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You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Thursday/Friday, Feb. 18-19

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Thursday/Friday, Feb. 18-19

by Anne Laurie|  February 19, 20215:54 am| 22 Comments

This post is in: COVID-19, Foreign Affairs

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U.S. and Novavax will aid the global vaccination campaign. The Biden administration plans to make good on a promise to donate $4 billion, while the pharmaceutical company Novavax committed to sell 1.1 billion doses of its vaccine. https://t.co/W2Z9LkqzBR

— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 19, 2021


The US administered 1.7 million vaccine shots today, bringing the total to 59.1 million, or 17.8 doses per 100 people. The 7-day moving average declined to 1.59 million per day. 12.6% of Americans have received at least one shot; 5.1% are fully vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/ggk0NtnHin

— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) February 19, 2021

The US had +68,924 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the total to over 28.5 million. The 7-day moving average declined to below 74,000 new cases per day, its lowest level since October 27. pic.twitter.com/2XiWc1Sjj9

— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) February 19, 2021

Interesting thread. There's not likely to be one answer to why #Covid cases are dropping. And if behavior is playing a sizable role here, we need to remember what happens when we let up on preventive measures. https://t.co/HfPMbXuDc9

— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) February 17, 2021

Taken together, I think the most likely explanation is a mix of policy and individual-level behavior change, as people react to what they see in the news and in their communities, but helped along by acquired immunity due to widespread infection plus targeted vaccination. 6/6

— Natalie E. Dean, PhD (@nataliexdean) February 17, 2021

======

Reported daily coronavirus infections have been falling across the world for a month and on Tuesday hit their lowest since mid-October, Reuters figures show, but health experts warned against apathy even as vaccines are being rolled out worldwide.​ https://t.co/CYqKTqvGqw

— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) February 18, 2021

Just 10 countries have administered 75% of the world's available Covid-19 vaccine supply, while more than 130 countries haven't even received their first doses, according to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres https://t.co/7RMYAhAg6t

— CNN (@CNN) February 18, 2021

Novavax said it will provide 1.1 billion doses of its Covid-19 vaccine to an international vaccination effort that includes poorer countries https://t.co/bYQ7eZFVo4

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) February 18, 2021

Health authorities in some European countries are facing resistance to AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine after side-effects led hospital staff and other front-line workers to call in sick, putting extra strain on already-stretched services.​ https://t.co/c3Vfryh8uH

— Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) February 18, 2021

Variants are spreading widely. In Germany, Health Minister Jens Spahn says the UK coronavirus variant is spreading rapidly throughout the country https://t.co/KF5p26wcyR pic.twitter.com/AZokZA5Oh0

— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 18, 2021

No Covid variants found on London Tubes, buses and stations https://t.co/OQRAkOjyYs

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 19, 2021

Ireland's Covid-19 lockdown 'could extend to May' https://t.co/mUtRqXiXuN

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 19, 2021

Russia confirmed 13,447 new coronavirus cases Thursday, bringing the total caseload to 4,125,598 https://t.co/lXbf6bTat4

— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) February 18, 2021

A careless public and a government unable to fully enforce safety protocols are driving a new wave of virus infections in Iraq, where authorities have re-imposed a partial curfew. "I'm a doctor fighting public ignorance not the pandemic," says one doctor. https://t.co/JV4GUF5s3x

— AP Middle East (@APMiddleEast) February 19, 2021

Japan finds new COVID-19 strain, while immigration centre reports infections https://t.co/50szoZBdR1 pic.twitter.com/iB7XuWfA52

— Reuters (@Reuters) February 19, 2021

India virus infections at three-week high, Mumbai hires marshals to enforce mask-wearing https://t.co/LyQD1SEilh pic.twitter.com/tEsmIRstIG

— Reuters (@Reuters) February 19, 2021

BREAKING: The African continent has surpassed 100,000 known COVID-19 deaths as few vaccines have yet arrived. https://t.co/WnjJiul55n

