COVID-19 Policy Update #111
COVID-19 Policy Update
WEDNESDAY 9/23
TOP THREE
Feared Outbreaks in Schools Yet to Arrive: Washington Post article:
"This early evidence, experts say, suggests that opening schools may not be as risky as many have feared and could guide administrators as they charter the rest of what is already an unprecedented school year."
New National COVID-19 School Response Data Dashboard - created by Emily Oster, AASA, and NAESP - found low levels of infection among students and teachers.
Tracking infections over a two-week period beginning Aug. 31, it found that 0.23 percent of students had a confirmed or suspected case of the coronavirus. Among teachers, it was 0.49 percent. Looking only at confirmed cases, the rates were even lower: 0.078 percent for students and 0.15 percent for teachers.
As of Wednesday morning, the project had data from more than 550 schools, including more than 300 that have some in-person classes.
FDA: The Washington Post reports that the FDA is considering tougher standards for a COVID-19 vaccines as part of an effort to boost public confidence in the safety of a vaccine.
The FDA would ask manufacturers seeking an emergency authorization to follow participants in late-stage clinical trials for a median of at least two months.
To determine if a vaccine works, the FDA would look for at least five severe coronavirus cases in each trial's placebo group, along with cases in older people.
Citigroup Pledges $1 Billion: The intent is to help close the racial wealth gap and increase economic mobility for people of color. The effort will include programs that would provide greater access to banking and credit in communities of color, increase investment in Black-owned businesses and expand homeownership among Black Americans.
FEDERAL
Phase 4:
FT and the Peter G Peterson Foundation survey found almost 90% of voters believe Congress needs to pass a new stimulus package. 42% now say they are more worried about the economy than public health (a 9-point jump from a month ago.
Deutsche Bank "now assume that significant further support will not be forthcoming until after the election. The resulting drop in income support for households is already beginning to depress activity and we see GDP growth slowing to near zero in Q4 as consumer spending slides. Growth will pick up in Q1 with some post-election fiscal support."
Bloomberg Economics’ analysis "shows that under a no-stimulus baseline scenario through year-end, total income flowing to households will transition from unprecedentedly strong for a recession, to just so-so. That in itself would be enough to subtract 5 percentage points from fourth-quarter gross domestic product compared with a counterfactual scenario that includes an extension of stimulus measures."
CDC: Released three new reports on the state of mental health among U.S. adults in 2019 (all pre-COVID):
Anxiety: When asked about their anxiety symptoms in the two weeks prior to being surveyed, nearly 10% of adults reported mild anxiety, while around 3% reported severe forms of anxiety.
Depression: Nearly 12% of respondents reported mild depression symptoms in the two weeks prior to being surveyed, while nearly 3% reported severe depression. White and Black adults were most likely to report depression than other racial groups.
Treatment: Around 1 in 5 U.S. adults reported getting any mental health treatment last year. Around 16% said they had taken some medication, while around 10% reporting getting counseling.
Senate HELP Committee: Our partners Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas provided a summary of testimony from Dr. Fauci, Dr. Redfield, and Dr. Hahn.
STATE
Arizona: ALL In Education is creating the Parent Educator Academy, a four-week online training course that will help teach parents how to better support their children while distance learning and help bridge the technology gap.
Georgia: Fascinating survey of 10,000 stakeholders of the Decatur school district showing how stark the differences are between parents/students and teachers in terms of preferred models of reopening.
Maryland: Harford’s in-person learning plan calls for special education, K-2 students to return once a week starting mid-October.
Oklahoma: Half of the state's school districts have reported COVID-19 cases.
Rhode Island: How Rhode Island brought most students back for in-person learning — and Massachusetts did not.
INTERNATIONAL
Finland: Is set to deploy coronavirus-sniffing dogs at Helsinki Airport. It's time for Clifford to step up for America's schoolkids.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
COVID Impact on Venture Capital: NBER paper. Researchers surveyed over 1,000 institutional and corporate VCs at more than 900 different firms to learn how their decisions and investments have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
VCs have slowed their investment pace (71% of normal) and expect to invest at 81% of their normal pace over the coming year.
VCs report that 52% of their portfolio companies are positively affected or unaffected by the pandemic; 38% are negatively affected; and 10% are severely negatively affected.
Respondents indicate that the terms are more founder-friendly than VC friendly.
CA UI System Paused: CA announced they would stop taking new unemployment applications for two weeks as they implement a number of modernization improvements. A Strike Team reviewed the system and provided detailed recommendations on both the technology and user experience. The state estimates it will take until January to get through the current backlog.
LEARNING PODS
Learning Pod Inside Funeral Home Casket Room Is A Quiet Place To Study While Mom Works: She turned a quiet place of grieving also into a quiet place for learning.
Twin Cities: The YMCA with support of businesses like Xcel, Securian Financial and US Bank are helping to fund technology pods at 19 Twin Cities locations.
Kids in Section 8 Housing to Get Online Support: Waco Housing Authority plans to use CARES Act to partner with schools to help students in Section 8 housing adapt to virtual classes, including placing mobile hotspots in housing locations.
Pandemic Pods: Band-Aid Fix or Wave of the Future?: Opinion piece from Brian Stack, 2017 New Hampshire Secondary School Principal of the Year. "If schools like Rooftop are successful, a new approach to personalized learning may have been born. The pod structure may provide other opportunities for public schools to ensure learning or all, even when the pandemic is over. It may be too early to tell, but this will be one concept to watch more closely in the coming years."
RESOURCES
State P-EBT Profiles: Provided by CBPP.
Promise in the Time of Quarantine: Exploring Schools’ Responses to COVID-19: New report from Bellwether and TFA highlighting best practices from 12 district and charter schools from across the country.
Americans Divided on Return of College Football: According to a new NBC poll, 49% of adults said college football players should be allowed to play this fall.
A Squirrel Malfunctions: While eating nuts in the most 2020 mood.