COVID-19 Policy Update #126
COVID-19 Policy Update
TUESDAY 10/13
TOP THREE
Pfizer: The FDA granted approval to include children between the ages of 12 and 15. The inclusion could accelerate the deployment of a vaccine to children sooner than previously anticipated.
Phase 4:
President Trump tweeted this morning that lawmakers should “Go big or go home” with respect to passing an economic relief package.
The Speaker released a Dear Colleague letter rejecting the Administration's $1.8 trillion proposal.
Senate Majority Leader McConnell issued a statement saying that the Senate’s “first order of business” when it returns on October 19 will be to vote on “targeted relief for American workers,” including new funding for PPP.
Effective Family Engagement Strategies and Resources: New resource from NAESP, PTA, and Learning Heroes.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Emily Oster: School infection rates are low even in areas with high COVID-19 rates, according to data on 550,000 US students."We're seeing that schools have student rates in the same range, but generally a bit lower, than their community rates. In New England, for example, our data show 24 cases per 100,000 students, and the community rate is 70 per 100,000. In the East South Central area, the student rate is 219, versus 267 per 100,000 in the population."
Two Drug Trials Paused: Eli Lilly paused their trial on an antibody drug and Johnson & Johnson paused a large high-profile trial of its experimental coronavirus vaccine because a volunteer fell ill. It is not uncommon to pause drug trials to investigate safety concerns, and these pauses do not necessarily mean there's a serious problem. According to STAT, "In each case, the companies followed the advice of a data and safety monitoring board, or DSMB, the all-important, seldom-discussed experts who keep tabs on every well-run trial."
Reinfection: A 25-year-old Nevada man with no known immune disorders or underlying conditions was infected with COVID-19 on two separate occasions. It is the fifth confirmation of reinfection worldwide, researchers said, with at least four other cases confirmed in Belgium, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and Ecuador. Study here.
How Long COVID Survives on Surfaces: Australian researchers say COVID can survive on banknotes, glass and stainless steel for up to 28 days. By comparison, Influenza A virus has been found to survive on surfaces for 17 days. One important caveat - the experiment was conducted in the dark. UV light has already been shown to kill the virus.
China Joins COVAX: Bringing the total to 183 countries with a combined 93% of the world's population who are either eligible for subsidized access or have said they intend to participate. The list of non-participants in the international effort to develop and distribute coronavirus vaccines is down to Belarus, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Russia, and the US.
Vaccine Skepticism: An AEI/CAP survey found a massive racial disparity in willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly half of white (48%) and Hispanic (48%) Americans say they would take an FDA-approved vaccine to prevent COVID-19 if it was offered at no cost. But only 21% of black Americans report they would take it.
STATE
Massachusetts: Tufts launches new pooled testing study to help K-12 schools.
Virginia: Students petition against heavy virtual learning workload. The “Reduce the Workload for LOCO Students” petition has been signed more than 11,000 times.
Wisconsin: How do you keep kids engaged with online learning? These Wisconsin teachers invited a cow to visit their Zoom sessions. Only problem was that he was on Moote.
INTERNATIONAL
Kenya: A new survey found that 70% of households in the low-income areas in Nairobi with school-going children fear that their children could contract coronavirus in schools.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Proposals for the Future of Learning, Opportunity, and Work: Two new proposals from the Hamilton Project: Learning Opportunity Credits for adults who have experienced job loss and have received unemployment benefits during the last two years. The federal credits would be redeemable for post secondary coursework offered by accredited and registered learning organizations. The second proposal would require instructional providers that are eligible for the credits to "provide greatly enhanced and ongoing transparency on the nature of student learning and engagement and measurable returns to LOC recipients as they move through their adult lives." The paper calls this initiative the Future of Learning, Opportunity and Work (FLOW).
Career Navigation Technology 2020: A Technology Market Poised for Innovation and Impact: Report released by Tyton Partners and JFFLabs to help better understand the evolving career navigation technology ecosystem. They reviewed over 1,000 companies and organizations in the recruiting, employment, and career planning sectors, and chose 18 “innovators to watch.”
Ports Set New Cargo Import Record: Imports at US cargo ports rose 9.7% in August from July and 8% over August 2019, setting a new record. It's believed this is due to retailers stocking up in response to renewed consumer spending and in advance of the holidays.
Human Capital Depreciation: NBER study that estimates a one-year increase in time without formal employment lowers students’ test scores by 0.09 standard deviations. They estimate a skill depreciation rate of 4.3% and experience returns of 6.8%.
Black Venture Institute: An educational initiative dedicated to helping Black operators become angel investors. Launched by BLCK VC, Operator Collective, Salesforce Ventures and Berkeley Haas School of Business.The program has a goal of training 300 students over the next three years to create a network of Black investors and advisors who can begin writing checks to make investments.
WFH:
Microsoft announced that it will allow all employees to telework up to 50% of the time and some employees to work fully remotely.
Dropbox announced that it's going "virtual first." "Remote work (outside an office) will be the primary mode for all employees and the day-to-day default for individual work.
LEARNING PODS
Alabama: A state lawmaker plans to introduce legislation to make it easier for in-home pods and childcare.
100 Black Men of Valdosta: Is offering learning pods and plans to offer a mentoring program.
Equity Concerns: the LA Times says parents are paying up to $100 an hour for tutors, driving up demand and worsening inequities
Micro Schools: Profile of Accord School in New Hampshire.
RESOURCES
Two Screens for Teachers: The organization has raised enough funding to give every educator in the Seattle Public School system a new monitor who needs one. They're looking to expand to the Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Pittsburgh and Raleigh-Durham.
PBS Kids: Article describing how PBS Kids is helping children during the pandemic.
iPhone 12: Each new iPhone CPU has 11.8bn transistors. That's about half as many as all the CPUs in all the Macs Apple sold when it launched in 1984. Put another way, two iPhone 12's have the computing power of every Mac sold in its first year. #MooresLaw
Best Thing You'll Watch Today: Changing the life of a Royal Marine suffering from Parkinson's Disease. Watch until the end.