— AP Africa (@AP_Africa) February 19, 2021

Africa cannot afford to lose health workers; it has far too few as it is. But #Covid19 is thinning these already thin ranks, @kakape reports. While rich countries are trying to vaccinate broadly, many countries still don't have vaccine for health workers. https://t.co/8RkrCNnuZg

— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) February 18, 2021

South Africa is concerned the Sputnik V and CanSino coronavirus vaccines may make people more vulnerable to HIV infection https://t.co/Zln5YUeiaI

— Bloomberg (@business) February 18, 2021

Fury in Peru after officials secretly received vaccine before health workers https://t.co/K28rQMrW9U

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 17, 2021

Brazil will vaccinate the adult population of a city against #COVID19 to see if it's possible to reduce #coronavirus infection rate.

The study will involve the city of Serrana. The entire adult population, ~30,000 people, will be immunized in 3 months.https://t.co/JJ5EvHa7tb

— MicrobesInfect (@MicrobesInfect) February 19, 2021

======

Breaking: Ferret badgers and rabbits sold at a Wuhan market are among the prime suspects in the hunt for how Covid-19 spread to humans https://t.co/jg7oPhbTCx

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) February 18, 2021

One reason why it's difficult in the U.S. to get vaccinated: There's a scarcity of niche biotech ingredients. Lipid nanoparticles for RNA vaccines were used in small quantities a year ago. Now Pfizer and Moderna can’t get enough https://t.co/RTCT7uOnO6

— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) February 19, 2021

Study in Israel shows Pfizer vaccine 85% effective after first dose – The Lancet https://t.co/b1VEbgkZCP pic.twitter.com/aiB00G4pfJ

— Reuters (@Reuters) February 19, 2021

This is a reasonable harbinger of what's coming in the USA. #Denmark spotted its first B.1.1.7 variant #COVID19 in mid-December: now half of all new infections in the country are with this #SARSCoV2 strain. The US is lagging roughly 3 weeks behind Denmark, so early March madness? https://t.co/Ftr6mKiGaD

— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) February 18, 2021

======

Do we open doors to the neighbors? Can we stay in a hotel, or that warming shelter? Storms ravaging parts of the U.S. add a new layer of complexity as people manage coronavirus risks amid the pandemic. https://t.co/WyBFbSytxA

— The Associated Press (@AP) February 19, 2021

LGBTQ people face higher covid-19 risks. But no one knows the true toll on the community. https://t.co/PR6hFHDnxP

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 17, 2021

States are beginning to ease coronavirus restrictions, but health experts say we don't know enough yet about variants to roll back measures. “The fact of the matter is we’re kind of in the dark,” said Dr. Diane Griffin of Johns Hopkins University. https://t.co/Y0QgWFMaM0

— The Associated Press (@AP) February 18, 2021

You have to love a political culture in which the crafty oldsters spontaneously develop a Rent-a-Meemaw system in which they can game vaccinations to make some extra coin. https://t.co/T11Qi0AQI1

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) February 18, 2021

Connecticut was among the first state to vaccinate its nursing homes.

Do the vaccines work? Just look at the dramatic reduction in cases. pic.twitter.com/ItKri6O49b

— Andy Slavitt @ ??? (@ASlavitt) February 18, 2021

Vaccine shortages cause strain for U.S. diplomats across the globe https://t.co/4Yba8IitcW

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 17, 2021

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Reader Interactions

22Comments

  1. 1.

    NeenerNeener

    February 19, 2021 at 5:56 am

    Monroe County, NY yesterday:

    New cases = 162. Deaths at 1108, up from 1078. Positivity at 2.2%
    265 in the hospital, 71 in the ICU
    40% hospital beds available, 36% ICU beds available.

  2. 2.

    raven

    February 19, 2021 at 6:15 am

    So this morning msnbc had a piece that the SA variant may require three doses of pfizer and yesterday one of the rotating MD’s said if there is not universal masking we’re never going to beat this. As rikyah says “Good Morning”!

  3. 3.

    rikyrah

    February 19, 2021 at 6:19 am

    Took my first ? yesterday.
    No bad side effects.??

