COVID-19 Policy Update #121
COVID-19 Policy Update
TUESDAY 10/6
TOP THREE
Phase 4:
President Trump said he instructed his administration to stop negotiations with Democrats until after the Nov. 3 election.
The abrupt decision seemed to catch everybody by surprise given that over the weekend the President had appealed for a deal to be made.
Federal Reserve Chairman Powell also warned in a speech today that “too little” fiscal support could lead to “unnecessary hardship” across the economy. “By contrast, the risks of overdoing it seem, for now, to be smaller."
The Speaker's response, "He shows his contempt for science, his disdain for our heroes – in health care, first responders, sanitation, transportation, food workers, teachers, teachers, teachers and others – and he refuses to put money in workers’ pockets, unless his name is printed on the check."
Examining Remote Learning in the Spring: AEI released a new report with their findings from six waves of data collected from March 26 to May 29, 2020. Topline findings include:
On average, the poorest districts lost four full weeks of instruction, which is equivalent to 12 percent of a school year and 41 percent of the period between closures and the last day of school.
The quality of remote-instruction programs was lower in schools with higher student poverty and lower student achievement, as measured by multiple indicators.
Schools had comparatively lower-quality remote-instruction offerings when in districts that had less educated adult populations, higher rates of single-parent households, and less broadband access.
School districts in red states provided lower-quality instructional offerings compared to districts in blue and purple states.
Assessing the Risks For Children: The BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) released a report examining the impact of school closures on learning in British Columbia. The entire report is well worth the read. Several topline findings:
Transmission among children is lower than adults with evidence suggesting children in school and daycare settings are consistently less likely to become infected than adults.
"Contract tracing studies of school outbreaks have identified limited transmission by children to other household members, other students or staff."
"Virus transmission from children to adults is uncommon, and within families transmission of the virus tends to be from adults to children."
"While transmission does occur in schools, global evidence suggests schools have not been a major source of outbreaks. Data compiled from four studies of school exposures suggests a 0.01% attack rate within schools."
In Canada, there have been 9,302 cases in children and youth 0-19 years, with 132 hospital admissions, 26 ICU admissions and 1 death as of Aug 5, 2020
STATE
DC: Mayor Bowser announced that most elementary students will be back on campus five days per week in November. But unions for the teachers and principals said they had just learned the news themselves and have concerns. DC Nurses Union: went so far as to say "Your children are not safe returning to schools."
Florida: Data discrepancies found in Florida Department of Health dashboard tracking COVID-19 in schools.
Michigan:
The Michigan Supreme Court, in a 4-3 split decision, ruled that Gov. Whitmer does not have the authority to extend a state of emergency without legislative approval. Local health departments are evaluating whether to reinforce public health orders through their authorities. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) director Robert Gordon also issued an "epidemic order mirroring key executive orders that the Michigan Supreme Court invalidated."
MDHHS issued an emergency order that requires K-12 schools to publicly disclose any probable or confirmed virus cases on their website within 24 hours of learning of the cases.
Pennsylvania: Central Dauphin School District will phase in a return to five-day, in-classroom instruction beginning Oct. 13.
South Carolina: Congressional Democrats say South Carolina is violating CARES Act requirements by sending federal aid directly to parents so they can pay for their children to attend private schools. South Carolina's SAFE program grants up to $6,500 to about 5,000 students in families that have household incomes at less than 300 percent of the federal poverty level. This money can be used to enroll in private schools. Congressional Democrats argue that parents are not an eligible entity under CARES.
Vermont: Coordinators were key to keeping students engaged with their distance education.
INTERNATIONAL
EU: Cases among those aged over 65 are increasing in most European countries, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. As a result, hospitalizations and deaths—which stayed low for much of the summer while infections spread among young people less likely to fall severely ill—are starting to rise too. Many European countries are now recording more cases than they did in the spring, but that is partly because of better detection.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Increase in Unemployment Linked to Rise in Hospitalizations Among Children: Study published in Health Affairs that found that increased unemployment was associated with increased pediatric hospitalizations for four conditions. They found a 1% increase in unemployment was associated with a 5% increase in hospitalizations for substance abuse, a 4% increase for diabetes, and a 2% increase for poisoning and burns.
Hire for Skills, No Degrees: Former IBM CEO Ginni Rometty says the best thing employers can do to improve their business, their workforce and their community is to stop hiring based on four-year college degrees and instead hire for skills.
Modernizing Unemployment: The Century Foundation is out with a report "Centering Workers—How to Modernize Unemployment Insurance Technology." Recommendations include:
Unemployed workers need 24/7 access to online and mobile services. "Filing for unemployment shouldn’t be restricted to nine to five on weekdays."
Unemployment websites and applications must be mobile-optimized
States should update their password reset protocols. In some states, workers must be mailed a new password; in others, staff cannot process claims because they are busy answering phone calls about password resets
States can use call-back and chat technology to deal with the unprecedented volume
States should adopt a triage business model
The National Coronavirus Recovery Commission: The Heritage Foundation released a report with recommendations for reopening the country.
K Shaped Recovery: Via the WSJ:
"A two-track recovery is emerging from the country’s pandemic-driven economic contraction. Some workers, companies and regions show signs of coming out fine or even stronger. The rest are mired in a deep decline with an uncertain path ahead."
"By September, workers with bachelor’s degrees or higher had nearly fully recovered jobs lost in early spring. But those with just a high-school diploma held 11.7% fewer jobs in September than in February."
"By August, nearly 27% fewer people were employed in jobs paying less than $16 an hour, according to an analysis by Evercore ISI economist Ernie Tedesch."
RESOURCES
Vaccines: Moderna slowed enrollment of its late-stage trial for its vaccine after failing to enroll enough Black, Latino and Native American participants.
Politics, Markets, and Pandemics: New Ed Working Paper that analyzed which factors best predict whether a district chose to return students to the classroom or educate them remotely. Mass partisanship and teacher union strength best explain how school boards approached reopening. They also found evidence that districts are sensitive to the threat of private school exit. Districts located in counties with a larger number of Catholic schools were less likely to shut down and more likely to return to in person learning.
Learning Loss: ChalkBeat takes a look at some of the learning loss projections and urges caution.
‘Zoom University’: Is College Worth the Cost Without the In-Person Experience? "Institutions that indicated they were running the semester completely online came under pressure from students to decrease tuition to reflect the downgraded experience they would be getting. Georgetown and Princeton agreed to reduce tuition by 10%, while Stanford and Harvard refused to budge the cost."
Snowball Fight: Film from 124 years ago in Lyon, France.