Exercise interventions can help people with asthma

 Interventions aimed at promoting physical activity in people with asthma could improve their symptoms and quality of life -- according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

Researchers looked at whether interventions such as aerobic and strength or resistance training, had helped participants with asthma.

Although they found that these interventions worked, patients with asthma may have had difficulty undertaking them because of their difficulty travelling to fitness groups or because the interventions were not suitable for people with additional health conditions.

But the team say that digital interventions -- such as video appointments, smartwatches and mobile apps -- could remove some of these barriers and enable patients to carry out home-based programmes in future.

Prof Andrew Wilson, from UEA's Norwich Medical School, said: "Being physically active is widely recommended for people with asthma. Doing more than 150 minutes a week of moderate to vigorous physical activity has extensive benefits including improved lung function and asthma control.

"But research has shown that people living with asthma engage in less physical activity and are more sedentary than people without asthma.

"We wanted to find out whether interventions -- such as being asked to perform aerobic exercise a few times a week in group sessions, together with 'goal setting' -- are effective in helping people with asthma be more active."

The team studied interventions that were designed to promote physical activity in adults with asthma. They looked at 25 separate studies from around the world involving 1,849 participants with asthma, to see whether their symptoms and quality of life were changed thanks to the interventions.

Postgraduate researcher Leanne Tyson, also from UEA's Norwich Medical School said: "We found that interventions that promote physical activity had significant benefits in terms of increasing physical activity, decreasing time spent sedentary, improving quality of life, and decreasing asthma symptoms.

"This is really important because helping patients make significant behaviour changes could really improve their outcomes in the long term.

"Our review also highlights the potential use of digital interventions, which were notably absent.

"This is important now more than ever as patients have not been able to attend face-to-face support during the Covid-19 pandemic, and services will likely become overwhelmed. Therefore, alternative interventions and methods of delivery need to be considered."

This study was funded by the Asthma UK Centre For Applied Research.

'A Systematic Review of the Characteristics of Interventions that Promote Physical Activity in Adults with Asthma' is published in the Journal of Health Psychology.

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Story Source:

Materials provided by University of East Anglia. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Leanne Tyson, Wendy Hardeman, Malcolm Marquette, Joanna Semlyen, Gareth Stratton, Andrew M Wilson. A systematic review of the characteristics of interventions that promote physical activity in adults with asthma. Journal of Health Psychology, 2021; 135910532110593 DOI: 10.1177/13591053211059386

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220107084425.htm

Exercise alters brain chemistry to protect aging synapses

 When elderly people stay active, their brains have more of a class of proteins that enhances the connections between neurons to maintain healthy cognition, a UC San Francisco study has found.

This protective impact was found even in people whose brains at autopsy were riddled with toxic proteins associated with Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

"Our work is the first that uses human data to show that synaptic protein regulation is related to physical activity and may drive the beneficial cognitive outcomes we see," said Kaitlin Casaletto, PhD, an assistant professor of neurology and lead author on the study, which appears in the January 7 issue of Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.

The beneficial effects of physical activity on cognition have been shown in mice but have been much harder to demonstrate in people.

Casaletto, a neuropsychologist and member of the Weill Institute for Neurosciences, worked with William Honer, MD, a professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia and senior author of the study, to leverage data from the Memory and Aging Project at Rush University in Chicago. That project tracked the late-life physical activity of elderly participants, who also agreed to donate their brains when they died.

"Maintaining the integrity of these connections between neurons may be vital to fending off dementia, since the synapse is really the site where cognition happens," Casaletto said. "Physical activity -- a readily available tool -- may help boost this synaptic functioning."

More Proteins Mean Better Nerve Signals

Honer and Casaletto found that elderly people who remained active had higher levels of proteins that facilitate the exchange of information between neurons. This result dovetailed with Honer's earlier finding that people who had more of these proteins in their brains when they died were better able to maintain their cognition late in life.

To their surprise, Honer said, the researchers found that the effects ranged beyond the hippocampus, the brain's seat of memory, to encompass other brain regions associated with cognitive function.

"It may be that physical activity exerts a global sustaining effect, supporting and stimulating healthy function of proteins that facilitate synaptic transmission throughout the brain," Honer said.

Synapses Safeguard Brains Showing Signs of Dementia

The brains of most older adults accumulate amyloid and tau, toxic proteins that are the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease pathology. Many scientists believe amyloid accumulates first, then tau, causing synapses and neurons to fall apart.

