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WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of Experts for maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition (STAGE)
2 November 2020 / source
Dear colleagues and friends,

I am happy to welcome you all to the second meeting of STAGE, which will be the committee’s first strategic and technical discussion.

I would like to acknowledge the extra effort needed to do our work in these difficult times. You have my gratitude.

You bring valuable expertise and understanding of health systems and policies, and experience with the on-the ground challenges to implementing effective programs for women and children.

This is especially important in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even robust health systems have struggled to cope with the large influx of patients.

Today we have over 45 million cases across the globe with over 1.1 million deaths.

In particular, countries with weak health systems need our special attention—both financial and programmatic.

Even in the best of times, many countries struggle and are unable to avert preventable deaths among mothers and children.

We want to ensure our children thrive and do well--nutritionally, emotionally, and physically.

For this they need access to healthy and happy homes, and health care within functional health systems.

I had the opportunity to discuss the work of STAGE with chairperson Professor Caroline Homer, including the proposed recommendations from the working groups. We had a very productive meeting.

The first focused on understanding the factors underlying health system resilience.

The current pandemic has highlighted the chaos in the collection of information on the disruption of essential health services and mitigation strategies adopted by countries.

I am glad that this group has focused on ways to improve coordination mechanisms during external shocks.

The second group focused on improving the implementation process for WHO guidelines in countries. This is timely.

We need to ensure these evidence-based recommendations are adapted and adopted by countries.

I look forward to hearing more about this from you, especially on structures at the regional and country level that can facilitate this process.

The third working group is focusing on improving nutritional status for women and children.

I am extremely pleased to hear that this group is also focusing on the missing middle, the 5 to 9 year age group of children.

This all fits well with WHO’s move towards a survive and thrive agenda and the redesign of child health programmes.

I look forward to your further deliberations and final recommendations.

I would also like to welcome all of our partners –UN agencies, bilateral partners, foundations, CSOs, and academic networks.

We look forward to your continued support.

Once again I would like to thank the chair for her leadership and for the discussion we had. This will be a tough task, but I have confidence in you to take it forward.

I’ve been identified as a contact, so I am working from home and getting used to it.

I wish you successful deliberations.

I thank you.
 
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the World Health Summit - 25 October 2020

25 October 2020 / source
Your Excellency Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Federal President of Germany;

Your Excellency Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission;

Your Excellency Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Professor Detlev Ganten,

Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,

It is truly an honour to address you today.

As a member of the World Health Summit's founding committee, and now as one of its patrons, I am so pleased to see how it has evolved into a forum where a truly diverse group of global health leaders can come together to tackle the tough questions.

I am sad I cannot be in Berlin this year in person, but I am happy we can convene virtually.

We are indeed facing tough questions today.

When I had the honour of addressing the World Health Summit a year ago, I spoke about the deficit in political will to act on global health and preparedness.

Understandably, perhaps, both seemed like abstract concepts at the time, involving far away events that happened to far away people.

Well my friends, global health is no longer an abstraction.

From Berlin to Bogota, Minneapolis to Mumbai, Seoul to St Petersburg, we are facing the same threat, confronting the same difficult new reality.

Of course, this pandemic is playing out differently in every country and in every community.

But there are some constants: health systems matter, preparedness matters, and doctors, nurses, and health workers must have the training and equipment they need.

These have been fundamental to how countries and communities are weathering this pandemic.

The lesson is clear: A strong health system is a resilient health system.

Health systems and preparedness are not only an investment in the future, they are the foundation of our response today.

Public health is more than medicine and science, and it is bigger than any individual.

Ultimately, it is a matter of leadership, and a question of political choice.

COVID-19 is shining a light on the decisions we and our policy-makers have made not only today, but also in the past.

Many of the world's wealthiest countries, with some of the most advanced health systems, have been upended by this virus.

This virus thrives in the inequalities in our societies and the gaps in our health systems.

The pandemic has highlighted the neglect of basic health system functions underpinning emergency preparedness, to disastrous consequence.

COVID-19 has put the spotlight on critical gaps in areas such as surveillance, diagnostics, essential medicines, protective equipment, supply chains, infection prevention and control, water, sanitation and hygiene, and the health workforce.

The absence of any one of these leaves communities vulnerable and undermines the timely response necessary to contain the pandemic, or any health crisis.