    It was Pfizer.

  4. 4.

    rikyrah

    February 19, 2021 at 6:19 am

    @raven:

    Morning raven ?

  5. 5.

    rikyrah

    February 19, 2021 at 6:20 am

    @raven:

    Three doses?

    Six shots?

  6. 6.

    raven

    February 19, 2021 at 6:20 am

    3

  7. 7.

    NeenerNeener

    February 19, 2021 at 6:27 am

    @rikyrah: Yay for you!

    My BIL was supposed to get his first jab earlier this week, but bad weather has forced a reschedule to this weekend. Here’s hoping it’s not rescheduled again.

  8. 8.

    gkoutnik

    February 19, 2021 at 6:27 am

    Am I missing something, or are predictions by US leaders regarding when things will “return to normal” (Fauci “fall”, Biden “Christmas,” etc.) failing to understand that things won’t “return to normal” until herd immunity is global?  With 130 countries still waiting for jab #1, talking about “normal” in US terms seems short-sighted.  Or will developed countries progressively isolate less developed countries (travel, business, etc.) as the inequities in immunity increase?

  9. 9.

    Amir Khalid

    February 19, 2021 at 6:44 am

    Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 numbers. Director-General of Health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah reports 2,936 new cases today in his media statement, for a cumulative reported total of 277,811 cases. He also reports 13 new deaths today, for a cumulative total of 1,043 deaths — 0.38% of the cumulative reported total, 0.43% of resolved cases.

    There are currently 36,797 active and contagious cases; 220 are in ICU, 104 of them intubated. Meanwhile, 4,889 patients recovered and were discharged, for a cumulative total of 239,971 patients recovered – 86.4% of the cumulative reported total.

    13 new clusters were reported today: Jalan Kota Murni, Jalan Murni 12, Jalan Tun Mutahir, Jalan Indah Utama, and Parit Haji Khamis in Johor; Kompleks Perabut and Jalan Sementa in Selangor; Singgahmata in Sabah; Kejatau and Jalan Green in Sarawak; Jalan Kuchai in Kuala Lumpur; and Bukit Petiti and Kubang Jambu in Terengganu.

    Jalan Green and Bukit Petiti are community clusters. Kubang Jambu is a high-risk group cluster. The rest are all workplace clusters.

    2,919 new cases today are local infections. Selangor reports 977 local cases: 225 in older clusters, 31 in Kompleks Perabut and Jalan Sementa clusters, 466 close-contact screenings, and 255 other screenings. Johor reports 730 cases: 225 in older clusters; 31 in Jalan Kota Murni, Jalan Murni 12, Jalan Tun Mutahir, Jalan Indah Utama, and Parit Haji Khamis clusters; 63 close-contact screenings; and 109 other screenings. Kuala Lumpur reports 219 local cases: 67 in older clusters, 14 in Jalan Kuchai cluster, 2 close-contact screenings, and 76 other screenings.

    Sarawak reports 191 local cases: 13 in older clusters, seven in Kejatau and Jalan Green clusters, 29 close-contact screenings, and 142 other screenings. Negeri Sembilan reports 191 cases: 122 in existing clusters, 35 close-contact screenings, and 34 other screenings. Penang reports 188 cases: 110 in existing clusters, 56 close-contact screenings, and 22 other screenings. Perak reports155 cases: 123 in existing clusters, 10 close-contact screenings, and 22 other screenings. Sabah reports 101 cases: 50 in older clusters, one in Singgahmata cluster, 25 close-contact screenings, and 25 other screenings.

    Kelantan reports 38 cases: six in existing clusters, 20 close-contact screenings, and 12 other screenings. Terengganu reports 37 cases: 26 in older clusters, six in Bukit Petiti and Kubang Jambu clusters, six close-contact screenings, and five other screenings. Kedah reports 36 cases: nine in existing clusters, one close-contact screening, and 26 other screenings. Melaka reports 26 cases: 15 in existing clusters, six close-contact screenings, and five other screenings. Pahang reports 26 cases: 17 in existing clusters, four close-contact screenings, and five other screenings.

