TOP THREE
Long-lasting COVID Symptoms Rarer in Children Than In Adults: Article by the authors of a UK study
"There have been over 131,000 UK deaths from COVID-19, but early research (still awaiting review by other scientists) suggests that very few children (fewer than 30 in the UK) have died from COVID-19 or related conditions. Consequently, children have been regarded as being at low risk."
"Children usually got better quickly: the median length of illness was six days – slightly shorter (five days) for primary school children and longer (seven days) for teenagers."
"As many as 4.4% of children reported ongoing symptoms at or beyond 28 days (compared with 13.3% of adults, using the same methodology)."
"Nearly all children (98.4%) had recovered by eight weeks, suggesting that long-lasting illness is less common in children than in adults."
"Brain fog was reported in 9% of younger and 20% of older children (on average lasting two days in older and one day in younger children); and dizziness in 14% of younger and 26% of older children (lasting two days in each group). Low mood was reported in 8% of younger and 16% of older children (also lasting two days in each group)."
"Our findings are consistent with studies from Switzerland and Australia, which also showed that most children recover fully from COVID-19. Our estimates of the number of children with longer illness duration are, however, lower than the estimates from the UK Office of National Statistics (ONS).
"Finally, our findings should be broadly reassuring as children return to more “normal” in-person schooling in the UK. Our data show that for most children, COVID-19 is a short-lived illness."
Why Parents Kept Their Kids Home From School: Via Jessica McCrory Calarco in The Atlantic on a new paper based on a survey of 1,668 parents.
"Looking at parents whose children had the option of attending school in person (i.e., at a physical school building for at least part of the week), we examined what predicted whether those families chose in-person or remote schooling (i.e., online instruction or homeschooling) and their accounts of the choices they made."
"We found...that the biggest factor for many families was rather concrete: whether a parent or other adult was available during the school day to supervise kids."
"And because of racial inequality in America—and, specifically, because of racial inequalities in the layoffs that came early in the pandemic—whether such an adult was home varied greatly by race."
"Among families in which no parent lost a job and all parents remained employed full-time, 64% chose the in-person... By contrast, among families in which either parent lost a job and did not return to full-time paid work, only 35% opted for in-person..."
"In another paper, recently published in the journal Socius, my colleagues and I describe what we found in interviews with 69 Indiana parents about the decisions they made during the pandemic."
Time Estimate for Vaccine for Children: NIH’s director, Francis Collins, predicted that the FDA will likely not authorize COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5 to 11 until the end 2021.
FEDERAL
FCC: Announced over $5 billion in requests to fund 9.1 million connected devices and 5.4 million broadband connections as part of the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund Program.
"The FCC will open a second application filing window for schools and libraries to request funding for connected devices and broadband connections for off-campus use by students, school staff, and library patrons for the current 2021-22 school year"
List of states and how much schools/libraries requested.
A few surprises:
Puerto Rico had the 12th highest amount requested - above PA, VA, IN, TN, and other states.
45% of all funds requested came from just five states: CA, NY, TX, FL, NJ
USDA: Announced $127 million in ReConnect funds to support broadband in 12 states.
NTIA: Their broadband infrastructure program received over 230 applications, requesting more than $2.5 billion.
FDA: Their social media director is having some fun this week.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Johnson & Johnson: Reported data showing that recipients who received a booster dose generated virus-fighting antibodies “nine-fold higher” than those seen four weeks after a single dose.
Pfizer: Submitted data saying a third shot boosts antibodies.
"The companies conducted a study of 306 volunteers who received a booster shot about five to eight months after their second shot."
"Researchers found that the level of antibodies that block the coronavirus jumped more than three times higher than the level after the second dose."
Vaccine Effectiveness: A new CDC report found the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines among front-line workers declined to 66% after the Delta variant became dominant, compared with 91% before it arose.
Unvaccinated 29 Times More Likely to Be Hospitalized: A new CDC study finds that hospitalization rates in late July were 29 times higher among unvaccinated people in Los Angeles County than the fully vaccinated
Field Report: Challenges & Lessons Learned in Direct Outreach about the COVID-19 Vaccines: Via Made to Save
Among the unvaccinated, confidence in the vaccines is low and demand for information is high.
For many, access barriers are preventing vaccination – but it runs deeper than just available vaccines.
The most successful tactics directly address the specific challenges in a community.