But the pandemic has also given us cause for hope.

Because we have seen again and again that when countries and communities take the right actions, it is never too late to bring the outbreak under control.

We know that fundamental public health measures work: find, test, isolate, and care for every case, and trace and quarantine every contact.

We know that we can slow the spread of the virus through physical distancing, masks, handwashing, and meeting family and friends outside.

We have to do it all.

And across the globe we continue to see a resurgence of cases when countries reopen their societies and economies too quickly.

This is a dangerous moment for many countries in the northern hemisphere as cases spike, but again and again, we have seen that taking the right actions quickly means the outbreak can be managed.

In the face of this unprecedented threat, leaders must strike a delicate balance between protecting their people and maintaining essential health services, while minimizing social and economic damage, and respecting human rights.

It is not enough to be reactive. We must plan and take action for this pandemic over the long-haul.

We have to move from ad-hoc solutions to long-term planning, to protect lives and livelihoods.

And the health effects of the pandemic go far beyond the suffering caused by the virus itself.

Vaccination campaigns for tuberculosis, pneumonia and diarrhoea, polio, measles, and many others have been disrupted, putting hundreds of millions of people at risk.

We must preserve and restart our prevention and treatment campaigns and other essential health services with the utmost urgency, while also assuring safe conditions for frontline workers and patients alike.

We still have a long haul ahead of us. We cannot slow down and we cannot waver.

It is more important than ever that we focus on the elderly and other vulnerable populations who already struggle to access health services, including migrants and other marginalized groups.

====

We have a huge challenge ahead of us. But this is not the first challenge we have faced and this will not be the last.

We are learning the lessons of this pandemic every day. It is up to us to act on them.

Last year, and since then, I have spoken many times about the importance of national unity and international cooperation, of multilateralism and solidarity.

Again, the pandemic has made these concepts concrete. They are literally matters of life and death.

It is natural that countries want to protect their own citizens first.

But if and when we have an effective vaccine, we must also use it effectively.

And the best way to do that is to vaccinate some people in all countries, rather than all people in some countries.

Let me be clear: vaccine nationalism will prolong the pandemic, not shorten it.

The only way to recover faster, be it lives or livelihoods, is to recover together.

This is why President von der Leyen and President Emmanuel Macron joined with WHO to launch the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, to scale up the development and delivery of safe and effective vaccines, treatments and diagnostics to the world’s most at-risk people in all countries.

I also want to especially mention President Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel, who have increased their commitment to support WHO’s coordinating role in the global public health architecture.

And I would like to give a special thanks to my close friend, His Excellency Jens Spahn, the Minister of Health of the Federal Republic of Germany, who has been a steadfast supporter of WHO’s work and a champion for multilateral action and support for health.

Jens, I wish you a quick recovery.

Finally, I also have the pleasure of announcing that together with the Global Governance Project, we are releasing a new publication entitled “Health: A Political Choice: Act Now, Together.”

It includes national cases studies on the response to COVID-19, insights from leaders, and addresses the economic, social and ecological determinants underlying the pandemic.

Excellencies, friends, and colleagues, how we emerge from this pandemic, and whether we are ready to take on the challenges of the future, depends on our actions today.

Working together in solidarity, we can save lives, stabilize health systems, and drive a global recovery.

And even as we respond to the current crisis, we have to be planning ahead for the long-term.

We must learn the lessons of today so that we are prepared for the threats of tomorrow.

I thank you.
 
Video Timeline / BBC / 12 May, 2020
Coronavirus: The lost six weeks when US failed to contain outbreak

“Having watched Asian and European countries struggle against Covid-19, the US was slow to ramp up testing and order its residents to stay at home. We look at this crucial time period and what exactly was done to prevent the outbreak.

