Covid-19 Policy Update #650
Monday 4/17
Greetings from Seattle San Diego! I'm currently at the ASU-GSV summit, where the latest developments in language models and ChatGPT are the hot topic of discussion. I have a few events this evening, so today’s update will be a bit briefer than usual.
Top Three
In-Person School Reopenings Tied to Modest Rise in Community COVID Spread: A study of US counties suggests that communities with schools that switched from remote to in-person instruction in fall 2020 had slightly higher COVID-19 case rates 4 to 8 weeks later than those that remained virtual.
"County schools with in-person vs virtual instruction had similar daily COVID-19 case incidence within the first 4 weeks after in-person reopening, but counties with in-person instruction had higher daily incidence beyond 4 weeks."
"Twenty-eight days after reopening, the median estimated daily COVID-19 rate was 13.3 per 100,000 residents if all counties had used remote instruction and 15.4 per 100,000 if all counties had been in person."
"Fifty-six days after reopening, the median estimated daily case count was 13.2 per 100,000 residents if all counties had been remote and 17.4 per 100,000 if all counties had been in person."
"The magnitude of school contribution to community transmission found in this study must be interpreted in the context of the potential benefits of in-person instruction models on the academic, social, mental health, and physical outcomes of many students."
"In addition to education, schools offer essential health services and social supports, such as chronic disease management, school meals, and identification and protection in suspected cases of child abuse. While nascent, the evidence on virtual school has suggested associations of virtual learning with negative physical, mental, and emotional health for some students."
"The implications for future public health preparedness include consideration of the relatively small and manageable magnitude of school contribution to community transmission that may present a tolerable risk for the resumption of in-person education, with sufficient mitigation measures."
Despite ‘Crisis,’ States and Districts Slow to Spend $1B in Mental Health Funds: Via The 74.
"40 states haven’t begun to distribute their share of nearly $1 billion in federal funding for school safety and mental health services approved last year as part of a bipartisan gun safety law. President Joe Biden signed the legislation in the aftermath of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting that left 19 students and two adults dead."
"Another 10 states are now accepting or reviewing applications for the program, and 17 haven’t said when they plan to open up for applications. Only one — Oklahoma — has already distributed the money."
"Education Secretary Miguel Cardona pressed state chiefs last month on why most of them hadn’t even launched competitions for districts to apply for funds, calling it “unacceptable” during a “mental health crisis.”
‘Kids Can’t Read’: The Revolt That Is Taking On the Education Establishment: Via the NYT:
"The movement, under the banner of “the science of reading,” is targeting the education establishment: school districts, literacy gurus, publishers and colleges of education, which critics say have failed to embrace the cognitive science of how children learn to read."
"Ohio, California and Georgia are the latest states to push for reform, adding to almost 20 states that have made moves in the last two years. Under pressure, school districts are scrapping their old reading programs. Even holdouts like New York City, where hundreds of elementary schools were loyal to a popular but heavily criticized reading curriculum, are making changes."
Federal
Commerce: What you need to know to prepare for upcoming Tech Hubs funding notices.
PHASE 1: Designating Tech Hubs EDA expects to designate at least 20 Tech Hubs across the country and make a commensurate amount of strategy development awards utilizing approximately $15 million of the $500 million available. The designated Tech Hubs will be invited to apply for Phase 2.
PHASE 2: Supporting Implementation EDA expects to make at least 5 implementation awards with the remaining available funding to designated Tech Hubs. Contingent on future funding levels, EDA aims to invest in more Hubs to expand the Program’s portfolio of technologies and places and may make follow-on investments in successful Hubs with opportunities for additional impact.
Commerce: Received 200 statements of interest for semiconductor projects across 35 states.
Debt Ceiling: Via WSJ.
"Many Republicans agree on setting the top-line spending limits to fiscal year 2022 levels—a step back from current fiscal 2023 levels—and then allowing for small annual increases."
