Top Three
COVID-19 Preventable Mortality and Leading Cause of Death Ranking: Via Peterson-KFF.
Children and COVID-19: State Data Report from AAP.
Over 164,000 child cases were added the past week, an increase of nearly 24% over the prior week and 63% increase since Oct. 28
For the 18th week in a row child COVID-19 cases are above 100,000. Since the first week of September, there have been over 2.1 million additional child cases.
Since the pandemic began, children represented 17.2% of total cumulated cases but last week made up 23.6% of reported cases.
1 Out of 4 Parents Report Their Child Was In Quarantine Last Month: According to a new MorningConsult and EdChoice survey (summary / parent crosstabs / adult crosstabs)
In the crosstabs: 37% of Black families, 36% Hispanic families, 22% white families.
40% of special needs parents.
Omicron
Israeli Study Finds Pfizer COVID-19 Booster Protects Against Omicron: Via Reuters.
"People who received the second dose 5 or 6 months ago do not have any neutralization ability against the Omicron. While they do have some against the Delta (strain)," Gili Regev-Yochay, director of the Infectious Diseases Unit at Sheba, told reporters."
"The good news is that with the booster dose it increases about a hundred fold. There is a significant protection of the booster dose. It is lower than the neutralization ability against the Delta, about four times lower," she said."
U.K. Says Can't Rule Out Shutting Schools as Omicron Spreads: Via Bloomberg.
"Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who earlier said there’s no certainty the government will be able to keep schools in England open, told Parliament that omicron infections in the U.K. are now estimated to be about 200,000 a day."
UK Raises COVID Alert Level: Via the AP.
"Early evidence shows that Omicron is spreading much faster than Delta and that vaccine protection against symptomatic disease from Omicron is reduced," the medical officers said in a joint statement."
"Headteachers are warning of “chaos” in England’s schools as Omicron sweeps across the country, with high levels of staff and pupil absences and reports that parents are planning to keep children home to avoid the virus before Christmas."
"In some schools up to half the teaching workforce is unavailable for work due to Covid-related absence, according to the NASUWT union, which is calling for a staggered start to the new term and additional on-site testing facilities in January."
Federal
Build Back Better:
Sen. Manchin commented on Friday's inflation numbers:
"Whatever Congress is considering [doing] we should do it within the limits of what we can afford. And that means having a tax plan that's fair and equitable and keeps us competitive, but also makes everyone pay, especially the wealthy, pay their fair share too. See what that spins off. And if that’s in the [$1.7 trillion range] then we should be spending whatever in that range, as far as I'm concerned. If it's -- whatever plan it would be, pre K, childcare and home care, then it should be 10 years, it shouldn't just be one year here, three years here, five years here.”
"A new poll shows that nearly two-thirds of West Virginia voters think BBB will make inflation worse and a slightly larger share think Congress “should slow down and get the Build Back Better Act right.”
CNN Reports, "Manchin's comments suggest he needs to see wholesale changes to the bill, a process that could take weeks or even potentially months if he holds firm. But Democratic leaders have been racing to get the long-awaited bill done before Christmas even though the final proposal is still being written and vetted by the Senate parliamentarian"
ED: Sec. Cardona oped: "School staffing shortages can't wait: The Biden administration is taking action."
ED: Announces $182 million in EIR research grants. Grantees are exploring innovations for potential models for how the nation can address the impact of school closures and lost instructional time resulting from the pandemic, including:
Increasing student learning in STEM by providing tools to support a school-based tutoring program with volunteer tutors;
Utilizing a literacy intervention for kindergarten through third grade that delivers research-based one-on-one tutoring and family engagement;
Supporting second-graders' literacy learning recovery among underserved and rural populations;
Increasing the number of students who feel they belong, demonstrate resilience, and build positive relationships through social emotional learning (SEL) instruction and enhanced family therapy and health services.
White House: Fact Sheet: Putting the Public First: Improving Customer Experience and Service Delivery for the American People (and more via the AP).
"The Executive Order includes 36 customer experience (CX) improvement commitments across 17 Federal agencies, all of which aim to improve people’s lives and the delivery of Government services."
"The Executive Order also creates a sustained, cross-government service delivery process that aligns to the moments that matter most in people’s lives – like turning 65, having a child, or applying for a small business loan."
Commerce: Announces 60 finalists for $1 billion “Build Back Better Regional Challenge”
COVID-19 Research
U.S. Nears 800,000 COVID Deaths: NYT:
What You Need to Know About COVID-19 Boosters: Via Made to Save.
Merck’s Covid Pill Might Pose Risks for Pregnant Women: Via NYT:
"But two weeks after a Food and Drug Administration expert committee narrowly voted to recommend authorizing the drug, known as molnupiravir, the F.D.A. is still weighing Merck’s application. Among the biggest questions facing regulators is whether the drug, in the course of wreaking havoc on the virus’s genes, also has the potential to cause mutations in human DNA."
"Scientists are especially worried about pregnant women, they said, because the drug could affect a fetus’s dividing cells, theoretically causing birth defects. Members of the F.D.A. expert committee expressed those same concerns during a public meeting on Nov. 30."
