Members of social media groups in New Canaan are advocating for people to not have their children tested for COVID-19 virus or to withhold positive test results from the schools, officials said last week.
The parents in the groups want to avoid the district’s protocols about kids needing to stay out of school for a certain number of days after testing positive and wearing a mask for a period of time upon returning, Health & Human Services Commission member Alicia Meyer said during the appointed body’s May 5 meeting.
“There are parents actively advocating for not testing and/or testing but not telling the school,” she said during the meeting, held via videoconference. “So that their kids don’t stay home for the full quarantine and don’t mask upon return.”
The comments came following Health Director Jenn Eielson’s regular update on COVID-19. In it, Eielson said that “cases are clearly on the rise,” adding that “to keep everyone in perceptive,” hospitalizations and COVID-related deaths “are still remaining steady.” She cited a statistic that hospitalizations in the state were up over 2,100 in January and were at 245 as of the governor’s most recent report this month.
In all, 88.58% of New Canaan’s total population has received two doses of vaccine, while 54.24% has received a third dose, Eielson said.
“So we still have a way to go with boosters,” she said.
According to the town’s most recently released information, New Canaan had 151 positive cases for the week that ended May 7. The figure is up from 53 the prior week, and New Canaan’s highest total since 163 in the middle of January, the data show.
The data “really isn’t surprising,” Eielson said.
“After school break, Easter, people are beginning to do things again,” she said.
Meyer appeared to refer to the “Mask Choice New Canaan” group. It was created last June on Facebook and has 216 members there as a private group. An Instagram account by the same name and tag line “Parents advocating for children’s right to be unmasked in school” has 1,480 followers.
Commission Chair Dr. Harrison Pierce said that with the “don’t test, don’t tell” advocacy, the numbers that New Canaan is getting from the district “are not that accurate.”
“Parents, mothers are avoiding the testing,” he said. “They don’t want their kids missing a week of school and/or the athletic or other extra-curricular activities. This has been going on for a while, but the proof is the in the print. C’est la vie.”
While I believe in testing, this virus is here to stay. Also, omicron and it’s variants are able to overcome vaccinations and boosters are not as effective as they used to be. I think parents should voluntarily pull their kids out of school, just like they would do with the flu. There is no need for a Covid-19 protocol of testing, tracking, quarantine, etc. unless a new and much more dangerous variant emerges.
C’est la Vie ? For too many Americans across the country the saying is more closely to C’est la Mort – that is death.
Why is it so hard for people to understand it is not just about you, your child but about the teacher, the community at large.
I am stunned and agape at the level of psychopathic narcissism and epic selfishness these ‘parents’ are communicating.
Amen! Well said! It’s about others, the ones you are supposed to love, respect, your neighbors, your community … I work within the school system and I can honestly say … I am shocked at the total disregard for the safety of myself as well as the rest of the staff! Shame on you!
Thank you for giving this attention. It’s so irresponsible on a community level, and it’s astonishing that the town is no longer reporting the weekly numbers in their texts and emails. So many people have no idea how high our town’s positive cases are – and they are just the known cases – we have no idea how many people have tested positive at home and haven’t reported, so the numbers are surely much higher. There are many vulnerable people in our community, as well as young children and babies who aren’t yet vaccinated. We should also remember that we don’t know anything about potential long-term effects of Covid. The carelessness is unbelievable.
I think most of us have moved on. We have been vaccinated or had COVID or both. We know that COVID is pretty harmless to most people and want to get on with our lives. I am tired of having people who do not understand risk or science telling everyone what to do. If you don’t like it, you can wear a K95 mask or stay home.
How interesting that we share in common a frustration with people who don’t understand risk or science telling others what to do. We actually don’t know anything about Covid’s potential long-term effects, even for those who have mild cases. It’s not at all uncommon for viruses to have knock-on effects years later. And with at least a million people in this country having died over the course of two years from this virus, it’s extraordinary that anyone would label it harmless. Also, this article is about a deliberate agenda among some people to conceal from a others a potentially deadly outcome from contact with them. Our kids have to go to school. Many workers have to go to work. And many of those kids and workers are more vulnerable than others. Although, really, even in the case of people who don’t *have to go anywhere, saying those who are more vulnerable (or following the science closely enough to know there have already been longer term debilitating effects of Covid for many) should just continue staying home so that others can be relieved of the simplest courtesy and decency of not intentionally harming others by concealing and continuing to spread a virus that has been deadly for many, is something I’m relieved to still find shocking and ghastly.
Agreed! Many of us immunocompromised people have had no other choice to stay at home or limit where we go and wear masks. Disappointed the Town of New Canaan has taken such a casual attitude in reporting the numbers, totally irresponsible!
And annoyed that a vocal minority of moms dictate our Town’s response to a GLOBAL PANDEMIC! Really?
This “Me First” movement that has emerged over the course of the pandemic is very discouraging. There’s no point in trying to talk sense into those who seem to have abandoned their senses of community and responsibility. I’m grateful that the majority of us still think not just of ourselves but of the greater good.
Could it be that the “me first” is you? To expect the overwhelming majority of citizens, who are vaccinated, and at low risk of serious complications from Covid to begin with, to compromise their lifestyle for the unfortunate few who are immunocompromised, or have pre-existing conditions, is precisely the moment when civilization begins to break down. The “greater good” is the opposite of special interests and minority rule.
The answer to your question is no. When we were caveman and didn’t have science or technology or basic morals, that may have been true. Not now.
The time of the neanderthals had its benefits, namely, the absence of social media and fearmongering.
A recent poll revealed that 41% of one of the political parties in America believe that more than HALF of the people who are infected with Covid-19, or its variants, require hospitalization. The correct answer? Less than 5% require hospitalization.
Forgive some of us for being skeptical when people appeal to “the science” as a static authority.
Oh, in that case it is fine to hide your kid’s positive Covid test and send them to their lacrosse game! Only a 1 in 20 chance that whoever they infect will end up in the hospital…
I’m not saying that at all Michael. If your child has the virus, they should stay home. My point is simple–let’s not exaggerate the risk of severe illness among otherwise healthy, vaccinated people. Those segments of the population which have higher risk factors are free to take extra precautions.
What does that one bad popular poll in which the subjects misunderstood the epidemiology have to do with the sanctity of science itself? If a kid fails in math quiz, does that deligitimize math in your mind?
Anyway, you turned a potentially interesting debate about societal ethics and obligations into a game of whack-a-mole. You’re why I quit Facebook. Over and out.
What the poll reveals is that many people who claim the moral high ground by appealing to “the sanctity of science” are often the same people who are badly in error about the statistical realities.
Sorry for upsetting you Larry. Maybe we can resolve our differences on Twitter later.
Would you send your children to school with chickenpox, measles, or the flu? No. So why there’s even a question about whether it’s ok to send kids to school with COVID escapes me. If you think that’s ok because someone on TV told you COVID is somehow benign, I suggest changing the channel to tune out whatever misinformation you’ve been consuming.