Produced by the BBC's Franz Strasser, narrated by Hannah Long-Higgins”


(Courtesy via @Cool Cats)
 
The Osterholm Update: COVID-19
COVID-19 Podcasts and Webinars
 
17 November 2020
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the Empire Club of Canada

17 November 2020
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the biennial African Union regional meeting of ministers of finance and health - 17 November 2020

16 November 2020
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the conference of the Economic Council of Germany - 16 November 2020

16 November 2020
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 16 November 2020

16 November 2020
WHO Director-General's opening remarks on the Executive Board meeting 16 November 2020

13 November 2020
WHO Director-General's closing remarks at the World Health Assembly - 13 November 2020

12 November 2020
WHO Director-General's speech at the Paris Peace Forum session "Team Europe response to COVID-19: Control this pandemic and prevent the next one" - 12 November 2020

12 November 2020
WHO Director-General's speech at the Paris Peace Forum "Strengthening the multilateral health architecture and fighting against infodemics" - 12 November 2020

12 November 2020
WHO Director-General's speech at the Paris Peace Forum Panel: ACT-A: Covid-19 Vaccines, Tests and Therapies, the Global public good Solution - 12 November 2020

12 November 2020
WHO Director-General's address at the Plenary session of Heads of State Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - 12 November 2020

9 November 2020
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the World Health Assembly - 9 November 2020

6 November 2020
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 6 November 2020

5 November 2020
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the Member States briefing on COVID-19 - 5 November 2020

4 November 2020
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the Sanitation for All (SWA) Finance Ministers’ Meetings - Africa

2 November 2020
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 2 November 2020

2 November 2020
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of Experts for maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition (STAGE)

30 October 2020
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 30 October 2020

29 October 2020
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the 5th Meeting of the IHR Emergency Committee on COVID-19

26 October 2020
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 26 October 2020

26 October 2020
WHO Director-General's speech meeting with the Committee on Health of the Bundestag - 26 October 2020
 
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 2 November 2020
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  • WHO has been following closely the situation with Typhoon Goni in the Philippines. This is the strongest storm of 2020 and WHO will work with the government to ensure emergency medical care is reaching those that need it.
  • I have been identified as a contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. I am well and without symptoms but will self quarantine in the coming days, in line with WHO protocols.
  • Over the weekend we saw that while many countries have brought COVID-19 under control, cases in some countries in Europe and North America continue to spike.
  • In some countries, we’re seeing cases go up exponentially and hospitals reach capacity, which poses a risk to patients and health workers alike.
  • We need countries to again invest in the basics so that measures can be lifted safely and governments can hopefully avoid having to take these measures again.
---------

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening.

I want to start by saying that WHO has been following closely the situation with Typhoon Goni in the Philippines.

This is the strongest storm of 2020 and WHO will work with the government to ensure emergency medical care is reaching those that need it.

Our thoughts are with all those affected.

===

I have been identified as a contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

I am well and without symptoms but will self quarantine in the coming days, in line with WHO protocols.

At this time, it is critically important that we all comply with health guidance.

This is how we will break chains of transmission, suppress the virus, and protect health systems.

===

Over the weekend we saw that while many countries have brought COVID-19 under control, cases in some countries in Europe and North America continue to spike.

This is another critical moment for action.

Another critical moment for leaders to step up.

And another critical moment for people to come together for a common purpose.

Seize the opportunity, it’s not too late.

We all have a role to play in suppressing transmission and we have seen across the world that it’s possible.

We have released videos featuring multiple countries demonstrating their comprehensive responses to COVID-19.

This includes New Zealand, Rwanda, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Italy and Spain.

And today, a new video was released that highlighted Mongolia’s success in responding to COVID-19.

Mongolia has so far had no deaths or local transmission.

And what Mongolia and all these stories show is that there are shared lessons that we can all learn from.

And we all have a role to play in suppressing transmission.

In some countries, we’re seeing cases go up exponentially and hospitals reach capacity, which poses a risk to patients and health workers alike.

This is leaving health workers with difficult decisions to make on how to prioritise care for those that are sick.

To understand more about how hospitals can prepare and cope with COVID-19, I am pleased to be joined by three health specialists.

First, I would like to introduce you to Professor YaeJean Kim who is joining us from the Republic of Korea to reflect on their experience tackling COVID-19.

Professor, you have the floor.

===

Thank you, Professor YaeJean, I know it’s late where you are so especially grateful for your time.

I would now like to hand over to the Professor Mervyn Mer of University of Wits, South Africa. Professor Mer is also Director of intensive care at Charlotte Maxeke in Johannesburg.

Sir, the floor is yours Professor Mer.

===

Thank you Professor Mer, for sharing your lessons from South Africa’s COVID-19 response, Ubuntu.