Casaletto previously found that synaptic integrity, whether measured in the spinal fluid of living adults or the brain tissue of autopsied adults, appeared to dampen the relationship between amyloid and tau, and between tau and neurodegeneration.

"In older adults with higher levels of the proteins associated with synaptic integrity, this cascade of neurotoxicity that leads to Alzheimer's disease appears to be attenuated," she said. "Taken together, these two studies show the potential importance of maintaining synaptic health to support the brain against Alzheimer's disease."

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of California - San Francisco. Original written by Robin Marks. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Kaitlin Casaletto, Alfredo Ramos‐Miguel, Anna VandeBunte, Molly Memel, Aron Buchman, David Bennett, William Honer. Late‐life physical activity relates to brain tissue synaptic integrity markers in older adults. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 2022; DOI: 10.1002/alz.12530

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220107100955.htm

Biden's Vaccine Idolatry is Not Working

 President Biden won the White House promising to resolve the Covid crisis, and prematurely declared victory on July 4^th so he could shift attention to his Build Back Better boondoggle. As America’s Covid deaths in his first year exceeded those in President Trump’s last year, liberals are eager to blame conservatives for refusing to “follow the science.” Biden has framed vaccination as self-evident patriotic duty — rather than a personal choice based on risk tolerance and individual circumstances — giving liberals another excuse to feel morally superior.    

Today’s Supreme Court hearing on vaccine mandates for large companies and health care facilities provides an opportunity to give Americans the responsibility to make their own heath care decisions. As President Obama opposed health insurance mandates before he was for them, Biden once opposed vaccine mandates. Biden’s employer mandate in September conveniently allowed him to demonstrate executive action. His approval ratings had dropped to their then-lowest levels, thanks to the messy withdrawal from Afghanistan and rise in covid cases. 

A majority of Democrats and Independents supported the mandate, while over two-thirds of Republicans opposed it, but he wasn’t getting the latter’s votes anyway. He probably thought the surge would end on its own, and assumed he’d get credit for taking aggressive, albeit superfluous, action. Biden undercut his messaging by snapping he was “losing patience” with the unvaccinated, especially since many vaccinated understand their concerns, support religious, medical, and testing exemptions required by the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and do not want them fired.

Even before rules were promulgated, the announcement gave companies an excuse to require vaccines. Though the EEOC, beginning under Trump, advised companies they could mandate vaccination, many feared losing employees in a tight labor market and hid behind Biden’s announcement. Some health care facilities reported difficulty maintaining staffing levels due to turnover caused by the mandates and reduced services.

States have broad police powers they can invoke in emergencies. The Supreme Court ruled in the 1905 case of Jacobson vs. Massachusetts that states can mandate vaccines, but federalism allows states powers denied to Biden. Courts and legislators have curtailed emergency powers the longer the pandemic lasts, as governments have time to enact policies through normal legislative processes. Over half of the states passed laws limiting public health authority. After giving Biden time to pass legislation, the Supreme Court struck down the CDC's ban on evictions started under Trump. Several states have challenged Biden’s mandates in court or banned them via laws and executive orders.

Biden relies on an expansive interpretation of public health authority to justify mandates. When OSHA issued an emergency covid rule in June concerning health care workers, it had previously lost in court five out of nine times it offered emergency standards. The last time it used this emergency authority was 1983. OHSA has to show “employees are exposed to grave danger from exposure to substances or agents determined to be toxic or physically harmful.”  “Substance” has generally been interpreted as a chemical; a court ruled in 1985 that OSHA can define “grave danger,” but today's court should worry that gives the agency too much power. Challengers to the health care mandate can cite the Supreme Court’s Affordable Care Act ruling that the Department of Health and Human Services cannot use funding to “coerce” states to expand Medicaid.

Biden’s obsession with vaccines and masks causes him to neglect tests and treatments, seeing them as distractions that will be rendered obsolete by universal vaccination. Vice President Harris admitted they did not anticipate and prepare for more transmissible Delta and Omicron variants. The CDC in June said vaccinated individuals no longer needed to be tested, and the administration failed to approve tests available in Europe. The mixed messaging and uneven demand caused Abbott Laboratories to lay off workers, cancel supplier contracts, and destroy millions of tests. Biden’s mandate that unvaccinated employees be tested weekly creates even more unmet demand. While America has led other nations in developing and securing vaccines, the U.K. and Germany have done a better job providing rapid tests.