"Canvassing in high-traffic areas, rather than going door-to-door, often yields more successful conversations in a shorter amount of time. This is particularly effective if the locations are central meeting points for the community, such as a church, community center, or market. "
The Coronavirus Could Get Worse: Via The Atlantic: Delta is far from the last variant. But what shape the virus takes next depends on us.
"What lies ahead might, in some ways, feel never-ending, like a series of checks with no checkmate. Vaccine recipes can be tweaked to accommodate new variants, and boosters can refresh fading immune memories."
"Vaccines, however, aren’t just reactive. They are also proactive interventions that curb the number of times the virus gets to roll the evolutionary dice, cutting down on the number, intensity, and duration of infections, and the chance that they’ll pass to others. A more vaccinated world creates a more hostile global environment for SARS-CoV-2."
"New variants will continue to appear at unprecedented speeds “until we get to the point where the virus is not allowed to replicate this often, or this quickly,” Jennifer Dien Bard, a clinical virologist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles."
STATE
Alabama: What the science says about the best ways to catch Alabama students up.
California:
Pandemic paradox: Remote learning brought some Modesto educators closer to struggling kids
Surveillance study finds disparities, high proportion of past COVID-19 infections among adults and children in Santa Ana
"In addition to finding a greater prevalence of COVID-19 antibodies among adults (28%) and children (26%) than previously expected, the Santa Ana study found disparities in previous infection across racial/ethnic groups including Hispanics (29%), Asians (15%), Whites (12%), and other non-Hispanics (6%)."
Illinois:
Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union have hammered out about 25% of a COVID-19 safety agreement with just a week to go until students return to classrooms.
More than 1,200 schools have signed up for SHIELD testing - a salvia-based COVID test.
New York:
OpEd by New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Dave A. Chokshi, NYC Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter and First Lady Chirlane McCray: "NYC schools expand mental health support for students as pandemic leaves kids in crisis"
"A roadmap for a robust mental health recovery plan should also equip schools with a curriculum for social-emotional learning. SEL is a proven educational approach used in schools nationwide."Gov. Hochul acknowledged 12,000 COVID deaths that had not been reported by the Cuomo administration.
The UFT Solidarity - a caucus within the United Federation of Teachers - sent an email to reporters followed by a Tweet criticizing the city's reopening plans.
North Carolina: A third of school districts have reversed course to require masks
Pennsylvania:
Philly School Board votes for vaccine mandate for teachers and staff
The state's health secretary rebuked Bucks County officials over their school reopening guidance, prompting them to revise it
"The debate in Bucks has been particularly contentious, in part because the COVID-19 prevention measures recommended for schools by the county’s health director, David Damsker, have been less strict than what’s come from federal and state officials."
"Earlier this summer, Damsker advocated that schools treat the virus as they would a typical seasonal flu."
"Damsker also endorsed a three-foot social distancing minimum last year before the CDC had shifted its guidance to that standard. He has recommended that some children exposed to COVID shouldn’t have to quarantine, a policy adopted by some Bucks County schools. And in June, he supported ending school mask requirements before the expiration of the state mandate."
South Carolina: Disability rights groups, the ACLU, and parents sue over measure meant to ban SC school mask mandates. Read the lawsuit here.
INTERNATIONAL
Japan: Weighs how to reopen schools amid Delta.
RESOURCES
Parent Poll:The Harris Poll finds:
4 in 10 (40%) parents say they are comfortable sending their kids back to school, with (21%) saying their child is vaccinated so the status of others doesn’t matter and (19%) saying they don’t think COVID poses a serious risk for their child.
A majority of parents support mask mandates for students across all ages with (74%) supporting masks for college, middle, and high school students, (73%) for elementary students, and even (63%) for children over the age of 2 in daycare or preschool.
Maintaining Student Data Privacy and Public Transparency During the Pandemic: New paper from DQC
"We’re setting the record straight: collecting and reporting data on school COVID and vaccination rates is absolutely allowable under federal law—the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)."
"When we allow the public conversation to incorrectly cite federal laws as the barrier to transparency, we’re neither helping communities nor protecting privacy. It’s time for facts, not myths."
Schools Across the Country Struggle to Hire Bus Drivers Amid COVID-19 Concerns:ViaCBS News
Back to School: Lessons Learned About Safe School Reopening: Via LPI
Tulsa Public Schools: Prioritizing Physical, Social, and Emotional Safety to
Support Reopening and Recovery: Via LPI
Don't Know Maybe: A parody by the Holderness Family which captures some of the confusion parents are feeling right now with the decisions they're facing.