DCHAS-L Archives, Oct 08 2020 - Re: [DCHAS-L] PEER files complaint for NYC teachers

Thanks Alan. The point I made to the teachers is to look at the testing program for actors and crew and the good ventilation. And understand that in the grand scheme of things, they are more important to the culture than we in entertainment are. The country owes them the best protection, and they are not getting it.

Monona

-----Original Message-----
From: Alan Hall <oldeddoc**At_Symbol_Here**GMAIL.COM>
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Sent: Wed, Oct 7, 2020 3:46 pm
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] PEER files complaint for NYC teachers

Et al,

Kudos to PEER and especially to Monona who have outlined the EHS/OHS issues of inadequate ventilation in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teachers with the known co-morbitities associated with severe COVID-19 infection should be screened by Occupational Physicians or Nurses prior to such employees returning to physical classrooms.

Alan

Alan H. Hall, M.D.

Medical Toxicologist

On Wed, Oct 7, 2020 at 1:05 PM DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org> wrote:

Note Monona's technical analysis of the role of ventilation in managing Covid concerns is the meat of the complaint available at the URL below.

- Ralph

Here are the first three paragraphs of a Press Release from PEER. I'm proud to say I'm referenced in the Complaint and my report is Exhibit A. Monona

For Immediate Release: Monday, October 5, 2020
Contact: Kyla Bennett (508)230-9933; Joel Kupferman (917) 414-1983; Kirsten Stade kstade**At_Symbol_Here**peer.org

NYC SCHOOLS LACK VENTILATION TO STOP COVID SPREAD

Teachers File Complaint Charging Unsafe Conditions in Re-Opened Schools New York -
Many New York City schools lack sufficient ventilation to stem the spread of COVID-19 making them unsafe to reoccupy, according to a complaint filed today on behalf of teachers by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and the Environmental Justice Initiative (EJI). The complaint to the state Labor Department seeks inspections to determine whether schools are ventilated and filtrated to adequately protect teachers, students, and staff from exposure to airborne SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19..

Filed under the Public Employee Safety and Health Act (PESH), the complaint comes from 56 public school teachers at nine campuses in Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan, but is based on conditions that appear to be prevalent throughout the New York City school system. The gist of the complaint is that: 1) most school buildings are improperly ventilated; and 2) the Department of Education's minimalistic ventilation standards do not prevent the spread of COVID-19 or protect staff.

"The core concern is that most New York's schools are incubators rather than safe havens from Coronavirus," stated PEER Science Policy Director Kyla Bennett, a scientist and attorney formerly with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, noting the reliance on the "tissue test" to see if there is enough circulation to move a piece of toilet paper on a stick. "New York's education ventilation standards for schools are simply not designed for virus control."

The whole complaint is at:
https://www.peer.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/10_5_20_PESH_complaint.pdf
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