Finally, I would like to introduce you to Dr. Marta Lado, from Spain.

Dr. Lado was the Chief Medical Officer for Partners in Health in Sierra Leone and the senior clinical lead in the intensive care unit for COVID-19 at ‘34 military hospital’ in Freetown.

===

Thank you, Dr Lado. We’re pleased that you have recently joined WHO and will be using your experience from Sierra Leone to drive our work on clinical case-management. Muchos Gracias

That caps three amazing stories and there are many lessons from the Republic of Korea, South Africa and Sierra Leone that can help other countries suppress the virus, save lives and protect health workers and hospitals.

It really reinforces that while some countries are putting in place measures to ease the pressure on the health system, there is also now an opportunity to build stronger systems.

Ensuring quality testing, tracing and treatment measures are implemented are all key.

And we need countries to again invest in the basics so that measures can be lifted safely and governments can hopefully avoid having to take these measures again.

On a macro level, this also reflects why a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach to sustainable global preparedness is so important.

Health systems and preparedness are not only an investment in the future, they are the foundation of our response today.

Public health is more than medicine and science, and it is bigger than any individual.

And there is hope that if we invest in health systems, health workers and share tools through the ACT-Accelerator, we can bring this virus under control and go forward, together, to tackle other challenges of our time.

We have to keep going and whether I’m at home or in the office, WHO will keep working to drive forward science, solutions and solidarity.

I thank you.
 
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 6 November 2020
  • العربية
  • 中文
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  • Español
  • Today, WHO and UNICEF are jointly launching an emergency appeal to rapidly boost measles and polio vaccination. We estimate that $655 million US dollars is needed to address dangerous immunisation gaps in children in non-Gavi eligible countries.
  • As the pandemic unfolds, as countries have reflected, they have used intra action reviews to make their responses stronger. An Intra-Action Review uses a whole-of-society, multi-sectoral approach, acknowledging the contributions of all relevant stakeholders involved in COVID-19 preparedness and response at the national and sub-national levels.
  • Intra-Action Reviews not only help countries improve their COVID-19 response but also contribute towards their long-term health security. To date, 21 countries have completed them and others are in pipeline.
  • Today we are happy to welcome the Ministers of Health from Indonesia, the Kingdom of Thailand and South Africa to share their experience and lessons from COVID-19.
--------

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening.

In the summer, Africa was certified as wild polio free. This marked one of the greatest public health achievements of all time.

Driven by millions of health workers reaching every child repeatedly with an effective vaccine and a unique partnership between WHO, UNICEF, Rotary, CDC, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi – global polio eradication remains achievable.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic hurt momentum as polio and immunization efforts were suspended.

This left children, especially in high-risk areas, more vulnerable to killer diseases like polio, measles and pneumonia.

And now we’re starting to see outbreaks of these diseases.

We need to turn the tide quickly and ensure no child is left behind.

Today, WHO and UNICEF are jointly launching an emergency appeal to rapidly boost measles and polio vaccination.

While the world watches intently as scientists work to ensure safe and effective vaccines are developed for COVID-19, it is important to ensure that all children receive the lifesaving vaccines that are already available.

We estimate that $655 million US dollars is needed to address dangerous immunisation gaps in children in non-Gavi eligible countries.

This is a global call to action for all donors to stay the course and not to turn their backs on the poorest and most marginalized children in their hour of need.

===

While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, we must take all opportunities to learn and improve the response as we go.

Many countries heard our call back in January when we rang our highest alarm by calling a public health emergency of international concern.

They worked closely with us and followed the parameters set out in the strategic response plan that WHO outlined on the 4 February.

They’ve conducted reviews, shared data and experience and honed their response to their national experience and unique situation on the ground.

As the pandemic unfolds, as countries have reflected, they have used intra action reviews to make their responses stronger.

This kind of self-analysis review is what the world called for during World Health Assembly back in May.

An Intra-Action Review uses a whole-of-society, multi-sectoral approach, acknowledging the contributions of all relevant stakeholders involved in COVID-19 preparedness and response at the national and sub-national levels.

By reviewing and adapting the current preparedness and response strategies and identifying what is working well and what needs to be strengthened, the review gives countries the opportunity to change the trajectory of the pandemic.

Intra-Action Reviews not only help countries improve their COVID-19 response but also contribute towards their long-term health security.

