Just a quick note to say that I have some travel tomorrow so there will not be an update. I’ll see everyone on Friday!
Top Three
Covid Cases Are Skyrocketing Again. States Have No New Plans: Via Politico.
"As the latest and most transmissible Covid-19 variant has sent case numbers skyward, with hospitalizations and deaths also rising, the response from state officials has been largely muted, a concession to the reality that their messages rarely resonate and that most people — even, and sometimes especially, politicians — are ready to move on."
"There are no new plans or bold initiatives on the horizon, officials in 10 states told POLITICO, even as much of the South remains unvaccinated and vaccination uptake among children nationwide is well below what state and federal officials would like. Instead, state and federal strategies for managing 130,000 new daily Covid cases in the U.S. are largely the same as they were for managing 30,000 new daily cases four months ago."
"The fear, expressed in both red and blue states, is that if state officials sound the alarm on this Covid surge too early, the public won’t listen later if hospital capacity becomes strained, or the number of daily deaths starts to rapidly increase. Louisiana, for instance, has the second highest case count in the country per capita but is only seeing a quarter of the new daily hospital admissions it did during the Omicron wave and about 15 percent of the deaths."
“There is concern, and I think that’s universal,” one senior administration official said of the mood inside the administration’s Covid response operation."
COVID-19 Tied to New-onset, Short-term Heart Disease, Diabetes: Study / Press Release which found COVID-19 patients are six times more likely than uninfected people to develop cardiovascular disease (CVD) and nearly twice as likely to receive a new diabetes diagnosis, but the risk begins to recede at 5 weeks and 12 weeks.
Effectiveness of Pfizer Vaccine Against Omicron in Children 5 to 11 Years of Age: New study.
A total of 255,936 children were included in the analysis.
Among partially vaccinated children, vaccine effectiveness was 13.6% against all SARS-CoV-2 infections, 24.3% against PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, and 42.3% against Covid-19–related hospitalization.
In fully vaccinated children, vaccine effectiveness was 36.8%, 65.3%, and 82.7%, respectively.
“During a period when the omicron variant was predominant, BNT162b2 vaccination reduced the risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection and Covid-19–related hospitalization among children 5 to 11 years of age.”
Federal
CHIPS+: After some fits and starts, Congress is advancing some bipartisan innovation reforms.
The Senate voted 64-34 to advance a slimmed-down version of its bill designed to boost U.S. semiconductor competition with China, including $50 billion in subsidies.
Senators are still negotiating over the size and scope of the “plus” part of what’s become known as the “CHIPS+” package. Full Text / Partial Summary.
The Senate is likely to vote on the full package as soon as next week.
There are a number of STEM programs authorized in this legislation at all levels - K12, undergraduate, graduate, and workforce. Several studies are commissioned as well. There's also a "Scaling Innovations in PreK-12 Education" section which authorizes NSF to establish through a competitive process research centers which would facilitate STEM programs, practices, and technologies as well as support R&D. The centers could also "support education innovations that leverage new technologies or deepen understanding of the impact of technology on educational systems."
Covid-19 Research
Duration of Shedding of Culturable Virus in SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (BA.1) Infection: Study:
“Recently, the CDC recommended shortening the strict isolation period for infected persons in non–health care settings from 10 days to 5 days after symptom onset or after the initial positive test, followed by 5 days of masking.”
“In this longitudinal cohort of participants, most of whom had symptomatic, nonsevere Covid-19 infection, the viral decay kinetics were similar with omicron infection and delta infection.”
“Although vaccination has been shown to reduce the incidence of infection and the severity of disease, we did not find large differences in the median duration of viral shedding among participants who were unvaccinated, those who were vaccinated but not boosted, and those who were vaccinated and boosted.”
“Although culture positivity has been proposed as a possible proxy for infectiousness, additional studies are needed to correlate viral-culture positivity with confirmed transmission in order to inform isolation periods.”
“Our data suggest that some persons who are infected with the omicron and delta SARS-CoV-2 variants shed culturable virus more than 5 days after symptom onset or an initial positive test.”
MIS-C Among Children Fades in Latest Wave of Virus: Via the WSJ.
"In past pandemic waves, an increase in cases was followed by a rise in MIS-C around two weeks later. But the extent of the rise has been diminishing. The highest rates of MIS-C in the U.S. occurred during the Alpha wave that peaked in early 2021. A gentler rise accompanied the Delta wave the following summer and a yet-smaller increase came during the first Omicron wave this past winter, despite the record-high case numbers caused by the highly mutated strain."
"A small Danish study published in JAMA Pediatrics in June found that from January to March this year, vaccinated children were significantly less likely than unvaccinated ones to develop MIS-C following a Covid-19 infection. An earlier study conducted during the Delta wave in the U.S. by researchers at the CDC estimated that two shots of the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc.and BioNTech SE vaccine were 91% effective against MIS-C."
Novavax is Here! Just Not the Silver Bullet We Need: Via Katelyn Jetelina.
