COVID-19 Outbreak (Update: More than 2.9M cases and 132,313 deaths in US) (4 Viewers)

[Sun Wukong]

It appears that it is being left up to individual school districts or schools which is just not adequate. My daughter goes to a charter school in New Orleans so they had to make their own plan. My understanding is that the plan is if we are in Phase 3, it's on campus learning with only 4 classes per semester; if we are in Phase 2, it's a mixture of both; and if we are in Phase 1, it's distance learning. That all seems reasonable, but we haven't really been given any details about what the on campus learning would be like or what the remote learning would be like. And I don't blame the school admin or teachers since they are seemingly being given no guidance by the Orleans Parish School Board or the State Department of Education.

I've heard nothing of plans to test students. And that's not surprising either because there is no way a local charter school (or public school in general) has the budget to do testing. They can barely afford to do what they do now.

The LDOE guidelines basically amounted to "Here is what the CDC says. Figure it out on your own, districts." It's July 5th and I know for a fact that there are many districts out there without meaningful plans in place. They were waiting for meaningful LDOE guidance and what they got was "Yeah, y'all gotta figure it out. Here's the CDC stuff from a month ago." Many school districts have shockingly incompetent (or well intentioned but completely hamstrung) leadership even in the best of times. And they expect them to figure this out in a month? It's going to be brutal.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

but we haven't really been given any details about what the on campus learning would be like or what the remote learning would be like.

i think we all know the reason why

 

[No2DC]

She asks a bunch of questions she admits there are no answers to, then proposes a bunch of things that will never happen because of the reality of budgets.

Not criticizing you sharing it, but this just underscores my belief that no one has any idea what they're doing re: school reopenings. The Advocate had an article yesterday about how no one in the state is quite sure how to interpret the guidelines on student face mask wearing the state provided, and at the district level parents are falling into "must wear masks or they're not going," "who cares?" and "must not wear masks or not going" groups.

We're going to have a massive clusterfork on our hands come August. There's no way around it. Everything I see indicates a total lack of preparedness.

The American Academy of Pediatricians is actually recommending schools reopen in the fall, partially due to the side effects of kids being off so long
“The AAP strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school,” according to the guidance. These coordinated interventions intend “to mitigate, not eliminate, risk” of SARS-CoV-2.
Link:

AAP interim guidance on school re-entry focuses on mitigating COVID-19 risks | AAP News | American Academy of Pediatrics

www.aappublications.org

 

[Sun Wukong]

The American Academy of Pediatricians is actually recommending schools reopen in the fall, partially due to the side effects of kids being off so long
“The AAP strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school,” according to the guidance. These coordinated interventions intend “to mitigate, not eliminate, risk” of SARS-CoV-2.
Link:

AAP interim guidance on school re-entry focuses on mitigating COVID-19 risks | AAP News | American Academy of Pediatrics

www.aappublications.org

Yeah, don't even get me started on this.

 

[No2DC]

Yeah, don't even get me started on this.

Please do, I'm trying to understand all the sides.

 

[superchuck500]

2 weeks ago 7 day average was 3100 roughly. Now it is over 6900. this week there was 50000+ new cases of covid in Texas. In Over a month that would project to be 200000 plus new cases. the latest seem to be doing nothing to slow the virus down. At this point it seems it is too big to stop.

 

[Sun Wukong]

Please do, I'm trying to understand all the sides.

A few points:

1. Their argument basically boils down to these vague notions of mental health/well being. You can't weigh that against a tangible pandemic that is literally killing people, and even many that survive are having serious long term effects. The idea that "The trauma that kids are going through not socializing and being in school is a greater social health concern than the virus" is insane. On no planet is that true, but especially not in an America that has failed to do what it needs to at every turn. EVERY turn. We have allowed a very dangerous public health situation to unfold and sending millions marching right out into an environment that is likely to allow it to propagate unchecked is wildly irresponsible.

2. Let's say that we all go back in a month or two. It's going to vary by district and state, but a lot of places are going to look like this: no extra curriculars, no socialization, mandatory social distancing, mandatory masks, mandatory health/temp checks every morning, no electives, no eating lunch together, no field trips, no dances/sports, increased time in "core four" classes. And furthermore, as outbreaks start occurring and forcing school closures you're at best going to have this start/stop thing happening all year long and at worst be forced to shut down again. Literally none of that sounds like a positive for mental health and well being, let alone physical health and well being.

