Bronwen writes:
Hi Twiv team,
Greetings from Sydney Australia where it is damp 24 degrees C with possible storms.
I just listened to the 2021 wrap up and shared your sense that 2020 and 2021 have blurred into one. Discovering Twiv was a silver lining in grim times. (Although we have had it better than many in Australia, my mother was in aged care, which has been tough everywhere.)
My pick is an article that does a great job wrapping up reasons for keeping schools open in spite of the explosion in Omicron – we don’t know exactly how many people have the virus because there are now too many people to test, but I now personally know seven in the last week, whereas previously I knew one, in the whole of the pandemic. (Fortunately all who could be were vaccinated). I know there have been similar articles in US publications, but I liked the way these local doctors (one of whom I should admit I know personally) consider both their own, and other research, and make what I think is a really solid case. We have been incredibly careful about Covid-19 here in Australia, which makes the process of adjusting to new circumstances really challenging, and emotionally fraught. This article brings some of the same careful rational thinking I hear every week on TWIV, to a ‘naive’ (to use a virus pun!) audience.
It’s time for children’s lives to return to normal – schools must stay open
For our free coronavirus pandemic coverage, learn more here. Australia is unequivocally living with COVID-19 but as NSW rides a third wave of infections, community unease continues to rise …
www.smh.com.au
Thanks so much for all you do.
Bronwen
John writes:
Some pandemic humor:
https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1475320070666539008/pu/vid/576×318/pgPDRPXMGXG8e4K2.mp4?tag=12
—
John Shea, SJ, Ph.D.
Jesuit Community Creighton University
Omaha, NE