Advocates for Long Covid Patients Express Latest Frustration With Federal Response: Via NBC.
State
Arizona: "Free summer camp pays dividends: 100K Arizona children fill learning gaps created by pandemic."
Colorado: "All Denver school buildings will get air quality sensors this summer as part of a broader pandemic-fueled effort to improve the air students breathe."
"Two experts at the University of Colorado Boulder said the sensors Denver Public Schools has purchased are a smart way to help prioritize how and where to improve air quality."
“You can’t monitor what you don’t measure,” said civil engineering Professor Mark Hernandez, who ran an air filter pilot project at 17 Denver schools last year. “It’s meant to help them prioritize: ‘Let’s find the worst-performing buildings or classrooms first, and let’s start with those.’"
"Made by a company called Senseware, the sensors continuously monitor air temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds in the air to gauge whether a school’s ventilation strategy is working, co-founder and CEO Serene Almomen said."
"The information they collect is displayed on an online dashboard. The system can send real-time email or text alerts if the sensors detect a problem, Almomen said."
Georgia: "Gwinnett County Public Schools will enforce face masks for all staff while face coverings for students are strongly encouraged, clarifying they are not required to wear them."
"A virtual learning option will also be available for students grades K-12 at Gwinnett County Public Schools for the upcoming academic year."
Illinois: Chicago parents scramble to find summer child care.
"LaPorte said they lined up six weeks of camp through the Park District for about $400 total. A week of private camp costs $350-500. LaPorte said they also enrolled her in two separate one-week private camps for about $500 each."
"Putting together a summer child care plan always has been challenging for parents, but is even more difficult since the COVID pandemic and the resulting facility closures, child care staffing shortages, changing work situations, and economic hardship."
Kentucky: JCPS approves revised COVID-19 health guidance for new school year.
"There will be a 5-day isolation period plus 5-days of masking for those positive with the virus."
"Students and staff who are fever free that have improved can return to school on day 6 but must continue wearing masks through day 10."
"The district will resume universal masking if the CDC map shows high community levels of COVID-19 in Jefferson County."
New York: Gov. Hochul said "that she did not anticipate schoolchildren would need to wear masks when they return to school in September, but that she was keeping the statewide mask mandate on public transportation for now."
Oklahoma: "U.S. Department of Education auditors recommended clawing back more than $650,000 in misspent federal coronavirus relief funds from Gov. Kevin Stitt and reviewing an additional $5.5 million in purchases, according to a federal audit released Tuesday."
"The questioned spending came from Stitt’s Bridge the Gap Digital Wallet program, which gave $1,500 grants to low-income families for educational purchases like computers and school supplies during the pandemic."
"Auditors pinpointed questionable expenditures like arcade games, Christmas trees, smart watches, sofas, televisions and refrigerators totaling $652,720.”
“The extraneous items made up more than 10% of all purchases. The $5.5 million is the total of purchases the auditors did not analyze and could contain unauthorized items."
"The auditors found that “Oklahoma did not use all available controls in ClassWallet’s digital wallet system” to monitor how grant money was spent."
Texas: "Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo revealed a new set of recommendations for when she and county public health officials believe area schools could safely reopen for in-person instruction, based on multiple COVID-19 metrics."
Washington: Seattle Times editorial: "Hard-hit districts like Seattle and Bellevue must figure out why parents are reluctant to re-enroll their children and regain their confidence and trust."
"Since most state education funding is allocated per student, significant enrollment declines usually carry a corresponding lack of funding. That can — and should — force districts with fewer students to make tough decisions, like staff and program cuts."
Resources
Soaring Overdose Deaths: "Overdose deaths hit record 93,000 in 2020 during pandemic"
That estimate far eclipses the high of about 72,000 drug overdose deaths reached the previous year and amounts to a 29% increase.
"Yesterday’s CDC analysis shows overdose death rates soared more among Black people and American Indians and Alaska Natives than among white people. Overall, overdose deaths jumped by 30% from 2019 to 2020 — meaning 92,000 lives lost — but those rates spiked by 44% among Black individuals and 39% among American Indian and Alaska Native people, based on data from 25 states and Washington. Overdose death rates among people who are white, Asian or Pacific Islander, or Hispanic all increased by about 22%, the report found."
Politico: "At the same time, access to treatment for substance abuse is deeply skewed. Black people were less than half as likely as white people to have received substance use treatment."
Schools Are Sending Kids to Virtual Classes as Punishment: Via NBC:
“This is the new face of denial of access to public education,” one advocate said. “Now it’s just easier and covered under the guise of Covid protection."
"Student advocates in six states told NBC News that they’re working with numerous students who’ve either been excluded from in-person classes or have been threatened with exclusion if their behavior doesn’t improve."
K–12 Schools Implement Connectivity Solutions to Narrow the Homework Gap: Via EdTech.
7 Things We Learned About COVID’s Impact on Education From Survey of 800 Schools: Via The 74.
The Office: In a 1,164 piece Lego set.
The Threat of Covid: Distracted you from the threat of kung-fu bears.