Speaking of Covid

It turns out that some very basic measures can mitigate the transmission of Covid, and it's so simple that an elementary school student can do it.

Or, more accurately then can when their elementary school cuts through the bullsh%$ and creates a comprehensive and transparent strategy to deal with potential infections.

That wasn't so hard:

A small primary school in Brisbane's west has done what many others have been unable to achieve during COVID-19's Omicron wave in Queensland: remain outbreak-free.

And it's all a result of a group of dads at the Brisbane Independent School in Pullenvale getting together with the principal and using science and engineering knowledge to prevent SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 — spreading through classrooms.

George Roff, a Brisbane scientist who specialises in marine ecology, said the working group — including an engineer and a medical specialist — started discussing ways of stemming the spread of COVID-19 through the 71-student school in December, after Queensland's interstate borders reopened.

Using a smoke machine, they studied airflow patterns in the school's five classrooms and administration areas.

Carbon dioxide meters were also used to identify low-ventilation areas or "dead spots".

They then purchased air purifiers — known as high-efficiency particulate absorbing (HEPA) filters — to mitigate the risk from SARS-CoV-2 particles that might be circulating in classrooms and other indoor areas of the school.

Although one teacher and up to two students in most, but not all classes, have had COVID-19 during Queensland's rampant Omicron wave, no in-school transmission has been identified.

"Our goal in creating clean-air classrooms at the school was to minimise this risk of transmission within the community," Dr Roff said.

Their approach has been called "Innovative".  It's not.

It's basic common sense steps that have been known since (at least) the end of World War II.

The reason that people are stunned by the program and its success is because the public health establishment has been opposed to the basic idea of public health because ……… FREEDUMB.

The polity of much of the developed world, and public health establishment in particular, is horrified by the idea that there are issues that must be addressed as a society, and cannot be cast as a matter of personal moral failings.

Anything else is evil socialism, and will lead to a downfall of society and your kid dating that 30-year old guy with the piercings and tattoos.

The Neocon Free Market Mousketeers™ believe, as Margaret Thatcher infamously said, "There's No Such Thing as Society."

If there is no such thing as society, then the "Public" in "Public Health" is an anathema.