    Putrajaya reports three cases: one in an existing cluster, and two close-contact screenings. And Labuan reports one case, a close-contact screening.

    Perlis reports no new cases today.

    17 new cases are imported: eight in Kuala Lumpur, eight in Sarawak, and one in Selangor.

    The deaths reported today are a 60-year-old man in Melaka with no co-morbidities listed; a 70-year-old man in Selangor with chronic kidney disease and obesity; a 75-year-old man in Kuala Lumpur with diabetes and hypertension; an 84-year-old woman in Sarawak with diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidaemia; a 75-year-old man in Selangor with diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, dyslipidaemia, stroke, and heart disease; a 69-year-old man in Kuala Lumpur with diabetes, hypertension and heart disease; a 67-year-old man in Kuala Lumpur with diabetes and hypertension; a 66-year-old woman in Kuala Lumpur with diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and heart disease; a 59-year-old man in Kuala Lumpur with diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and psoriasis; a 60-year-old man in Sarawak with diabetes, hypertension, and schwannoma; an 82-year-old man in Selangor with hypertension, heart disease, stroke, and Parkinson’s disease; a 69-year-old woman in Johor with diabetes and hypertension; and a 53-year-old man in Kuala Lumpur, DOA with heart disease.

  10. 10.

    YY_Sima Qian

    February 19, 2021 at 6:52 am

    On 2/18 China reported 0 new domestic confirmed & 0 new domestic asymptomatic cases.

    Hebei Province

    Hebei Provincial Health Commission reported no changes. There are currently 149 domestic confirmed cases (130 moderate and 19 mild) & 9 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province:

    • At Xingtai, there are currently 21 domestic confirmed cases in the city.
    • At Shijiazhuang, there are 128 confirmed cases & 9 asymptomatic cases. Gaocheng District remains at Medium Risk.

     

    Heilongjiang Province

    Heilongjiang Provincial Health Commission reported that 12 domestic confirmed cases recovered & 12 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There are currently 29 domestic confirmed (23 moderate and 6 mild) & 38 domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.:

    • At Suihua, 4 confirmed cases recovered & 6 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There are currently 27 domestic confirmed & 26 domestic asymptomatic cases there. Wangkui County remains at Medium Risk.
    • At Harbin, 8 domestic confirmed case recovered & 6 domestic asymptomatic cases were released from isolation. There are currently 2 domestic confirmed & 12 asymptomatic cases there.

     

    Jilin Province 

    Jilin Provincial Heath Commission reported that 10 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 65 domestic confirmed (2 critical, 5 serious, 44 moderate and 14 mild) & 5 domestic asymptomatic cases:

    • At Songyuan, there are 2 domestic confirmed cases there.
    • At Tonghua, 7 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 50 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city. 1 building & 4 residential compounds remain at Medium Risk.
    • At Changchun, 3 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are currently 13 domestic confirmed & 2 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.

     

    At Shanghai Municipality, 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There are 17 domestic confirmed cases remaining. The Medium Risk residential compound has been re-designated as Low Risk.

    Imported Cases

    On 2/18 China reported 10 new imported confirmed cases, 8 imported asymptomatic cases:

    • Shanghai Municipality – 7 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese nationals returning from the US, and 1 each from the UAE, Côte d’Ivoire (via Paris CdG) & Ethiopia, a Dutch national coming from the Netherlands, & an Indian national coming from India (via Hong Kong)
    • Tianjin Municipality – 2 confirmed cases, both Chinese nationals returning from France; 2 asymptomatic case, 1 is a Chinese national returning from the Philippines, a person who had contracted COVID-19 at the Philippines in Sept. and had recovered, no information released yet on the other case
    • Changsha in Hunan Province – 1 confirmed & 1 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    • Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, q Chinese national returning from Mozambique
    • Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from the US
    • Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released
    • Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Jordan
    • Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Ethiopia (via Frankfurt)

     

    Overall in China, 46 confirmed cases recovered, 27 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation and none were reclassified as confirmed cases, and 406 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 484 active confirmed cases in the country (207 imported), 8 are in critical/serious condition (1 imported), 338 asymptomatic cases (282 imported), 4 suspect cases (all imported). 8,308 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.

