According to JAMA Pediatrics, an estimated 6 million American children now have Long Covid. This makes Long Covid the most common chronic disease in children, surpassing asthma. We know how to manage asthma. We have no reliable treatment for Long Covid.
Covid is airborne. It lingers in the air like smoke. Without ventilation, it accumulates in classrooms, on buses, in auditoriums, and other enclosed spaces. Studies show reinfection more than doubles the risk of developing Long Covid, and children have decades of exposures ahead of them.
I understand why we have moved on. Vaccines help, though their protection against Long Covid is modest. Years of vigilance is burdensome. Wanting normalcy is a loving impulse. But the virus is a relentless force of nature, and unless we face the reality of the situation, the numbers will keep climbing.
There are things we can do. State Rep. Camille Lilly is sponsoring legislation to improve air quality in every public school classroom in Illinois, starting with air quality monitors. Her bill has passed the House Education Committee and is awaiting a full House vote. A companion bill is before the state Senate. Call your representatives and tell them you support legislative measures to clean air in schools.
Wastewater surveillance at PMC19.com gives a snapshot of Covid levels every week. When levels are high, a mask in a classroom or on a school bus is not paranoia; it is harm reduction, no different from a bike helmet or a seatbelt.
Teaching a child to wear a mask, or wearing one yourself, feels harder than it should. It comes with real social and emotional cost, and I won’t pretend it doesn’t. But Long Covid is harder. Oak Park prides itself on trusting science and its commitment to community care. The science is alarming, and the children in our community cannot protect themselves without our support.
Source: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(25)00496-7/fulltext