To date, 21 countries have completed them and others are in pipeline.

Today we are happy to welcome the Ministers of Health from Indonesia, the Kingdom of Thailand and South Africa to share their experience and lessons from COVID-19.

I would like to first introduce his excellency the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health of the Kingdom of Thailand Anutin Charnvirakul.

The floor is yours, your excellency.

===

Thank you Minister for those insightful remarks and lessons regarding Thailand’s response.

I would now like to welcome his excellency, Minister of Health of South Africa, Dr. Zwelini Mkhize.

Your excellency, the floor is yours.

===

Minister, thank you for sharing South Africa’s determined efforts to tackle COVID-19.

I would now like to turn to the Minister of Health of Indonesia, Dr. Terawan Agus Putranto.

Your excellency, the floor is yours.

===

Thank you Minister Putranto for sharing Indonesia’s efforts to suppress COVID-19.

===

By conducting reviews in real-time and sharing lessons to the world, these three countries have reflected a blueprint for how countries can suppress COVID-19 and break the chains of transmission.

You can do exercises, you can do simulations, but the best time to look at your emergency response capacity is when an emergency is happening.

That is when you can clearly see what works, what doesn’t and what you need to improve.

There’s hope and now is the time to double down on efforts to tackle this virus.

Wherever a country is in terms of the outbreak, countries can turn it around by driving a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response.

It’s never too late.

While we invest and test vaccines to prove they’re safe and effective, I encourage all countries to learn from Thailand, South Africa, and Indonesia and work to suppress this virus today with the tools in hand that we know work.

We can save lives and livelihoods and end this pandemic, together.

I thank you.
 


WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 16 November 2020
  • العربية
  • 中文
  • Français
  • Русский
  • Español
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening.
This is not the time for complacency.

While we continue to receive encouraging news about COVID-19 vaccines and remain cautiously optimistic about the potential for new tools to start to arrive in the coming months.

Right now we are extremely concerned by the surge in cases we’re seeing in some countries.

Particularly in Europe and the Americas, health workers and health systems are being pushed to the breaking point.

WHO has issued guidance and tools to increase capacity for the medical and public health workforce and supplies and facilities to manage COVID-19 patients.

At present, WHO has 150 emergency medical teams assisting countries in the planning and implementation of their emergency responses.

WHO and partners are working with governments and health leaders to ensure that there is cover for health workers that are sick.

That there are enough beds for COVID-19 patients and for essential health services to continue safely.

That there are enough masks, gloves and other protective equipment.

That governments have access to enough tests, therapeutics and supplies to cope with demand now.

And that health systems will be ready when safe and effective vaccines are rolled out.

Health workers on the frontlines have been stretched for months. They are exhausted.

We must do all we can to protect them, especially during this period when the virus is spiking and patients are filling hospital beds.

In this moment when some governments have put all of society restrictions in place, there is once again a narrow window of time to strengthen key systems.

We’ve seen that those countries which invested in case finding, care and isolation, cluster investigations, adequate testing with rapid results, contact tracing and supported quarantine are facing much less disruption.

Cluster investigations and contract tracing are part of the bedrock of a successful public health response.

These actions help prevent individual cases from becoming clusters, and clusters turning into community transmission.

During recent Ebola outbreaks, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and WHO have invested in people and trained up a sizeable number of contract tracers who work closely with local leaders and communities.

And in just two days, in part down to active case finding and contact tracing, they will be able - I hope - to call an end to the most recent Ebola outbreak.

As countries take extreme measures to curb the rapid spread of COVID-19, now is the time to invest in the systems that will prevent further waves of the virus.

Invest in a well trained and protected public health work force so that you have enough contact tracers in place and ensure that those who are sick can isolate away from others and contacts are identified, notified and managed properly.
And where cases are starting to come down, keep investing so that you’re prepared.

This is a dangerous virus, which can attack every system in the body.

Those countries that are letting the virus run unchecked are playing with fire.

First, there will be further needless deaths and suffering.

Second, as we featured two weeks ago in a press conference, we are seeing a significant number of people experiencing long-term effects of the virus.

Third, health workers in particular are facing extreme mental health pressure and cases are severely burdening health systems in too many countries.

Health workers went into medicine to save lives as you know.

