COVID-19 Policy Update #96
COVID-19 Policy Update
WEDNESDAY 9/2
TOP THREE
National Academies Releases Draft Framework for Equitable Allocation of a COVID-19 Vaccine: The draft allocation framework criteria (full report here) includes:
Risk of acquiring infection: Higher priority given to individuals who have a greater probability of being in settings where COVID-19 is circulating and exposure to a sufficient dose of the virus.
Risk of severe morbidity and mortality: Higher priority given to individuals who have a greater probability of severe disease or death if they acquire infection.
Risk of negative societal impact: Higher priority given to individuals with societal function and upon whom other people’s lives and livelihood depend directly and would be imperiled if they fell ill. It does not consider their wealth or income, or how readily an individual could be replaced in a work setting, given labor market conditions.
Risk of transmitting disease to others: Higher priority given to individuals who have a higher probability of transmitting the disease to others.
The framework lists schools as a Tier 1 priority group. Recognizing the importance of education and child development, teachers and school staff are included in Phase 2 for receiving a vaccine. "It is important to include this group relatively early to facilitate the reopening of schools, and to protect the most high-risk adults present when this occurs given current knowledge about morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19."
US Will Not Participate in WHO-led Effort to Develop and Distribute a Vaccine: The decision means the U.S. is effectively cutting itself off from the more than 170 countries in discussions to join the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX). COVAX is a Gavi-coordinated pooled procurement mechanism for new COVID-19 vaccines, through which COVAX will ensure fair and equitable access to vaccines for each participating country.
Children and COVID-19: Updated state-level data report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association. 476,439 total child COVID-19 cases reported with children representing 9.5% of all cases.
FEDERAL
Phase 4: There's a growing likelihood that the next economic relief package will be coupled with the overall government spending bill. The federal fiscal year ends Sept. 30 and only 11 session days between now and then. That is not a lot of time to debate and pass two separate bills. The Senate returns next week and will attempt to vote on the Republican's "skinny" bill which they hope will restart negotiations.
Evictions: The Trump administration announced that the CDC will invoke its authority to halt evictions through the end of the year. The draft moratorium was published in the Federal Registrar yesterday.
FEMA Will Stop Paying for School PPE: Announcement came late yesterday.
STATE
Florida: Miami Dade Schools was hit with a distributed denial of service attack complicating their remote learning.
Louisiana: Tulane University School of Medicine is working to develop an asymptomatic testing program for NOLA Public Schools to screen teachers and school-based staff on an ongoing basis.
Minnesota: Will offer free COVID testing for up to 250,000 childcare and education workers.
New Hampshire: Good best practice for other states: New state dashboard by the Department of Health and Human Services is tracking reports of COVID-19 cases in schools and colleges across the state.
New York: The UFT released an FAQ on reopening. Some items:
New York City will prioritize testing for public school students and staff and rapid communication of test results at any of its 34 city-run testing locations. To schedule a prioritized test, visit NYC DOH and use the password doecovidtest2020.
The number of tests per month will depend on the size of the school. 20% of the individuals in schools with fewer than 500 students; 15% of the individuals in schools with 500 to 999 students; 10% of the individuals in schools with 1000+ students
In order for school buildings to reopen and stay open, the percentage of positive tests in New York City must be less than 3% using a 7-day rolling average.
Texas: WSJ story on the reopening experience of students and teachers at International Leadership of Texas-College Station.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Payrolls Miss Expectations: The 428,000 increase in private payrolls fell far short of the 950,000 forecasted. The weaker data suggests that the labor market recovery is slowing.
Small Businesses Closing: 21% of small businesses said they would have to close if conditions did not improve in the next six months. More in this NYT story.
Economic Mobility Catalog: From Results for America with evidence-based strategies for health, education, workforce development, and more.
The Case for Permanent Paid Leave: From CAP outlining several principles: Cover all workers; Include short- and long-term medical and caregiving leave; Provide sufficient duration of leave and automatic triggers; Ensure adequate wages across all types of leave; Allow workers to care for their family and loved ones; Ensure employment protections for workers who use paid leave; and Provide effective outreach, education, oversight and enforcement.
Evictions Are Surprisingly Down:
From CityLab: "Across the country, eviction filings are low — far below historical levels in many places. Even in states that never issued their own eviction protections, and in cities where so-called rocket dockets typically process hundreds of evictions per day, eviction filings have not spiked, according to data on 17 cities from Princeton University’s Eviction Lab. With a few exceptions, every week of the pandemic summer through August 7 has seen fewer eviction filings than on average."
From the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland: Between August 15 and August 21, average eviction filings fell to 64.7% below their levels one year ago in the cities and counties that currently have no blanket eviction bans in place.
Bankruptcy Fears: Gallup Survey: Half in U.S. now, vs. 45% in 2019, concerned about health-related bankruptcy. 15%, including 20% of non-White adults, carry long-term medical debt.
Wine Sales: A survey showed that 15% of wine consumers increased their online purchases for home delivery during the lockdown. Wine.com saw a 283% year-over-year growth. I may have contributed to this to this increase.
LEARNING PODS
Michael Horn: Great overview of Pods and some of the enabling tech platforms. Outschool saw enrollments soar from 80,000 total in the previous three years to more than 300,000. Tinkergarten saw enrollments jump from 8,600 last year to 35,000.
Virginia Proposal: Del. Cox introduced a budget amendment that would have a portion of school funding go directly to parents to spend on tutoring, pods and hardware or software for computers.
More Disruption: Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson writes, love or hate them, pandemic learning pods are here to stay — and could disrupt American education.
RESOURCES
The Anywhere School: Google has released 50 new features across Meet, Classroom, G Suite to assist with remote teaching and learning.
OWL Ventures: Closed $585 million across two new funds: $415 million for its fourth fund and $170 million for its first Opportunity Fund.
Lack of Internet Access in the South: Three of the states with the lowest levels of high-speed internet access are in the Deep South: Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Reopening Schools: Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC that reopening schools for in-person learning should be the No. 1 focus for communities this fall during the coronavirus crisis.
Disdain for the Less Educated Is the Last Acceptable Prejudice: Essay from Michael Sandel raising important questions: "Building a politics around the idea that a college degree is a precondition for dignified work and social esteem has a corrosive effect on democratic life. It devalues the contributions of those without a diploma, fuels prejudice against less-educated members of society, effectively excludes most working people from elective government and provokes political backlash." Andy Rotherham's reaction here.
Also be sure to check out the videos of Sandel's Theories of Justice course - done years before the arrival of MOOCs and MasterClass but still incredibly thought provoking and potentially useful in today's remote learning world. The first lecture, "The Moral Side of Murder" presents some of the fundamental ethical challenges autonomous driving car manufacturers are currently confronting.
Power of the Spoken Word: Stockton's Brandon Leake with a powerful performance last evening.
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