COVID-19 Policy Update #196
COVID-19 Policy Update
TUESDAY 2/9
TOP THREE
Young Children Have Low Infection Rate: A French study found low seroprevalence in children of daycare centers with kids age 5 months to 4 years, suggesting they were not spreading the virus widely in these settings.
White House on Reopening Schools: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden's goal is for more than 50% of schools to have "some teaching" in person "at least one day a week" – not necessarily fully reopened – by Day 100 of his presidency. Excerpt below (and video):
MS. PSAKI: Sure. His goal that he set is to have the majority of schools — so, more than 50 percent — open by day 100 of his presidency. And that means some teaching in classrooms. So, at least one day a week. Hopefully, it’s more. And obviously, it is as much as is safe in each school and local district.
Q So when you say “some teaching,” that’s — you didn’t use the same majority qualifier there. You just have to have some teaching in school, some teachers in school — not the majority of teachers in school in the majority of classrooms.
MS. PSAKI: Well, teaching at least one day a week in the majority of schools, by day 100.
Ohio: Gov. DeWine devotes $2 billion to help kids catch up academically. Ohio’s public school districts need to come up with a plan to address learning loss by April 1.
FEDERAL
COVID Relief Package:
Democrats have proposed expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC) from $2,000 today to $3,000 for children over the age of 6 and $3,600 for children aged 6 and under. The credit would be advanced to families monthly, at $250/month for older children and $300/month for younger children. It would be fully available and refundable to households with no income, unlike the Child Tax Credit’s current design. Tax Foundation has the details. Tax Policy Center has more thoughts.
An analysis by the nonpartisan CBO found that the $15 federal minimum wage bill proposed by Democrats would cut jobs for 1.4 million workers by 2025, but lift 900,000 people out of poverty.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
AstraZeneca: Health officials around the world gave their backing to the AstraZeneca vaccine, after a study showing it had little effect against mild disease caused by the variant now spreading quickly in South Africa rang global alarm.
Vaccine Distribution:
Via NYT: "N.Y.’s Vaccine Websites Weren’t Working. He Built a New One for $50." Here it is: TurboVax
The Key to West Virginia’s Vaccine Success: The more the state collaborates with those at the local, community level, the greater the vaccine uptake.
Vaccine Hesitancy:
CDC Survey: The percentage of people who said they were “absolutely certain” or “very likely” to be vaccinated, increased overall from 39.4% in September to 49.1% in December. Just under 20% of adults said in December they were “somewhat likely” to get vaccinated, and over 30% said they were “not likely.”
One-third of Texans likely to refuse COVID-19 vaccine
Biden administration preps sweeping effort to encourage Americans on vaccines
MA launches "Trust the Facts, Get the Vax" Campaign
Misinformation: A new study tested the impact of vaccine misinformation on participants’ intentions.
The researchers asked 8,000 people — half in the U.S., half in the U.K. — if they planned to get vaccinated.
After showing three-quarters of them misinformation such as “the new Covid-19 vaccine will literally alter your DNA” or “97% of corona vaccine recipients will become infertile,” respondents who would “definitely” take the vaccine dropped by 6 percentage points, compared to the group that saw factual information.
And more moved from “definitely” to “yes, but leaning towards unsure” (9 percentage points) and from “yes, but leaning towards unsure” to “no, but leaning towards unsure” (11 percentage points).
Study Shows Flu Vaccine Lessens COVID-19 Symptoms in Children: A new study showed that season flu vaccine reduces kids' risk for symptoms and severe illness if they get COVID-19.
Silver Lining: Study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry from a team at the University of Bath with international colleagues, analyzed survey results from 385 caregivers of children aged 6-16 both in the UK and Portugal.
48% described a growth in family relationships.
22% described feeling a greater appreciation for life
16% described spiritual growth
11% described discovering and embracing new opportunities and possibilities
Do We Need Deep Cleaning? Harvard's Joseph Allen says “We don’t have a single documented case of COVID-19 transmission from surfaces. Not one. So why, then, are we spending a small fortune to deep clean our offices, schools, subways and buses?”
Hygiene Theater Is Still a Huge Waste of Time: The Atlantic's Derek Thompson agrees.