    On 2/19 Hong Kong reported 13 new cases, 1 imported (from Indonesia) & 12 domestic (8 of whom do not yet have source of infection identified, including an illegal migrant from Vietnam & 3 staff at a restaurant). There are another 10+ cases preliminarily positive, awaiting retesting for confirmation.

  11. 11.

    Brachiator

    February 19, 2021 at 7:03 am

    @gkoutnik:

    Am I missing something, or are predictions by US leaders regarding when things will “return to normal” (Fauci “fall”, Biden “Christmas,” etc.) failing to understand that things won’t “return to normal” until herd immunity is global?

    It’s not just the US. Leaders and a lot of regular folk don’t realize that things may get better, but never return to “normal.”

    And issues related to travel and immigration will be a serious issue unless the entire world is vaccinated.

  12. 12.

    raven

    February 19, 2021 at 7:07 am

    @Brachiator: You haven’t heard of the “new normal” huh?

  13. 13.

    satby

    February 19, 2021 at 7:08 am

    @rikyrah: The third may be a booster for variants like the South African one. Yesterday it was reported that in testing the Pfizer vaccine still produced antibodies against that variant, but they’re reduced. They’re trying to determine if that reduction still is protective enough.

    Edit: Cheryl put up a thread about this virus becoming endemic. I think it probably will too, and yearly booster like yearly flu shots will be required to maintain immunity. We just don’t know enough about long term with this virus.

  14. 14.

    Sloane Ranger

    February 19, 2021 at 7:52 am

    Yesterday in the UK we had 12,057 new cases. This is a decrease of about 650 from the day before and a reduction of 20.3% in the rolling 7-day average. New cases by nation,

    England – 10,740 (down @200)

    Northern Ireland – 342 (up 44)

    Scotland – 685 (down @440)

    Wales – 290 (down 84).

    Deaths – There were 454 deaths within 28 days of a positive test yesterday. This is a decrease of 26.9% in the rolling 7-day average. Deaths by nation, England – 377, Northern Ireland – 6, Scotland – 57 and Wales – 14. On 5 February, 521 people in the UK had COVID mentioned on their Death Certificate.

    Testing – On Wednesday 17 February 578,844 tests were conducted out of a capacity of 789,705. This is a decrease of 17.2% in the rolling 7-day average.

    Hospitalisations – On Tuesday, 16 February, 20,156 people were in hospital and 2614 were on ventilators as of Wednesday, 17th. On Friday, 14th February, the rolling 7-day average for hospital admissions had decreased by 24.8%.

    Vaccinations – On 17th February, 16,423,082 people had received the 1st dose of a vaccine and 573,724 had received both doses.

  15. 15.

    YY_Sima Qian

    February 19, 2021 at 8:12 am

    The WSJ article on the work of the Joint WHO-China Mission in the origins of COVID-19 is a very good and objective summary, in stark contrast to articles from the same publication a few days ago. What a different the addition of a health/science reporter (Betsy McCay in this case) to the byline makes.

    Now the propaganda war over what data Chinese authorities did or did not release to the international team of the Joint WHO-China Mission seem to have died down a bit, here are a couple of more detailed interviews with team members:

    Peter Daszak with the New York Times:
    A W.H.O. Researcher on His Trip to China Seeking Origins of the Virus
    A short interview on the Australian ABC with Dominic Dwyer, whose comment on Chinese authorities not sharing raw case files of the 174 early patients in Wuhan kicked off much of the brouhaha:
    WHO visit to China to investigate CoV2 origins