"A bipartisan group, the Problem Solvers Caucus, has been quietly meeting to attempt to find a path through which Republicans and Democrats could agree on raising the debt ceiling, according to several people familiar with the matter. That would likely cut out lawmakers like Mr. Roy and the House Freedom Caucus."
Republican Economists Line Up Behind Biden Nominee: Via the NYT.
"The letter, obtained by The New York Times, praises Mr. Bernstein for engaging with economists across ideological lines and for his work drafting the original proposal for the opportunity zones program that was included in the 2017 tax package that Mr. Trump signed into law.
The Biden Administration Will Hang On To Some Covid Pandemic Emergency Powers: Via Stat.
"The Department of Health and Human Services gave governors a heads-up on Friday that it is planning to keep pharmacists’ ability to administer Covid-19 and flu vaccines past the end of the public health emergency."
Covid Research
Studies Show Real-World Usefulness of Bivalent COVID Boosters: Researchers shared new evidence on the durability and efficacy of bivalent (two-strain) COVID-19 boosters.
The vaccines offer strong protection against hospitalization and death during the post-Omicron era, but protection wanes relatively quickly.
"The authors found VE against hospitalization or death was 67.4% after 2 weeks but decreased to 47.5% after 4 weeks and to 38.4% after 5 months."
Covid Is Still a Leading Cause of Death as the Virus Recedes:Via the Washington Post.
"Federal health officials say that covid-19 remains one of the leading causes of death in the United States, tied to about 250 deaths daily, on average, mostly among the old and immunocompromised."
"Few Americans are treating it as a leading killer, however — in part because they are not hearing about those numbers, don’t trust them or don’t see them as relevant to their own lives."
COVID Vaccines Saved at Least 1 million Lives in Europe: According to a new study.
COVID Death Rate 5 Times Higher in Dutch Adults With Learning Disabilities in 2020-21: Via CIDRAP.
World Has 28% Risk of New Covid-Like Pandemic Within 10 Years: Via Bloomberg.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Soon to Announce White House Run, Sows Doubts About Vaccines: Via the NYT.
State
California: Via EdSource:
"An analysis of 30 districts statewide, that the company says demographically represents the state, shows that nearly a third of public school students were chronically absent — meaning that as of late March, they had missed 10% or more of the school year."
"That’s slightly lower than the same point last year. Before the pandemic, only 13.5% of students were counted as chronically absent at that time of year."
Florida: "Rebekah Jones' son charged under law making online threats - even 'jokes' or 'memes' - a crime."
"The son of Rebekah Jones — who lost her job after using her access to health department data to challenge Gov. Ron DeSantis’ COVID numbers early in the pandemic — was arrested Wednesday on charges he made “written [or] electronic threats” of a “mass shooting [or] terrorist act.”
Ohio: Most families qualify for $1,000 to pay for camps, tutoring.
Economic Recovery
Interest Rates: Via the Financial Times:
"Jamie Dimon and Larry Fink have warned investors to brace for the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates higher for a longer period of time, bucking the view that the central bank will cut rates later in 2023."
"The comments from two of Wall Street’s most prominent executives made the case that the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and broader struggles among regional US banks will not be enough to deter the Fed from keeping rates elevated in its battle to curb inflation."
In NYC and SF, You Need a $300,000 Salary to Take Home $100,000 After Taxes: Via Bloomberg.
"That’s according to an analysis by SmartAsset, a consumer-focused financial information provider. The firm adjusted $100,000 for the local cost of living in 76 of the largest US cities and then used its paycheck calculator to account for federal, state and local taxes for a single taxpayer with an annual salary and no additional withholding."
Resources
Time is Emphasis: Planning Your Calendar as a Leader: Great post from Molly Graham.
It's The Circle of Life: And it moves us all.
This Seems Personal: Didn't see it coming.
Whether covid cases increase with in person classes is not as important as the effect on student learning. Covid is very treatable for current variants armoire learning does not work as well for kids.