 

[insidejob]

That water has to be so nasty too. 1500 people covered just high enough to piss with no one noticing...

 

[Sun Wukong]

That water has to be so nasty too. 1500 people covered just high enough to piss with no one noticing...

My first thought when I saw that was "Even if Covid wasn't a factor that's still disgusting."

 

[No2DC]

A few points:

1. Their argument basically boils down to these vague notions of mental health/well being. You can't weigh that against a tangible pandemic that is literally killing people, and even many that survive are having serious long term effects. The idea that "The trauma that kids are going through not socializing and being in school is a greater social health concern than the virus" is insane. On no planet is that true, but especially not in an America that has failed to do what it needs to at every turn. EVERY turn. We have allowed a very dangerous public health situation to unfold and sending millions marching right out into an environment that is likely to allow it to propagate unchecked is wildly irresponsible.

2. Let's say that we all go back in a month or two. It's going to vary by district and state, but a lot of places are going to look like this: no extra curriculars, no socialization, mandatory social distancing, mandatory masks, mandatory health/temp checks every morning, no electives, no eating lunch together, no field trips, no dances/sports, increased time in "core four" classes. And furthermore, as outbreaks start occurring and forcing school closures you're at best going to have this start/stop thing happening all year long and at worst be forced to shut down again. Literally none of that sounds like a positive for mental health and well being, let along physical health and well being.

I agree some of their logic is shaky, however, the part about this situation having an adverse effect on the achievement gap is real. Even though we ( as a country) have had a terrible response, we are at this crossroads where life has to go on ( I mean an adaptive sense). I don't want my kids to be part of an experiment but schools and child care represent a foundation for everyone to work. Fortunately, I'm in the category of those who can work from home but it's very difficult to be productive with young people that have to be monitored. This is the new normal and all of us have to find a way to function this environment.

 

[insidejob]

This article may have already been posted but piggybacking off the Twitter thread so the concept of pooling surveillance testing can be explained.

Federal Officials Turn to a New Testing Strategy as Infections Surge (Published 2020)

Millions of additional coronavirus tests may be processed with “pooling,” enabling widespread surveillance as the country struggles to reopen.

www.nytimes.com

That's what I was talking about earlier in the thread having heard the tail end of a piece on NPR but not really understanding what they were saying. Thanks for the link. Makes sense what I heard the other day now.

 

[jasonsw]

That water has to be so nasty too. 1500 people covered just high enough to piss with no one noticing...

The day lake MIchigan turned yellow

 

[Eeyore]

Four Pinellas hospitals completely out of ICU beds

Space is dwindling at the county's hospitals as coronavirus cases rise.

www.tampabay.com

 

[Taurus]

Thread about the school reopening (Ms. Ranny’s thread, not Mr. Roner’s)::

I'd like to note a couple of her tweets as being particularly interesting to me.
First, I agree that come fall, everyone will be symptomatic all the time with *something*. Cold, flu, allergies, whatever. Schools will be the same infectious gumbo they've always been. Except this year, somebody put ghost peppers in the roux.

Second, her tweet about money made the cynic in me laugh.
"We can't do this without money."
No, what you mean is that you can't do it right without money.
I fully expect DeVos to order schools to reopen with no extra funding. Except maybe for the private schools she loves so much.

 

[buzd]

I agree some of their logic is shaky, however, the part about this situation having an adverse effect on the achievement gap is real. Even though we ( as a country) have had a terrible response, we are at this crossroads where life has to go on ( I mean an adaptive sense). I don't want my kids to be part of an experiment but schools and child care represent a foundation for everyone to work. Fortunately, I'm in the category of those who can work from home but it's very difficult to be productive with young people that have to be monitored. This is the new normal and all of us have to find a way to function this environment.

Life has to go on because we are incapable of taking a few necessary steps to mitigate a very dangerous virus that pretty much everyone else has been able to deal with.

if we are just going on with “this new normal” and the 75% give or take who are willing to wear masks, I think we should take into account how our hospitals are going to be overwhelmed (already happening) and the death that is going to start touching everyone if this continues.

The idea that the current status quo is “the new normal” is flawed because it’s a worsening situation, so if you think we can adjust to how it is now, be prepared for it to get much much worse.