“Do we want to reduce the risk for the mother by 30 percent while exposing the embryo and the fetus to a much higher risk of harm by this drug?” Dr. James Hildreth, the president of Meharry Medical College in Tennessee, said at the meeting. “My answer is no, and there is no circumstance in which I would advise a pregnant woman to take this drug.”
Biden Health Team Ruled Out Free Covid Tests Over Cost, Logistics: Via Politico
"The cost of regularly sending all Americans at-home tests could quickly skyrocket and become unsustainable, officials said, pointing to the nearly $50 billion “test and trace” program that the U.K. put in place for a country that’s one-fifth the size."
"Congress did allocate roughly $48 billion earlier this year for Covid-19 testing. But only $9.4 billion remains uncommitted, and there are already plans to spend that amount in the coming months, the HHS spokesperson said.
"That means the White House would need to go back to lawmakers for more money to fund any kind of tests-for-all system, effectively ruling out quick action and threatening to bog the administration down in another partisan funding fight."
"The White House did not consult with major insurance industry groups on the specifics of the proposal beforehand, and gave them fewer than 24 hours notice that it would be part of Biden’s broader Covid-19 blueprint, two people with knowledge of the matter said."
Why Hospitalizations Are Now a Better Indicator of Covid’s Impact: Monica Gandhi and Leslie Bienen in the NYT
"Learning to live with the virus in the long term will require changes in both mind-set and policy. Relying on Covid-19 hospitalizations as the most important metric to track closely will provide the most reliable picture of how an area is faring with the virus."
"This becomes especially important as case counts become more complicated. A case of Covid-19 doesn’t mean what it used to if you are vaccinated. Most breakthrough infections, which will grow as the number of vaccinated people increases, so far remain mild."
"If the United States focused more on hospitalizations versus cases, health authorities could expend more resources on reaching people who are unvaccinated and at high risk for hospitalization."
State
Illinois: Is Chicago’s school staffing crunch about to get worse?
Kansas: "During a normal school year, about 1,400 Kansas families newly register to home school. Last year that number more than tripled — to 5,527 — and the trend doesn’t seem to be slowing. So far this year, more than 2,250 new families have registered."
Maryland: Governor Hogan announces 500,000 rapid at-home COVID-19 tests.
Massachusetts: Will distribute 2 million at-home rapid COVID-19 tests.
New York: Supreme Court declines to block New York vaccine mandate.
Oklahoma: Public health lab still ranks at "bottom of barrel for COVID-19 variant testing;" state cites issues with lag in reporting.
Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has affirmed the Commonwealth Court's decision and vacated the mask mandate issued by the acting state health secretary.
Rhode Island: Governor extends pandemic executive orders including mask requirements in schools.
Tennessee: More than half of the school districts have signed on to participate in the state's $200 million tutoring program designed to mitigate learning loss and help accelerate student achievement.
"This is projected to provide an additional 250 to 500 hours of academic instruction for each student over the course of the three years and four summers the program is in effect."
"Tutoring will take place among small groups of students (a maximum of three for grades 1-5 and a maximum of four in grades 6-8) in 30- to 45-minute sessions, twice or three times each week."
Resources
How to Help Kentucky Tornado Victims: Good list of organizations from USA Today.
At least 74 people are confirmed dead in Kentucky, with more than 100 unaccounted for.
This man drove half an hour with a grill and a truckload of food and parked right in the middle of Mayfield, Kentucky.
José Andrés reports on the destruction and the mobilization of World Central Kitchen.
A Pandemic Fix for Teacher Stress: More Half Days of School: Via Washington Post:
"In Virginia’s Hampton Roads area, Suffolk Public Schools is shortening instructional hours every other Wednesday to help take the pressure off beleaguered educators. In Maryland, at least six school districts have remade their calendars for this school year to add in more early-release days."
"In Maryland, Howard County shortened the hours of six days of school, basically one a month, while Prince George’s County, Montgomery and Baltimore counties reduced three days or more."
New Leader Pushes Teachers’ Union to Take On Social Justice Role: NYT, "Becky Pringle, the country’s top Black labor leader, has plunged the National Education Association into the reckoning unfolding in public schools."
Lincoln’s Founders Announcing the New Leadership Team: Garrett Johnson will move to the board and is launching a new venture. Zach Graves will take the helm.
Consumer Adoption of Telemedicine in 2021: Via RockHealth
Parent-tech Startups: On the rise with VCs after pandemic upheaval.
Education Data Legislation Review: 2021 State Activity: Via DQC. The analysis found that 361 bills were introduced in 45 states; 111 bills were passed into law in 38 states.
Top 2021 Education Legislative Trends: Via ECS:
ECS "tracked 9,508 introduced bills in state legislatures throughout the country and summarized all 1,771 bills that were either enacted or vetoed."
Summaries available via their State Education Policy Tracking tool.
And Just Like That: He's alive.
Ben and Zara:
Just want your Respect.
Zara feels good.
Ready or not, here she comes.