    Look at the different reporting and interviews, I am much more curious about the fact that the Chinese authorities or the Chinese team did not already have the answers to some of the obvious questions that the international teams posed (obvious even to a layman like me): screen the early influenza and pneumonia cases in Wuhan during Nov./Dec. 2019 for suspected COVID-19 patients and test for antibodies (as opposed to doing it in Jan. 2021), testing the animal and worker population at mink farms, clarifying whether live wild animals (or live farmed “wild” animals) were indeed sold at the Huanan Seafood Market and who were the vendors, identifying the suppliers to the market and test the workers and animal population at the animal farms. China has many capable and competent epidemiologists (and access to more in Hong Kong) and public health officials, with the broad investigative and surveillance powers of the police, it is difficult to believe that the Chinese authorities have not thought of these factors and nor investigated them already. Either the Chinese team was taking the time to double check the data and analysis for any politically embarrassing content before presenting to the international team, or the CCP regime’s resolute effort to move on and the political sensitivity of any research into COVID-19’s origin had restrained the efforts of China’s scientific community. The fact that the international team largely reviewed the analysis conducted by the Chinese team, or at least by Chinese public health and scientific apparatus, will continue to be cause for skepticism, though multiple international team members have said this is the norm in such investigations. This is not an IAEA WMD type of investigation, nor would the Chinese government (or most governments for that matter) tolerate such intrusive investigations.

    Hopefully the Joint Mission’s report will shed more light.

  16. 16.

    Soprano2

    February 19, 2021 at 9:13 am

    I get so frustrated by the discussions of school openings and COVID mitigation. I heard a critique of the CDC guidelines on NPR this morning, and it left so many questions unanswered. They say “adequate ventilation”, and then quickly pass by it and don’t say what “adequate ventilation” means. Many schools don’t have windows that can open, and in most of the country right now it’s too cold to have them open anyway! Schools already don’t have enough money, let alone having to spend tens of thousands of dollars to upgrade their heating/air systems. Are classrooms large enough to allow appropriate distancing – in many schools, the answer is “NO”. If they can use other rooms to accomplish this, do schools have the budgets to hire the extra teachers that would be required? Many times, again, the answer is “NO”. Teachers are asking for them and other school personnel to be vaccinated in order to completely return to the classroom in person. Why is this considered to be way too much to ask for? They say “well, businesses like restaurants, bars and casinos are open, why can’t schools be open?” without noting that businesses contribute taxes to a community, and since there has been no federal aid for state or city governments, there’s a lot of pressure to have things open for the tax revenue. I understand that parents want schools open 5 days a week so that they can go back to their jobs in a normal fashion, but why should school personnel have to take this kind of risk to make that happen?

  17. 17.

    Another Scott

    February 19, 2021 at 9:26 am

    @Soprano2: I think Biden and his people are trying to be careful about what they think is “safe” for schools.  E.g. CBPP:

    Research has shown that money matters in education. Adequate school funding helps raise high school completion rates, close achievement gaps, and make the future workforce more productive by boosting student outcomes.[6] The Great Recession, in particular, hurt students’ educations, driving down test scores and college attendance rates.[7]

    Schools face hefty price tags to safely reopen schools even as they continue to cover the costs of distance learning:

    * Closing the “digital divide” to ensure that all students and teachers have access to the devices and connectivity they need will cost up to $12 billion over 12 months, plus up to $6 billion for each additional year, according to a study by Common Sense Media and the Boston Consulting Group. [8] (Many schools have already diverted money toward these costs because of the urgency, but that took funding away from other critical needs; more investment is needed to ensure that gaps are further closed even as students return to in-person learning.)

    * Schools should open for in-person instruction only under safe conditions, which will require investments in personal protective equipment, custodial staff, HVAC systems, and additional transportation costs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that safely operating in-person schools could cost as much as $12.6 billion for items like plexiglass shields and hand sanitizer, $12.7 billion for custodial staff time, and $19 billion for transportation. And those figures are just for the current school year; schools will undoubtedly need to extend some costs into the next school year as well.[9]

    * A quarter of schools have neither a full-time nor a part-time school nurse, and most schools lack the counselling support they will need to help students navigate the mental-health challenges of returning to school; adding needed nurses and counsellors will cost several billion dollars per year.[10]

    * Many schools will need to add staff and/or portable classrooms to reduce class size to meet social-distancing guidelines; a one-year, 10-percent increase in staffing would cost schools $35 billion, according to the American Federation of Teachers.[11]

    Perhaps the most significant cost — and the hardest to estimate — will be making up for lost learning time. Schoolchildren have lost many months of in-person learning time that — if not made up — could deliver a lasting blow to their long-term earning potential and America’s economic competitiveness, and it could exacerbate longstanding disparities in educational outcomes between white students and students of color.[12]

    (Emphasis added.)

