COVID-19 Policy Update #233
COVID-19 Policy Update
WEDNESDAY 4/14
TOP THREE
Massachusetts: Pool testing in schools could be national model
"Pooled testing involves laboratories testing multiple swabs in a single batch. If there is a positive result, all members of that pool are individually re-tested."
"Through the voluntary program that Baker's office has described as a "first-in-the-nation pooled testing initiative," participating schools conduct the screenings of staff and students whose parents have given consent at least once a week."
"As of March 29, the schools had tested almost 159,000 individuals in 22,679 pools, with a pool positivity rate of 0.76 percent, according to the administration. That same day, the statewide seven-day average positive test rate was 2.57 percent."
"We've already had other states ask us if we could replicate the program," said Tim Rowe, the co-founder and CEO of CIC Health, one of the pooled testing providers. "We're expecting most states, perhaps all states, will do this."
Schools and Community Spread: IU study:
"Found a 10% increase of in-person school was associated with about a 1% increase in community COVID-19 cases 28 days later."
"Our data are consistent with a study that suggests the policy of reopening school in-person in the United States did not increase COVID-19 hospitalizations for those counties below the 75th percentile for COVID-19 hospitalizations"
"It also supports the findings of a study in Michigan and Washington that used modeling to demonstrate that in-person school was not associated with a significant increase in SARS-CoV-2 spread in communities when there were low or modest pre-existing case rates in the population under 26 daily cases per 100,000 residents"
Moderna: Moderna Vaccine Day presentation.
Sees a series of variant epidemics from SARS-CoV-2 over the coming years, suggesting COVID will become endemic and be with us for several years.
71% of immunologists surveyed believe the endemic nature of COVID will be driven by immune escape.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Johnson & Johnson Vaccine:
European Medicine Agency said it is reviewing J&J's data and will issue recommendations next week.
Axios: "The FDA's decision to pause the use of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine has set off a chain reaction of fear — about the safety of the vaccine, and about whether the FDA is overreacting"
The otherside of the argument: A quick pulse survey conducted by Echelon Insights found that the pause actually makes Americans more, not less, confident in the COVID-19 vaccines.
CDC's ACIP met to review data on J&J's vaccine but ended the meeting without a vote. "ACIP does not wish to vote or put any motions on the table to vote on change to the current recommendation."
CDC Workgroup interpretation (including policy options)
A few slides from the presentations:
Schools Were Not Hotspots: Zurich study looked at 2,500 children (6 to 16) in Zurich who were tested for coronavirus antibodies during each of the three waves of the pandemic.
2% percent tested positive for antibodies during the first wave in March and April 2020 when schools in Switzerland were closed, and 8% during the second wave when they were open. None of them fell seriously ill, and there was little indication of the children infecting each other.
Findings from the third wave are not yet available.
Firearms Injuries Involving Young Children in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic: New study found children under 12 were at much higher risk of experiencing firearm wounds compared with previous years.
For those six months in 2018, there were 2.76 firearm injuries per million children, in 2019 it was 2.70, but in 2020, it was 5.09.
Vaccine Hesitancy: Census Household Pulse Survey now includes vaccine hesitancy data.
STATE
California:
Photos: Tears and cheers after more than a year as LAUSD resumes in-class instruction
Via the AP: Zoom in a Room’? California’s schools lag in reopening push
"Kira Gaber said she’s been told to send her kindergartner back to his San Francisco classroom with a laptop and headphones — aka Zoom in a Room. His teacher will be working online from home, while an adult monitor watches the kids in class."
"An analysis by the Los Angeles Times found that just 3 million of California’s 6.2 million K-12 students now have the option to learn in a classroom, and most are younger children. Even in schools offering an in-person return, some kids will receive only a few hours a week of classroom instruction."
Connecticut: Hartford Public Schools is partnering with St. Francis Hospital to vaccinate students 16 and over.
Illinois:
CPS and CTU make progress, but still no deal over Chicago high school return to classroom.
OpEd: Why can’t my daughter return to high school? Three words: Chicago Teachers Union
Missouri: Ladue Schools will launch virtual learning program as option for 2021-2022 school year.
New Jersey: 20% of school districts now offering full-time in-person instruction.
As of April 12, 496 districts were hybrid, 118 remote, and 161 were fully in-person.
North Carolina: How Watauga County Schools is closing the broadband gap.
Ohio:
Is making available every district's extended learning plans (schools that have a PDF icon have published their plan)
Via The 74: How Two Cleveland Schools Stayed Open Through the Pandemic With Few COVID Cases and More Learning Opportunities
"We had zero student cases,” said principal Deborah Martin. “Zero teacher cases. Zero.”
INTERNATIONAL
OECD: New report on schools and COVID:
"The countries with the lowest educational performance tended to fully close their schools for longer periods of time in 2020. In fact, the performance of 15-year-olds in countries on the PISA 2018 reading test explains 54% of the variation in the number of days where schools were fully closed in 2020 at the upper-secondary level of education. In other words, education systems with poorer learning outcomes in 2018 were more likely to suffer from greater losses of in-person learning time in 2020."
"More than 80% of countries plan to provide such support in 2021 in contrast to 45% in 2020 for lower-secondary teachers. Given the accelerated digitalisation of education systems, enhanced support for initial teacher education acknowledges the importance of rethinking the initial teacher education curriculum and adapting the skill set of future teachers for fast-changing skills demands"
RESOURCES
EdTech:
How MasterClass CEO David Rogier Brought Star Power to Online Learning
Bill Nye “The Science Guy” Partners With Varsity Tutors to Host Class on Public Health & Vaccine Science
Digital Divide: AT&T Makes $2 Billion, 3-Year Commitment to Help Bridge the Digital Divide
Translation Guide: Just to recap, let's circle back on this after I run it up the flagpole