🧵 Ajax’s own MPP decided to take a non-essential trip outside of the country while our town moved from Red to Lockdown.

I don’t even know where to start on this. Rules for me and not for thee? Financial privilege in action? Getting away from the “plebs” in Ajax? #onpoli 1/x

My family had plans to travel to Europe this summer, but we knew that it had to be postponed to a safer time. We thought of postponing the trip to now, but decided against it until after vaccinations happened and travel advisories are lifted. #onpoli 2/x
And, by the way @RodPhillips01, as someone eligible to vote in Ajax, let me direct you to this big, bold, red text on Global Affairs Canada’s website. #onpoli 3/x
Yes, sometimes there may be an urgent need to leave the country (dying family member or other family emergency), but in a year where Ajacians, and indeed all Ontarians, have made so much sacrifice, this feels like a quintuple slap to the face. #onpoli 4/x
While individuals still go to high-risk, close-contact workplaces during “lockdown” to keep our supply and food chains going, @RodPhillips01 decides to go on vacation. Sounds like another example from a country a few hundred kilometres away. #onpoli 5/x
So, Minister, on Christmas Eve, you and your comms team highlighted the sacrifices we all had to make to limit the spread of COVID-19 this holiday season.

Yet you decided to leave Canada for a non-essential vacation during a global pandemic. #onpoli 6/x
You were parachuted into Ajax as a corporate executive to run against a long-time small business owner in Ajax. You won the chance to represent all Ajacians in June 2018. It seems like you’ve also decided to leave Ajacians behind in a crisis. That’s not leadership. #onpoli 7/x
Not only that, he’s left Ontarians behind as well. It’s been a long year for all of us, and the holiday season is a time for rest and reflection — but that also means continuing to follow public health advice and local restrictions.

Not flying around the world. #onpoli 8/x
Furthermore, this isn’t just the MPP for Ajax. This is Ontario’s Minister of Finance. For a government so concerned over balanced budgets, gov’t spending, and efficiencies, having your finance minister go on an international trip during a pandemic is not a good look. #onpoli 9/x
Am I mad? Angry? Furious? Disappointed? Not surprised?

Yes, all of it.

Ajax needs to take note of what their MPP did at the peak of the second wave of a deadly pandemic.

Leaders set priorities. Leaders get things done. @RodPhillips01 is not a leader. #onpoli 10/10 đź§µ
The only trip I’m taking right now is to Downtown Yikes City.

11/10 #onpoli https://t.co/ZAQ65eodTk
It keeps going. These dates don’t line up. Ajax deserves so, so, so much better.

12/10 #onpoli https://t.co/3HHMC7OUv2
.@RodPhillips01, can you or your team specify when the MPP visited these businesses? Was it before his vacation, during the mandatory quarantine period, or after his mandatory quarantine was completed? 13/10 #onpoli https://t.co/KhJojRbkXR

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Brief thread to debunk the repeated claims we hear about transmission not happening 'within school walls', infection in school children being 'a reflection of infection from the community', and 'primary school children less likely to get infected and contribute to transmission'.

I've heard a lot of scientists claim these three - including most recently the chief advisor to the CDC, where the claim that most transmission doesn't happen within the walls of schools. There is strong evidence to rebut this claim. Let's look at


Let's look at the trends of infection in different age groups in England first- as reported by the ONS. Being a random survey of infection in the community, this doesn't suffer from the biases of symptom-based testing, particularly important in children who are often asymptomatic

A few things to note:
1. The infection rates among primary & secondary school children closely follow school openings, closures & levels of attendance. E.g. We see a dip in infections following Oct half-term, followed by a rise after school reopening.


We see steep drops in both primary & secondary school groups after end of term (18th December), but these drops plateau out in primary school children, where attendance has been >20% after re-opening in January (by contrast with 2ndary schools where this is ~5%).

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