We must avoid putting them into situation where they have to make impossible choices about who gets care and who doesn’t.

We need to do everything we can to support health workers, keep schools open, protect the vulnerable and safeguard the economy.

From calling up students, volunteers and even national guards to support the health response in times of crisis, to putting strict measures in place that allow pressure to be removed from the health system.

There is no excuse for inaction. My message is very clear: act fast, act now, act decisively.

A laissez-faire attitude to the virus – not using the full range of tools available – leads to death, suffering and hurts livelihoods and economies.

It’s not a choice between lives or livelihoods. The quickest way to open up economies is to defeat the virus.

===

Last week, leaders came together at both the World Health Assembly and the Paris Peace Forum.

High on the agenda was the ACT Accelerator and ensuring equitable access to new rapid tests, therapeutics and COVID-19 vaccines.

The European Commission, France, Spain, The Republic of Korea and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged US$360 million to COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the ACT Accelerator.

New contributions bring the total committed to US$5.1 billion.

This is very substantial - but to ensure that tools are rolled out quickly across the world so that we save lives, stabilize health systems and drive a truly global recovery, another US$4.2 billion needed urgently and a further US$23.9 billion will be required in 2021.

With countries spending trillions to prop up economies, COVAX represents the best possible deal as it will mean a quicker recovery for all and an end to stimulus.

G20 leaders will meet this weekend.

This is an opportunity for them to commit financially and politically to the ACT Accelerator and COVAX so that together we can end this pandemic quickly.
It’s also a moment for us to strive for the world we want.

This cannot be business as usual.

The time has come for a fundamental shift toward health being seen as an investment, rather than a cost, and the foundation of productive, resilient and stable economies. Health is central.

To reflect this, last week I launched a new Council on the Economics of Health for All, to be chaired by distinguished economist Mariana Mazzucato, to put universal health coverage at the centre of how we think about value creation and economic growth.

Health like the climate crisis, inequality and conflict cannot be tackled in silos.

A new collective way forward is needed to ensure that we deliver on the promises of the past and tackle these intertwined challenges together.

I thank you.
 
Last edited:
CDC removes guidance pushing for school reopenings saying there's ’new scientific information’

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has removed guidelines from its website that promoted in-person learning for schools.

The documents, which were written by political appointees outside of the CDC, were removed from the website in late October without a public announcement, the Hill reported.

“Some of the prior content was outdated and as new scientific information has emerged the site has been updated to reflect current knowledge about COVID-19 and schools," a spokesperson told the Hill.


Instead, the website now states that “the body of evidence is growing that children of all ages are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and contrary to early reports might play a role in transmission.”

It also lists in-person learning as a high risk.

The Trump administration pushed for reopening schools and experts criticized the CDC’s guidance, saying it appeared to be politically motivated and light on evidence, the news outlet reported.

Courtesy via @weepingangel
 
CDC / Communities, Schools, Workplaces, & Events
Updated Oct. 29, 2020


Summary of Changes
Updates have been made to align with the new school resources and tools that were released on July 23rd and 24th and the latest COVID-19 information.

Changes to the considerations as of August 21, 2020:

  • Expanded considerations on planning and preparing schools before opening
  • Updated considerations on ventilation
  • Updated considerations on food service
  • Updated considerations for students who may be unable to wear masks
  • Updated considerations for students with special healthcare needsand disabilities
  • Updated considerations on cohorting, staggering, and alternating strategies
  • Updated considerations on recognizing signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and screening
  • Updated considerations on coping and support
  • Updated considerations on making plans for accommodations
  • Updated considerations for Direct Service Providers (DSPs)

—-

Communities, Schools, Workplaces, & Events
 
As the United States struggles with surging coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday urged Americans not to travel during the Thanksgiving holiday and to consider canceling plans to spend time with relatives outside their households.

The new guidance states clearly that “the safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving is to celebrate at home with the people you live with,” and that gathering with friends and even family members who do not live with you increases the chances of becoming infected with Covid-19 or the flu or transmitting the virus.
BBM

Covid-19 Live Updates: C.D.C. Urges Americans to Avoid Thanksgiving Travel

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/11/19/cdc-thanksgiving-travel-covid/

CDC recommends against travel for Thanksgiving - CNN

(courtesy via @Lilibet)
 
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