Gandhi "true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”
Monica Gandhi MD, MPH is Professor of Medicine and Associate Division Chief (Clinical Operations/ Education) of the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine at UCSF/ San Francisco General Hospital. She also serves as the Director of the UCSF Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) and the Medical director of the HIV Clinic at SFGH ("Ward 86"). Dr. Gandhi completed her M.D.
Please support Band, Drumline and Color Guard Perform in California
Marching Band, Drumline and Color Guard must be able to perform at games and assemblies safely, especially outside. #LetTheBandPlayCA
https://www.change.org/LetTheBandPlayCA