Top Three
Schools May Be Open—But They’re Struggling: Via WSJ.
"The problem there and in many other schools boils down to a mismatch between demand and supply. While many officials and parents nationwide push to keep kids in school and away from remote learning, Omicron has left many schools short of the essentials needed to operate, like teachers, substitutes, bus drivers, cafeteria workers—and sometimes students themselves."
"The result is a sort of low-grade chaos. Teachers improvise Zoom classes for those who are absent. Some students try to teach others who have missed long stretches. Students give themselves Covid tests in crowded hallways."
"To improve ventilation in their stuffy, prewar building, Brooklyn Tech teachers have been instructed to open windows at least 3 inches. Under city rules, two to three windows in a classroom should be open 3 inches or one window in a room should be open 6 inches."
"When temperatures fell to 17 degrees this month, students took to wearing coats in an anthropology class. “It’s like you lose focus,” said senior Alex Atack, 17. “I swear to God, my toes went numb last week. It was so cold.”
Parents More Concerned About Their Child Missing School Than Catching COVID: NBC News poll:
Are you more concerned about children going to school in person resulting in more spreading of the coronavirus, or more concerned about children not going to school in person and falling behind in their education?
Total more concerned about spreading of coronavirus: 30%
Total more concerned about falling behind in their education: 65%
This was also interesting:
You have changed to a better job during the COVID-19 pandemic. 22% said yes.
Hospitalizations by Vaccination Status: Updated data from the CDC.
Federal
Vaccine Mandate: U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown blocked the administration’s vaccine requirement for federal employees.
COVID-19 Research
BA.2: A number of stories over the weekend related to BA.2 which is often referred to as "stealth Omicron" because some PCR tests can't distinguish it from other variants due to a unique mutation.
The U.K. labeled BA.2 a “Variant Under Investigation (VUI),” due to its doubling every 4 days which equates to a 120% growth advantage over BA.1.
In Denmark, BA.2 has displaced BA.1 and now accounts for almost half of the new infections in the country. Early data from the country suggests there hasn't been an uptick in hospitalizations since the subtype took hold.
VUI is the lowest level of classification, meaning it's something to watch, not worry about right now.
Pfizer: CEO sees annual COVID vaccine rather than frequent boosters.
Changes in COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Black and White Individuals: New study which found that Black people’s hesitancy dropped more quickly, from 38% in December 2020 to 27% in June 2021, compared with white people’s, which slipped from 28% to 27%.
Suicide Risk in Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic: New study from the NIH, "Rates of positive suicide risk screens among adolescents rose in the pandemic's early months."
School Disruptions: Via Burbio, "The number of schools that went virtual or closed for at least one day last week was 4,473, showing a drop of 38% versus the previous week of 7,164."
Where Do We Stand with Omicron?: Great overview by Eric Topol - really useful to have all of this in one place.
COVID Virus Linked with Headaches, Altered Mental Status in Hospitalized Kids: According to a study led by a pediatrician-scientist at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
“Thankfully, mortality rates in children are low for both acute SARS-CoV-2 and MIS-C,” said Fink. “But this study shows that the frequency of neurological manifestations is high—and it may actually be higher than what we found because these symptoms are not always documented in the medical record or assessable. For example, we can’t know if a baby is having a headache.”
Researchers Are Trying to Figure Out How Omicron Defied The Normal Rules of Evolution: Via NYT.
"In a study posted online last week, an international team of scientists further deepened the mystery. They found that 13 of those mutations were rarely, if ever, found in other coronaviruses, suggesting they should have been harmful to Omicron. Instead, when acting in concert, these mutations appear to be key to some of Omicron’s most essential functions."
"Now the researchers are trying to figure out how Omicron defied the normal rules of evolution and used these mutations to become such a successful vector of disease."
State
Arizona: Gov. Ducey sues Biden administration over funding tied to COVID-19 mandates and Arizona schools.
California: L.A. parents express five concerns about how LAUSD handled remote learning and other issues during the pandemic. Surprisingly high marks for the distance learning option.
