COVID-19 Policy Update #125
COVID-19 Policy Update
MONDAY 10/12
I hope this email finds you well. A couple of updates:
I accidentally linked to the wrong article last week regarding how Sacramento City Unified found lost students during distance learning. Here is the correct link.
I'm adding a new section on COVID Research to help organize the various studies and research around COVID and children as well as some of the new vaccine information.
Some of you have reached out asking if you can share studies, reports, etc. with me. The answer is yes! Our Googling Monkeys are good but they miss a lot.
All the best,
--John
TOP THREE
Adults With Children Had Modestly Reduced COVID Risk: A recent study of 30,000 workers in Scotland found that adults in households with young children (aged up to 11 years) had a modestly reduced risk of catching COVID and a reduced risk of hospitalization. The study analyzed the households of over 300,000 NHS workers in Scotland. "The risk of hospitalization with Covid-19 was lower in those with one child and lower still in those with two or more children." Scientists believe children who often catch colds may act as 'natural vaccine boosters.' Some important caveats: adults without children were older on average and more likely to have existing health problems when compared with those in a household with children.
HHS: HHS and The Rockefeller Foundation have signed an agreement to identify and share effective approaches for using rapid point-of-care (POC) antigen tests to screen for COVID-19 in communities, with a focus on safely reopening K-12 schools. The pilot program will provide essential information on the policies, practices, and behaviors that public sector entities need to successfully adopt practices that enable communities to be more resilient. HHS will provide at least 120,000 Abbott BinaxNOW diagnostic tests to: Louisville, Ky.; Los Angeles; New Orleans; and Tulsa, and Rhode Island.
Tracking COVID In Schools: CNN article highlighting the lack of any government data collection on COVID cases in schools, making it difficult for researchers to assess the safety of reopening schools. Dr. Susan Coffin, professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: "Unfortunately, some of our knowledge is really just derived from anecdotes. We don't have any good strategies to systematically collect the experience across a swath of the US to actually be able to study the different approaches that have and, in some cases, not worked so well."
FEDERAL
Phase 4:
Negotiations are still up in the air. On Sunday, the Speaker rejected the latest $1.8 trillion stimulus offer from the Administration.
Over the weekend, Meadows and Mnuchin called on Congress to pass legislation allowing the Administration to redirect unused funding from the PPP program.
USDA: Announced it will extend school meal program flexibilities to allow free meals to children throughout the entire 2020-2021 school year. This action follows the enactment of the recent CR which gave the agency funding and the authority to do the extension.
FDA: The FDA issued guidance on emergency use authorizations (EUA) for COVID-19 vaccines last week after the White House reportedly attempted to block its release. As expected, the standards / data requirements for COVID-19 vaccine EUAs will more closely mirror what is typically required for a full drug approval (which essentially makes it highly unlikely that a vaccine would be approved for emergency use before the November election). In response to the more stringent requirements, President Trump surprisingly blasted his own Agency’s efforts as a “political hit job” earlier this week, though he did concede that the drugs likely would not be available before the November election.
COVID RESEARCH
IHME: Last week’s briefing on COVID-19 projections.
Low Risk to Newborns from Moms: Mothers with COVID rarely transmit the virus to their newborns when basic infection-control practices are followed, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. The researchers suggest that more extensive measures like separating COVID-19-positive mothers from their newborns and avoiding direct breastfeeding may not be warranted.
Oregon Survey: The Oregon Health Authority released a statewide survey and a survey of Latinos which showed that behaviors and concerns related to coronavirus vary depending on factors like race, geographical location and political affiliation.
Why So Many Americans Are Skeptical of a Coronavirus Vaccine: Great article in Scientific American exploring the hesitancy many have - particularly marginalized communities - with getting a COVID vaccine. "Instead of speaking from a place of removed authority, communication works best when it validates the audience’s fears and concerns. It focuses on the paths we are taking to avoid repeating previous mistakes—not as an afterthought or vague platitude but as a core part of the message."