Biden belatedly credited Trump for vaccine development, but has not learned the lessons of his public-private partnership. Operation Warp Speed paid vaccine companies to scale up manufacturing during FDA’s review, ensuring adequate supplies upon approval. Biden failed to do the same with tests and treatments. Though Biden signed purchase agreements with Merck and Pfizer for treatments, relatively few doses will be available in coming weeks.

Biden should be giving Americans options for managing the Omicron surge and creating confidence among the vaccinated. He instead defines success in case numbers rather than more pertinent measures like serious cases, mortality, and hospital capacity, undervaluing the loss of freedom, privacy, and normalcy. Overpromising and underdelivering leave the vaccinated disappointed when confronted with breakthrough infections and calls for boosters, masks, and quarantines, and cause the unvaccinated to wonder why they should bother getting shots. Both groups suffer from covid fatigue and increasingly tune out experts. Biden’s top-down approach and repeated cycle of failed promises feed increasing polarization and decreasing trust.

Mindlessly chanting “follow the science” seeks to delegitimize conservatives without considering the merits of their arguments. “Follow the science” did not apply when Democrats questioned vaccines, and public health experts advocated delaying their approval while Trump was in office. “Follow the science” does not apply when serious researchers explore whether herd immunity is a workable strategy, risk-based approaches should differ by age and other demographics, or the costs of eradicating covid exceed the benefit beyond making it endemic and largely survivable.

Biden’s strident rhetoric castigates mandate opponents as opposing science and favoring Covid.  He seems more interested in browbeating than persuading the unvaccinated, and ignores the reasonable pro-vaccine, anti-mandate, and anti-school closures position that worked for Glenn Youngkin. One can believe in vaccines’ efficacy without believing them panaceas. Biden should follow the science and adopt a more holistic approach, as his vaccine idolatry is not working.

Bobby Jindal was governor of Louisiana, 2008-16, and a candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. He currently chairs the Center for a Healthy America for the America First Policy Institute.

https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2022/01/07/bidens_vaccine_idolatry_is_not_working_810996.html

Florida to send 1 million at-home COVID-19 tests to nursing home, long-term care facilities

 Florida is sending out 1 million at-home COVID-19 tests to nursing homes and long-term care facilities across the state, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday.

He held a news conference at the Rehabilitation Center of the Palm Beaches, in part to show the need to put seniors first for high-value testing.

High-value testing is when people who have symptoms get tested in order to access treatment that would change their outcomes if they're positive, according to Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo.

He said this is "the example that we're setting in Florida" for the rest of the country, before discussing how consistently testing without symptoms isn't "normal."

DeSantis said the federal government hasn't followed through after promising tests to people, and so the state took matters into its own hands.

The goal is that there will also be enough supply to send tests to community sites where there have also been vaccination centers, DeSantis said.

The tests will be sent to the facilities based on bed numbers starting tomorrow, getting to them around the weekend. They are just starter kits to be used for people who have symptoms, Florida Department of Emergency Management Kevin Guthrie said. Facilities will be able to request more if they are needed.

There are about 700 nursing homes and about 3,000 long-term care facilities in Florida, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Simone Marstiller.

She noted strike teams have been working on vaccines, boosters, monoclonal antibodies and now tests for seniors since the beginning of the pandemic.

“There is an entire structure that is happening behind the scenes to make sure that these individuals get the resources that they need,” Marstiller said.

DeSantis said they are still waiting on about 30,000 monoclonal antibody treatments that they were getting from a source before it was stopped by the federal government. As soon as this is received, they have the ability to set up sites across Florida, including one in Palm Beach County, within 48 hours.

"We're gonna keep fighting," DeSantis said.

https://www.wpbf.com/article/florida-west-palm-beach-governor-desantis/38683171

‘Flurona’ an emerging condition of concern among doctors

 “Flurona,” a portmanteau of flu and coronavirus, is a condition that is of concern to doctors because it involves people fighting dual infections at the same time.

It’s not something new and not uncommon for people to be co-infected with more than one different pathogen. But last flu season was atypically mild, and you’re likely to be hearing more about flurona as this year’s flu season ramps up.