"But half a year later, Goldman looks oracular. Since last spring, the CDC has expanded its guidance to clarify that the coronavirus “spreads less commonly through contact with contaminated surfaces.” In the past month, the leading scientific journal Nature published both a long analysis and a sharp editorial reiterating Goldman’s thesis. “A year into the pandemic, the evidence is now clear,” the editorial begins. “Catching the virus from surfaces—although plausible—seems to be rare.”
"In Italy, researchers swabbed a number of surfaces in a hospital following standard cleaning procedures and found no evidence of viable virus. Following standard precautions, “SARS-CoV-2 transmission is unlikely to occur in real-life conditions,” they concluded."
Where COVID Has Been The Deadliest: Map from Axios:
STATE
California: North County private school enrollment jumps as public schools continue distance learning
DC:
The DC Teachers' Union and AFT Randi Weingarten have called on DC to close entire schools for cleaning for at least 24 hrs if a COVID case is detected. Kids are grouped in cohorts, and currently cohorts - not schools - must quarantine for 14-days if a case is detected.
The Washington Teachers’ Union filed a complaint against D.C. Public Schools on Tuesday, alleging the school system violated health and safety protocols at the Southeast high school where she taught.
Georgia: Atlanta school system considers mandatory summer school for kids who fell behind
Iowa: Iowa City Community School District is launching permanent online learning option for all Iowa students
Massachusetts: Many parents are demanding that schools return to in-person learning
Michigan:
Two-thirds of Michigan school employees are either vaccinated or in the process of being vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a survey of MEA members.
Michigan officials lay out testing guidelines as high school contact sports allowed to resume
Pennsylvania: Philadelphia teachers staged a "freeze out" by teaching outside in protest of teaching in classrooms.
Virginia: Peninsula Catholic High School in Newport News say they are adopting a permanent virtual learning program as an educational option.
Washington: Teachers union says Richland school leaders are ignoring teacher safety and training concerns.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Job Training Without a Dime Upfront: Nearly 500 students nationwide, including 22 in Massachusetts — all of whom qualify for public benefits, have poor credit, or have a criminal record — have taken part in the Social Finance program, enrolling in four-month tech courses provided by the training firm General Assembly. If they don’t find a job making at least $40,000 a year, they don’t have to repay the $15,000 tuition.
StriveTogether: Invests $32 million in 51 communities across 26 states to deliver more equitable outcomes for children and families.
Small Business Index Falls: The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index declined in January to 95.0, down 0.9 from December and three points below the 47-year average of 98.
9 Million Small Businesses Might Not Survive: According to a Federal Reserve survey.
The Startup Surge? Unpacking 2020 Trends in Business Formation: New report from EIG
Who Spent Their Last Stimulus Checks?: From the Opportunity Insights team:
LEARNING PODS
Startup Offers Online Learning 'Pods': DailiesPods pulls together small "pods" of students in groups of four to eight, divided by age bands (three to five years, five to nine and nine to 14)
RESOURCES
Biden, Teachers Unions Confront School Reopening: Post at OpenSecrets looking at campaign donations.
Teachers Knock On Doors Looking For Students Who've Disappeared From Online Learning: Via NPR
Rethinking Intervention: New resources from Instructional Partners
Education Innovation: Recap from Jason Weeby's takeover of the Ahead of the Herd blog:
The Rules of Schooling Have Been Rewritten. Let’s Not Go Back to Normal.
The Four Headwinds Threatening Pandemic-Era Education Innovation
How to Tack Against the Four Headwinds to Pandemic-Era Education Innovations
‘The Slide Is Real’: Many Online Learners Have The Most To Lose: Via Class of COVID-19
Now Recruiting: Online Army of Volunteer Tutors To Fight ‘COVID Slide’: Great piece from Greg Toppo
Getting Teachers the Covid-19 Vaccine Is a Hurdle to Reopening Schools: Via WSJ
"A new survey from the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union, found 84% of members have either already received the vaccine, scheduled their appointments or planned to do so when it became available. 63%percent of respondents said they would feel more willing to teach in person with the vaccine. 11% of teachers said they didn’t want to get vaccinated and 5% were unsure. Among their reasons: the vaccine was too new, they were worried about the side effects and they mistrusted the government."
In-Person or Remote Learning: How the Biggest City School Districts Are Operating: Via EdWeek: As of Feb. 8, 2021, 43 member districts in the Council of the Great City Schools—some of the largest school districts in the U.S.—are open for some type of in-person learning.
“I’m Here Live, I’m Not a Cat”: Says lawyer after Zoom filter mishap