    A few school districts will be able to open relatively quickly once they get the funding and are able to spend it. In others, it will take much longer…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  18. 18.

    Brachiator

    February 19, 2021 at 10:56 am

    @raven:

    You haven’t heard of the “new normal” huh?

    “New normal” sounds like too much of a lie.

  19. 19.

    Ruckus

    February 19, 2021 at 11:16 am

    @Brachiator:

    So you have heard of it…..

     

    Second Pfizer shot this morning…

  20. 20.

    Soprano2

    February 19, 2021 at 2:13 pm

    @Another Scott: I think they’re trying to be careful too, in spite of reporters pushing them for a date certain of when everything will be normal again. The problem is, none of what is in that excerpt you posted was in the interview I heard this morning. It was basically “Use masks, social distancing, and adequate ventilation, and open schools now. Why are teachers whining about getting vaccinated when others have been working for months without it?”. That was the whole conversation, as least as far as what I heard. He literally said that if you follow the CDC guidelines you’ll never open schools again!

  21. 21.

    lowtechcyclist

    February 19, 2021 at 2:50 pm

    @Soprano2: ​

    If they can use other rooms to accomplish this, do schools have the budgets to hire the extra teachers that would be required? Many times, again, the answer is “NO”.

    Not to mention, where are these ‘extra teachers’ going to come from?When we were running out of ICU beds, it was easy to convert space and furnish it with beds, but they couldn’t make more ICU doctors and nurses magically appear.

    Same thing here. There may be a few surplus teachers here and there, but if you want to cut class size by even 1/4, that means you need 33% more teachers. Ain’t happening.

    Teachers are asking for them and other school personnel to be vaccinated in order to completely return to the classroom in person. Why is this considered to be way too much to ask for? They say “well, businesses like restaurants, bars and casinos are open, why can’t schools be open?”

    In addition to the money issues, it comes back to staffing again. If a restaurant’s staff comes down with Covid and they have to close, it’s a shame but life goes on for everyone else. If the teachers come down with Covid, where do you find their replacements?

    @Another Scott: ​

    Perhaps the most significant cost — and the hardest to estimate — will be making up for lost learning time. Schoolchildren have lost many months of in-person learning time that — if not made up — could deliver a lasting blow to their long-term earning potential and America’s economic competitiveness, and it could exacerbate longstanding disparities in educational outcomes between white students and students of color.

    OK, this is the part I don’t get: why does that time need to be made up??? Why can’t schools just say, “OK, our kids didn’t learn much last year. Why don’t we take a mulligan on everything from March 2020 through June 2021?” So a lot of kids finish high school, and (if they’re going on) start college, a year later than they otherwise would have.

    Maybe there’s a reason why that would be a problem that I’m not seeing. And if a lot of school systems did this, colleges would be aware that this was a thing, and not treat kids any differently if they graduated a year late relative to their age.​​​

  22. 22.

    Chris T.

    February 19, 2021 at 4:20 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: OK, this is the part I don’t get: why does that time need to be made up??? Why can’t schools just say, “OK, our kids didn’t learn much last year. Why don’t we take a mulligan on everything from March 2020 through June 2021?” So a lot of kids finish high school, and (if they’re going on) start college, a year later than they otherwise would have.

    Maybe there’s a reason why that would be a problem that I’m not seeing.

    Yes, what you’re not seeing is that children are interchangeable widgets. Nobody wants a widget that’s one year staler than another. Plus, of course, their interchangeability is why they all need to go back to interchangeable classrooms with interchangeable teachers.

    Well, except if I’m a billionaire: then my kids are special!

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