“In the case of influenza and SARS-CoV-2, both viruses can affect the lungs, and both can lead to multi-organ failure and death. So there can be severe consequences of either infection. And when you combine both together, it’s potentially more serious,” said Dr. Matthew B. Laurens, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Until studies on cases of flurona hospitalizations and deaths are done, it is unknown whether someone’s vaccination status affects the likelihood of getting a co-infection or having severe consequences from co-infection.

“What we do know is that those who are vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 are much less likely to be hospitalized and have those severe outcomes,” Laurens said.

As for the flu, the most current data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the week ending Dec. 25 show there’s still low transmission of flu in most areas of the U.S. Flu activity is expected to increase over coming months. “And that is when we would be able to look more closely to see if the co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and influenza leads to potentially severe outcomes,” Laurens said.

Laurens notes that treating a dual infection of influenza and COVID-19 can be challenging because using steroids can help people hospitalized with COVID-19 but not flu patients.

“For influenza in hospitalized patients, steroids have not been shown systematically to improve outcomes in individuals, perhaps because it may suppress an individual’s own immune response against the influenza virus,” Laurens said.

Because co-infections are known to happen, it’s expected that COVID-19 co-infections also can occur with common winter viruses, such as respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and human metapneumovirus — two of the leading causes of respiratory infections in children and elderly and immunocompromised people.

“All of these viruses can circulate and most of them can be prevented by using measures, such as mask-wearing, social distancing, careful hand hygiene and avoiding crowded areas. So the things that people have been advised to do to avoid SARS-CoV-2 would work for these other respiratory viruses as well,” Laurens said.

The situation is being monitored closely.

“Ongoing public health surveillance is needed to assess the burden of SARS-CoV-2 infection and interactions with other respiratory viruses, including influenza,” according an article from CDC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases.

The article recommends doctors encourage people to get both flu and COVID-19 shots, “especially among persons of color and low-income residents, who are disproportionately affected by both diseases.”

https://wtop.com/coronavirus/2022/01/flurona-is-an-emerging-condition-of-concern-among-doctors/

Emanuel, Osterholm & Gounder's 'National Strategy for the New Normal of Life With COVID'

 As the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 demonstrates, COVID-19 is here to stay. In January 2021, President Biden issued the “National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness.” As the US moves from crisis to control, this national strategy needs to be updated. Policy makers need to specify the goals and strategies for the “new normal” of life with COVID-19 and communicate them clearly to the public.

SARS-CoV-2 continues to persist, evolve, and surprise. In July 2021, with vaccinations apace and infection rates plummeting, Biden proclaimed that “we’ve gained the upper hand against this virus,” and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) relaxed its guidance for mask wearing and socializing.¹ By September 2021, the Delta variant proved these steps to be premature, and by late November, the Omicron variant created concern about a perpetual state of emergency.

In delineating a national strategy, humility is essential. The precise duration of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 from vaccination or prior infection is unknown. Also unknown is whether SARS-CoV-2 will become a seasonal infection; whether antiviral therapies will prevent long COVID; or whether even more transmissible, immune-evading, or virulent variants will arise after Omicron.

Another part of this humility is recognizing that predictions are necessary but educated guesses, not mathematical certainty. The virus, host response, and data will evolve. Biomedical and public health tools will expand, along with better understanding of their limitations. The incidence of SARS-CoV-2, vaccination rates, hospital capacity, tolerance for risk, and willingness to implement different interventions will vary geographically, and national recommendations will need to be adapted locally.

It is imperative for public health, economic, and social functioning that US leaders establish and communicate specific goals for COVID-19 management, benchmarks for the imposition or relaxation of public health restrictions, investments and reforms needed to prepare for future SARS-CoV-2 variants and other novel viruses, and clear strategies to accomplish all of this.

Redefining the Appropriate National Risk Level

The goal for the “new normal” with COVID-19 does not include eradication or elimination, eg, the “zero COVID” strategy.² Neither COVID-19 vaccination nor infection appear to confer lifelong immunity. Current vaccines do not offer sterilizing immunity against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Infectious diseases cannot be eradicated when there is limited long-term immunity following infection or vaccination or nonhuman reservoirs of infection. The majority of SARS-CoV-2 infections are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, and the SARS-CoV-2 incubation period is short, preventing the use of targeted strategies like “ring vaccination.” Even “fully” vaccinated individuals are at risk for breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection. Consequently, a “new normal with COVID” in January 2022 is not living without COVID-19.

