An interesting bill has been introduced into the state of Virginia’s House of Representatives.  The Western Journal is reporting that Virginia Republican lawmaker Michael J. Webert has introduced House Bill 1742, which would tie certain school funding to in-person instruction.

The bill states:

[I]n the event that any school board does not provide the option of in-person instruction as the sole method of instruction for any enrolled student...the parent of any such student who withdraws his child from attendance to receive, upon request, an education voucher...to cover the expenses of providing in-person instruction in an alternative setting.

America’s schoolchildren are paying a very high price during these shutdowns, especially since the science does not back up the shutdown decision.

Back in July the director of the Centers for Disease Control said that:

having the schools actually closed is a greater health threat to the children than having them open.

Just a couple of weeks ago the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield reiterated that schools should not be closed during the coronavirus pandemic as they are a safe place for children when he said:

The truth is for kids K–12, one of the safest places they can be, from our perspective, is to remain in school

Then we have the science which is on the side of keeping schools open.  As I previously reported, on September 10th the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its estimated Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) parameters to include age-specific data.  This data demonstrates that almost all people who contract the COVID-19 virus actually survive.  The way the Democratic Governors, other elected Democratic politicians, and the media discuss and report the virus you would think most people who contract it die.

CDC’s new IFR survivability estimates after contracting the virus are broken down by age as part of the agency’s “COVID-19 Pandemic Planning Scenarios" Scenario 5: Current Best Estimate are as follows:

  • 0-19 years old survivability rate is 99.997%
  • 20-49 years old survivability rate is 99.98%
  • 50-69 years old survivability rate is 99.5%
  • 70 years old or older survivability rate is 94.6%

To put that in a different perspective the CDC’s new estimate for the death rate after contracting COVID-19 by age are:

  • 0-19 years old death rate is .003% or .00003
  • 20-49 years old death rate is .02% or .0002
  • 50-69 years old death rate is .5%% or .005
  • 70 years old or older death rate is 5.4% or .054

What do these numbers show? They show the vast majority of Americans face no risk, virtually no risk from COVID-19. For people aged one year to 69 years, the survival rate post-infection with COVID is over 99.5%. For young people under the age of 20, which is most college students, who are being thrown out of school for hanging out outside and congregating with more people than their government allows them to, the survival rate according to the CDC is 99.997%.

Can someone explain why exactly we are keeping the schools closed to in-person instruction?

Should Michigan consider a bill like this?  Perhaps if this was to miraculously pass, the schools would decide to do what they are paid to do and give the students of Michigan the best education they can in-person.

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