Vaccine Skepticism: Gallup reports those willing to get an FDA-backed COVID-19 vaccine fell to 50%, down from 66% in July. Republicans willingness has averaged 44% but Democrat willingness fell from 83% in July to 53% in Sept.
STATE
State Timelines: JHU has a useful interactive timeline showing key events in each state – closings (in red), openings (in green) and other policy changes and events (in grey). The dates are mapped along the number of new cases and deaths in each state.
Connecticut: New data: 32% of public school students are enrolled in remote education. Bridgeport, Meriden, New London, and Norwich — after week 2 numbers exceeded a 60% failure to participate. Torrington School District currently has 30% of their students participating in remote learning. Of that group, between 43 and 32% were disconnected during the first month.
Florida: Hillsborough County Public Schools superintendent is in quarantine after being in contact with someone who tested positive for coronavirus. He tested negative twice but is quarantining based on district protocol.
Illinois:
Gov. Pritzker and the Illinois State Board of Education awarded over $80 million for purchasing hotspots and Chromebooks to help remedy the digital divide.
Two of Chicago's largest charter school networks - Chicago International Charter Schools and Acero - announced they will stay virtual learning for the second quarter based on family input.
Kentucky: The digital divide is a challenge for kids trying to learn in cities, rural towns.
Minnesota: A new survey of members of Education Minnesota, the state's teachers union, found 52% of teachers doing hybrid learning reported they're workload is "very much a concern." Forty-one percent of distance learning and 37% of in-person learning teachers said the same. Nearly 30% of teachers say they’re thinking about quitting or retiring.
Missouri: The state has about 1,600 school nurses among more than 500 school districts (46 districts lack a school nurse). The Missouri Association of School Nurses said the number of students living with mental health conditions have been “off the charts” for years and expects the problems to increase due to the coronavirus, along with substance misuse among youth.
Pennsylvania: Educators, bus drivers and school workers launch the Pennsylvania Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee to oppose in-person instruction.
Tennessee: Better Student Outcomes Now was launched to address students' COVID-19 learning loss. Groups involved include the Bill and Crissy Haslam Foundation, Nashville PROPEL, Nashville Public Education Fund, City Fund, Hyde Family Foundation, Memphis Education Fund, and State Collaborative On Reforming Education (SCORE).
Texas: Article describing the reluctance of teachers to return to the classroom. Killeen ISD’s local teachers association filed a grievance with the school district for requiring them back to classrooms under conditions that “may pose an unacceptable risk of COVID-19 transmission.” More than 100 of about 5,000 total Austin ISD teachers stayed home last Monday, some in defiance of a mandate to show up for the first day of in-person classes.
Virginia:
‘Smart Buses’ roll WiFi to students without access.
INTERNATIONAL
Africa: Schools are beginning to reopen in Kenya, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Belgium: Officials in Flanders want to keep schools open, saying schools are the “safest” place for pupils to be even as coronavirus figures in Belgium rise.
China:
China’s top epidemiologist said schools can consider reopening campuses.
All 9 million people in the eastern city of Qingdao will be tested this week after nine cases linked to a hospital were found.
Hong Kong: Two schools with adjoining campuses were forced to temporarily close after a student tested positive. The closings have sparked a debate if Hong Kong is experiencing a fourth wave.
India: While the Central government has given a go ahead for graded reopening of schools from October 15, many states including Delhi, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh have decided against it while others such as Haryana and Meghalaya are still unsure.
Iran: Announced its highest single-day death toll from the coronavirus — 251.
EU: Belgium, Netherlands, the UK, Spain and France are seeing more new cases every day per capita than the US. “We’re seeing 98,000 cases reported in the last 24 hours. That’s a new regional record. That’s very alarming,” said Robb Butler, executive director of the WHO’s Europe regional office.