The “new normal” requires recognizing that SARS-CoV-2 is but one of several circulating respiratory viruses that include influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and more. COVID-19 must now be considered among the risks posed by all respiratory viral illnesses combined. Many of the measures to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (eg, ventilation) will also reduce transmission of other respiratory viruses. Thus, policy makers should retire previous public health categorizations, including deaths from pneumonia and influenza or pneumonia, influenza, and COVID-19, and focus on a new category: the aggregate risk of all respiratory virus infections.

What should be the peak risk level for cumulative viral respiratory illnesses for a “normal” week? Even though seasonal influenza, RSV, and other respiratory viruses circulating before SARS-CoV-2 were harmful, the US has not considered them a sufficient threat to impose emergency measures in over a century. People have lived normally with the threats of these viruses, even though more could have been done to reduce their risks.

The appropriate risk threshold should reflect peak weekly deaths, hospitalizations, and community prevalence of viral respiratory illnesses during high-severity years, such as 2017-2018.³ That year had approximately 41 million symptomatic cases of influenza, 710 000 hospitalizations and 52 000 deaths.⁴ In addition, the CDC estimates that each year RSV leads to more than 235 000 hospitalizations and 15 000 deaths in the US.³ This would translate into a risk threshold of approximately 35 000 hospitalizations and 3000 deaths (<1 death/100 000 population) in the worst week.

Today, the US is far from these thresholds. For the week of December 13, 2021, the CDC reported the US experienced more than 900 000 COVID-19 cases, more than 50 000 new hospitalizations for COVID-19, and more than 7000 deaths.^5,6 The tolerance for disease, hospitalization, and death varies widely among individuals and communities. What constitutes appropriate thresholds for hospitalizations and death, at what cost, and with what trade-offs remains undetermined.

This peak week risk threshold serves at least 2 fundamental functions. This risk threshold triggers policy recommendations for emergency implementation of mitigation and other measures. In addition, health systems could rely on this threshold for planning on the bed and workforce capacity they need normally, and when to institute surge measures.

Rebuilding Public Health

To cope with pandemic, and eventually, endemic SARS-CoV-2 and to respond to future public health threats requires deploying real-time information systems, a public health implementation workforce, flexible health systems, trust in government and public health institutions, and belief in the value of collective action for public good.^7,8

First, the US needs a comprehensive, digital, real-time, integrated data infrastructure for public health. As Omicron has reemphasized, the US is operating with imprecise estimates of disease spread, limited genomic surveillance, projections based on select reporting sites, and data from other countries that may not be generalizable. These shortcomings are threatening lives and societal function.

The US must establish a modern data infrastructure that includes real-time electronic collection of comprehensive information on respiratory viral infections, hospitalizations, deaths, disease-specific outcomes, and immunizations merged with sociodemographic and other relevant variables. The public health data infrastructure should integrate data from local, state, and national public health units, health care systems, public and commercial laboratories, and academic and research institutions. Using modern technology and analytics, it is also essential to merge nontraditional environmental (air, wastewater) surveillance data, including genomic data, with traditional clinical and epidemiological data to track outbreaks and target containment.

Second, the US needs a permanent public health implementation workforce that has the flexibility and surge capacity to manage persistent problems while simultaneously responding to emergencies. Data collection, analysis, and technical support are necessary, but it takes people to respond to crises. This implementation workforce should include a public health agency–based community health worker system and expanded school nurse system.

A system of community public health workers could augment the health care system by testing and vaccinating for SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory infections; ensuring adherence to ongoing treatment for tuberculosis, HIV, diabetes, and other chronic conditions; providing health screening and support to pregnant individuals and new parents and their newborns; and delivering various other public health services to vulnerable or homebound populations.

School nurses need to be empowered to address the large unmet public health needs of children and adolescents. As polio vaccination campaigns showed, school health programs are an efficient and effective way to care for children, including preventing and treating mild asthma exacerbations (often caused by viral respiratory infections), ensuring vaccination as a condition for attendance, and addressing adolescents’ mental and sexual health needs. School clinics must be adequately staffed and funded as an essential component of the nation’s public health infrastructure.

Third, because respiratory infections ebb and flow, institutionalizing telemedicine waivers, licensure to practice and enable billing across state lines, and other measures that allow the flow of medical services to severely affected regions should be a priority.

