On schools in COVID-19 times

Sweden kept all schools until 9th grade open. 

Parents of children in 9th grade are almost always less than 50 years of age. 

In Sweden, as of January 26, 2022, out of all 15,744 Coronavirus deaths, 239, 1.5%, were younger than 50 years; 98.5% older than 50. (under age of 20, 16 dead)

Based on that data the logical conclusion should be to keep schools open, keep older teachers at home and refrain grandparents from hugging their grandchildren.

 

In Sweden, 2020, up to 9th grade, including preschool, there were around 1.2 million students. On January 2022, two years with Covid, that results in 2 under 50 years of age Covid-19 deaths per 100.000 students. Compared to the many costs of keeping the youngest out of school, is that not significantly insignificant?

Disseminating data on new Covid-19 cases without data on hospitalizations / deaths or other serious consequences, discriminated by age, gender, race, location or other significant factors amounts to serious misinformation. That impedes citizens to cooperate with their own informed decisions.

Trust! In 2016 Swedish authorities issued my mother a driver license that would expire when she was 103 years of age. Asking about the wisdom of it, I was told Swedes were supposed to know when they were fit to drive or not. Does that not go for Covid-19 behavior/response too?

P.S. Some look to keep the elderly safe, but open up schools and the economy for the rest, so as to perhaps pursuit herd immunity. Other seem to want to impose even stricter lock downs. Could they instead be pursuing herd docility?

Tweets in times of Covid-19

Hugo Chavez and the poor of Venezuela

Now upon his death, we often hear news-media reporting in reference to Hugo Chavez, that he helped to pull a lot of Venezuelans out of poverty. That is simply not true. 

Hugo Chavez did indeed help many poor to live better in poverty, good for him, but that is far different than pulling poor out of poverty. To do so exceeded by far Hugo Chavez’s capabilities, and that of his collaborators. 

Those Venezuelans who did manage to pull themselves out of poverty, did that entirely on their own, or with the help of oil revenues and corruption and very little else.