Connecticut: Gov. Lamont will not seek an extension of his executive order requiring state employees to either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing.
Hawaii: Public-school student absences up dramatically in latest COVID-19 surge.
The Waianae complex had the highest absentee rate on Oahu for the first week of school with 28.6%. That was up from its first-semester average of 17.6%. Before the pandemic, the average was 9.9%
Schools with the highest rates: Lanai at 33.9%, Kau at 33.4%, and Molokai at 29.1%.
Montana: Billings elementary schools receive $500,000 annually for mental health efforts.
New Mexico: New Mexico Governor to fill in as a substitute teacher.
New York: Governor Hochul says she expects school districts will no longer enforce mask wearing in classes once the statewide mask mandate ends.
Tennessee: Schools chief gives four districts permission to pivot to virtual learning.
Texas: Dozens of Round Rock ISD students walk out of class to demand more COVID-19 precautions.
Utah:
Legislature ends mask mandates, moves toward halting COVID-19 testing in schools.
Not so mild? Hospitalizations exploding among Utah infants, children with COVID-19.
Virginia:
Governor Youngkin Announces Updated Guidelines for Parents, Educators, and PreK-12 Schools
Guidance here along with an infographic of the "algorithm" parents should use.
Seven school boards sue to stop Gov. Youngkin’s mask-optional order on the day it takes effect
Youngkin’s mask-optional order divides Virginia schools and parents, threatening chaos, via the Washington Post.
Scott Gottlieb believes it is too soon to relax mask mandates.
Virginia woman charged for threatening to bring guns to school over mask mandate.
A couple of additional thoughts: The guidance is a bit confusing, in part because it doesn't link/reference any studies to back up various claims and recommendations. For example, "When the following prevention model has been implemented, studies have shown that infections and outbreaks in schools were reduced" but there's no model provided and literally no links/citations to anything that shows a reduction elsewhere. The ventilation guidance also has some inaccuracies. Hopefully this will get cleaned up in the coming days.
Washington: Seattle Schools warehouse workers drove hours through snow for 60,000 Covid test kits.
Economic Recovery
America Achieves Releases Policy Playbook to Offer People Effective Pathways to Good Careers and Help Employers Fill In-Demand Jobs: New resource.
Workers Are Having Their Moment. How Long Can It Last?: Via WSJ.
Resources
What Is the Flipped-Classroom Model, and What Does It Look Like in K–12 Schools Today? Via EdTech Magazine.
"Brown agrees that using the flipped-classroom model feels like being in two places at once, helping students who need extra guidance while advancing learning for those who have mastered the content. She additionally found that creating videos for her flipped classroom have helped the students at home as well."
Students Are Walking Out Over COVID: Via The Atlantic.
"The students are requesting, among other things, that their schools notify them if they’ve been exposed to a COVID-positive classmate, enforce the mask mandate, and provide KN95 or N95 masks to students (the district currently provides surgical masks). They also want the option to voluntarily go remote until those demands are met."
"What’s more, a couple of students I spoke with said that they knew of classmates who had tested positive but gone to school anyway, and that students have been on their own in determining whether they’ve been exposed. They effectively have had to work as their own informal contact-tracing teams, asking around about peers’ test results and monitoring social media for indications of COVID cases."
Dual Enrollment: Common issues among SREB states.
School Closures in 2020/21: What Really Happened? Via Josh Stevenson.
Done With COVID: “This [pandemic] is going to be remembered by the younger generation as a catastrophic moral crime," via Bari Weiss.
School Bus Driver Shortages Affecting Families Across the Country: Via CBS.
Greatest NFL Weekend Of All Time: Via Axios. Insanely great games over the weekend.
Seven Springs Resort Ski Update: From Abbey Way:
1 inch of natural snow overnight
16 inches of snow this week
21 slopes and trails
1 person struggling to walk down the stairs.
Update: Abbey actually tracked down the "Struggling Skier" and provided an update.