Fourth, it is essential to rebuild trust in public health institutions and a belief in collective action in service of public health.⁷ Communities with higher levels of trust and reciprocity, such as Denmark, have experienced lower rates of hospitalization and death from COVID-19.⁷ Improving public health data systems and delivering a diverse public health workforce that can respond in real time in communities will be important steps toward building that trust more widely.

Conclusions

After previous infectious disease threats, the US quickly forgot and failed to institute necessary reforms. That pattern must change with the COVID-19 pandemic. Without a strategic plan for the “new normal” with endemic COVID-19, more people in the US will unnecessarily experience morbidity and mortality, health inequities will widen, and trillions will be lost from the US economy. This time, the nation must learn and prepare effectively for the future.

The resources necessary to build and sustain an effective public health infrastructure will be substantial. Policy makers should weigh not only the costs but also the benefits, including fewer deaths and lost productivity from COVID-19 and all viral respiratory illnesses. Indeed, after more than 800 000 deaths from COVID-19, and a projected loss of $8 trillion in gross domestic product through 2030,⁸ these interventions will be immensely valuable.

Article Information

Corresponding Author: Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 423 Guardian Dr, Blockley Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (zemanuel@upenn.edu).

Published Online: January 6, 2022. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.24282

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Emanuel reported personal fees, nonfinancial support, or both from companies, organizations, and professional health care meetings and being a venture partner at Oak HC/FT; a partner at Embedded Healthcare LLC, ReCovery Partners LLC, and COVID-19 Recovery Consulting; and an unpaid board member of Village MD and Oncology Analytics. Dr Emanuel owns no stock in pharmaceutical, medical device companies, or health insurers. No other disclosures were reported.

Additional Information: Drs Emanuel, Osterholm, and Gounder were members of the Biden-Harris Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board from November 2020 to January 2021.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2787944

At many schools, NYC testing fewer kids for COVID than you might think

 Starting Monday, the city doubled the number of students it is randomly testing for COVID-19 in schools.

But at many schools, it still doesn’t amount to much.

At 60 schools that tested children Monday as part of the city’s surveillance testing program, fewer than 5% of the schools' total student population was tested, a NY1 analysis found.

NY1 scrutinized publicly posted testing data from 250 schools that tested students Monday, across all five boroughs and grade levels, and compared it to public enrollment data from last year, the most recent available.

At more than half those schools — 167 of them — fewer than 10% of students were tested. At some of the schools, it was even below 3%.

Olympia Kazi, who serves on the Parent Association at The East Village Community School, had similar findings when testers came there on Wednesday.

“Out of 305 that are enrolled in our school, when DOE came yesterday, they tested 12 kids. We were like, ‘how did they get to?’” she asked. “Isn’t it supposed to be 20%?”

Not exactly. 

The city is not testing 20% of all students. Instead, it is deriving its target testing number for each school from a much more complicated, and smaller, group.

Each week, schools must test a number of students equal to 20% of the school’s unvaccinated population who have also signed consent forms. That’s a subset of a subset of students, and at schools with either low consent rates or high vaccination rates, it leads to the kinds of numbers NY1 found and Kazi saw this week.

At her school, nearly all students have consented to testing.

“My school, thankfully, we have 97% opted in, so it’s great. But we actually have a lot of kids vaccinated: 270 qualified to vaccinate, and 201 have already been fully vaccinated. So that meant they calculate how many kids they’re going to test out of the 69 that are not vaccinated,” she said.

While the city is using the population of unvaccinated children as its benchmark for testing, it is now testing unvaccinated children as well at each school — in part because vaccines have proven less effective at stopping the spread of the omicron variant. That has some people wondering why the city hasn’t changed its benchmark.

The education department defends its testing.

“New York City doubled in-school testing and deployed 1.5 million rapid test kits when we welcomed students back to the classroom this week. Our surveillance testing program is the largest in the nation — far larger than the CDC or state recommends — and testing remains core to our goal of identifying cases, stopping transmission, and keeping schools safe,” spokesman Nathaniel Styer said.

But Kazi had a request for the DOE. 

“Can we make sure that we test more kids? Can we make sure that we test, also, the teachers?” she asked. “Otherwise we will not be able to stay open. That’s the sad truth.”

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2022/01/07/at-many-schools--the-city-is-testing-fewer-kids-for-covid-than-you-might-think