- Target:
- Dr. Rachel Levine
- Region:
- United States of America
Regarding COVID-19 and the reopening of schools this fall- we want to make decisions for our kids based on the facts-
* The American Academy of pediatrics recommends resuming in person learning in the fall. Keeping children at home for distance learning isolates children and increases the risk of depression and suicide. There is also less reporting of child abuse when students are not going to school every day.
*If there was a 1% increase in suicide in our youth, that increase alone would constitute more deaths than all the coronavirus deaths of school-age children up to this point.
* In people under 70, the coronavirus is less deadly than the flu. The death rate for people under 70 is currently .04%.
*Australia’s deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth said the following:
”COVID-19 is not the flu. Far fewer children are affected by COVID-19 and the number of transmissions from children to children and from children to adult is far less. As an infectious disease expert, I have examined all of the available evidence from within Australia and around the world and, as it stands, it does not support avoiding classroom learning as a means to control COVID-19.”
*In Denmark, schools have been open since late April. They are not requiring masks, and the number of infected children has not grown. It has steadily declined.
*A swiss study found that the viral loads of COVID-19 are low in children, which means that children are less likely to transmit the disease to other children or to adults.
Dr. Levine:
I am writing this in response to the recent mask mandatory order in schools that was announced on July 6, 2020. As a healthcare worker and mother of 6 (4 of which are school age children) your mandate is grossly negligent and is going to damage not only children’s physical health but mental health as well.
With your background in Pediatrics, I would hope you have thought about the physical side effects of prolong mask usage on children. These include, but not limited to, the affect a person’s respiratory system, skin irritations, and adverse effects of recirculating any virus into the nasal/sinus and upper respiratory passages. “A recent study involving 159 healthcare workers aged 21-35 found that 81% developed headaches from wearing a mask…if worn for hours, can reduce blood oxygenation as much as 20%. Proper oxygenation of blood is essential for energy, mental clarity, focus and emotional well-being.” (2020 Study conducted by The American Headache Society on PPE during COVID)
Surgical masks have a 55% success rate at preventing the spread of COVID, while cloth masks have a 20-30% success rate. The CDC has stated that facemasks (surgical & cloth) are giving a false sense of security as they do not fit properly, and people (especially children) are touching their face and it is not as effective. In children, I believe we are looking at rate of 10% effectiveness.
At what point do you put mental wellbeing of our children below a virus that has a less than 1% fatality rate? What about the child who has Autism? Claustrophobia, PTSD from a traumatic experience? How will our preschoolers learn facial expressions of peers without seeing their face and language development? I fear our society will have a different pandemic 10 years from now. I see a mental health pandemic as a side effect of the overzealous, counterproductive, COVID mandates that are being put into place today. I see antidepressant medication at an all-time high, the school system in shambles, and teenagers/early adults not being able to maintain employment or interact with people of a different background outside their home.
My question is to YOU, Dr. Levine, is this the pandemic you are willing to take full responsibility for? Have you thought about what damage you are doing to the future?
I understand research is still being conducted every day. You need to step back and let parents decide what is best for their child. What is one fit for a specific area, is not a one size fits all. Our area, even with the current “spike”, has the lowest hospitalizations since April.
It is time for the mandates to go away. We the people (your employer) are putting you on notice. Be transparent with CDC observations and let each parent, business owner and school district make their own decisions. This is not a pandemic of a virus, but a pandemic of dominance that you have taken, like so many others across the country in your position.
Sincerely,
Concerned Parents in Pennsylvania
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Our Children Our Decision- Normal School For Kids petition to Dr. Rachel Levine was written by Amy Faltot and is in the category Education at GoPetition.