UK: British Prime Minister Johnson imposed a tiered system of further restrictions on parts of England in an effort to address the surge of new COVID cases. Schools will remain open even in the “very high” risk areas.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
ISA: Robert Morris University announced it will now offer students the option to participate in a university-sponsored income share agreement (ISA) that aims to help reduce the total amount of loans that students need to take out to pay for tuition and other education expenses.
Curbside Pickup: 75% of the 50 biggest retailers now offer curbside pickup. Target reported a 700% jump in curbside pickup orders last quarter and 41% of Best Buy's $5 billion in second-quarter online sales came via in-store or curbside pickup.
Cybercriminals Steal $8 Billion in COVID Funds: Using databases of stolen personal information, cybercriminals have stolen an estimated $8 billion meant for people forced out of work due. DOJ's IG issued a report indicating that "at least $26 billion of the estimated $260 billion in expanded UI program funds could be paid improperly." The article goes on to describe some of the technical challenges states have had with verifying identities and modernizing outdated tech systems. Could case study for the need of services provided by The Tech Talent Project and the US Digital Response.
Brookings Study Using Chetty Data: Richard Reeves released a new report, "Horatio Alger got married in Salt Lake City: Intergenerational mobility, place, and marriage." According to the study, growing differences in marriage rates by parental background or between places may, then, be a bigger part of the mobility story than we previously thought.
LEARNING PODS
Launchpods: A nonprofit offers Durham students social remote learning. They reinforce course material taught by DPS faculty through community learning, supplementary instruction, and in-person tutoring. Time for study hall, individual learning, test prep, and homework sessions are built into the weekly schedule. They also offer flexible pricing to be more inclusive.
Schoolroom The West Nashville Dream Center opened a schoolroom, which it compares to a “Little House on the Prairie” setup, accepting 32 students, staffing volunteers in two to four hour shifts to help and providing free meals through the Second Harvest Food Bank. Nashville schoolroom helps single parents with students’ online learning. They created a therapy room for the kids to use to be alone if they start to have a breakdown. The kids call it the “bear room” because it has a giant stuffed bear to accompany them in hard times. [Editor's note - I need a bear room]
Learning Hubs: Sacramento schools open 'learning hubs' to help close distance learning gap.
RESOURCES
Balance the Equation: New Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenge that is seeking to identify up to 10 grantees who will each receive up to $1 million over two years to design solutions to make Algebra 1 more accessible, relevant, and collaborative for Black and Latino students, as well as students experiencing poverty. Website and a great post from Henry Hipps.
Restarting and Reinventing School: New report from the Learning Policy Institute which recommends:
Close the digital divide
Strengthen distance and blended learning
Assess what students need
Ensure supports for social and emotional learning
Redesign schools for stronger relationships
Emphasize authentic, culturally responsive learning
Provide expanded learning time
Establish community schools and wraparound supports
Prepare educators for reinventing school
Leverage more adequate and equitable school funding
Tracking Public and Teacher Opinion: Mike McShane writes about the latest insights from the EdChoice/Morning Consult survey. "When asked how comfortable teachers are with returning to classes in-person, 52% of teachers said that they were comfortable and 47% said that they were not."
Ventilation: Schools seek better airflow and ventilation. Good article describing MERV filters and other ways schools are trying to increase ventilation with aging HVAC systems.
One Fun Thing: Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson won the 2020 Nobel Economics for their work on auctions. Their research has been used in a number of areas including setting fishing quotas, allocating aircraft landing slots, and spectrum auctions at the FCC (see this great thread from the FCC Commissioner). When I was serving in the White House during the 2008 financial crisis, we considered using one of their auction theories as part of the student loan stabilization efforts in order to ensure the government didn't pay too much for loans.
But here's the touching part. Milgrom's phone had been on silent mode so he didn't hear any of the calls. Wilson, who lives across the street, came over and knocked on the door to tell him. Milogram's wife (who was overseas) got a security notification from their Nest doorbell, so she watched live and here's the moment: