Brighton’s mother, 6, contracts Covid from a school where there is no mask warrant

BRIGHTON, Michigan (FOX 2) – “I have done everything in my power over the past two years to prevent it – she is wearing a mask,” Christina Kafkakis said.

But she said it was not enough. Her 6-year-old daughter who wears a mask at school was infected with Covid after being exposed at her Brighton primary school located in Livingston County where there is no mask warrant.

Christina says parents have expressed concerns to the school board, but the board has refused to require children to wear masks.

“I spoke about this at a few board meetings when I spoke,” she said. “I asked them how would they feel if someone went to the hospital or got seriously ill. They said it was the parents’ choice. I didn’t choose my daughter to get Covid.”

The cases are spreading so quickly that on Tuesday Christina said the school had sent students home until November 30. The Brighton outbreak is one of a growing number of pediatric cases in our state, which officials at Beaumont Hospital say helped create our state’s fourth outbreak.

“I have felt anecdotally, and have seen with my own eyes, that there is still a reluctance to vaccinate in this age group,” said Dr Nick Gilpin of the Health System. Beaumont. “So the biggest increase among school-aged children – also most of the new outbreaks of Covid, is happening in schools. “

Gilpin, an infectious disease doctor, attributed the increase in Covid cases in children to cold weather sending more people indoors, as well as relaxed behaviors in large gatherings, schools that don’t do not need masks and unvaccinated.

He says 70 percent of patients treated in the hospital right now are not vaccinated. Some of them are children.

“Remember, these kids might not get as sick from Covid, but some of them will. They can catch it, pass Covid on to others, their teachers, their households, and it becomes a way for the virus to spread further. “

Christina says her daughter received her first dose last Thursday and was exposed the next day. She has now passed it on to her 10-year-old brother.

So far, the symptoms are mild and no one else in their now isolated and fully vaccinated family has been infected.

Related: Michigan’s 4th wave of Covid looks more like a “marathon,” says Beaumont chief; “It could be a matter of 4 to 5 months”

Going forward, Christina hopes that despite their political beliefs, people will do what they need to do to stop this wave of Covid, which doctors say could last up to five months.

“A lot of people talk about their personal freedoms and their personal beliefs,” she said. “I really think we should be thinking of the greater good.”

Christina Kafkakis’ daughter who recently caught Covid at school.