Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #67

[JerseyGirl]

Phoenix faces a "huge testing shortage," mayor says

As coronavirus cases in Arizona continue to surge, Mayor Kate Gallego says Phoenix is facing “a huge testing shortage.”

“People have been in line for eight hours in a hot car while they ache, waiting for a test," she said. "We are five months in in the United States of America. People who want a test should not have to wait that long."

Gallego says there is a need for low-barrier testing. She requested the federal government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency for mass testing sites in Phoenix, but that request has been denied.

 

[tabitha111]

I get a lot of home schooled kids in my classes (often starting around age 15 - I have a 14 year old in an online class right now). They are often the very best students. Today, most of them also get the online skills that are essential to most jobs, but they are adaptable and really good readers.

My husband and I are both somewhat self-taught. My high school was ranked as one of the lowest achieving high schools in California (it has improved some). Both my husband and I had no actual math teacher for math. My daughters had no actual science teacher in middle school. So yep, either the kid steps up out of real interest, or the parent does the teaching - or both.

And that's going to lead to huge disparities in how this crop of kids turn out - we're already so poorly ranked in math, reading and science compared to other wealthy nations. I'm beginning to think we aren't a "wealthy nation" as much as we are a nation with a lot of consumerism and 1% wealthy people.

He def. was a computer nerd on his own...gaming nerd...but that was after regular studies. I went to school after the Navy for IT Networking, so there was no lack of being able to instruct him on building his gaming pc, etc.
I also wanted to say that when he got to his high school years, every year I gave him the option to go to public school and he declined, even though a few of his girlfriends he had were in public high school and he had friends through them (still to this day) in public school.
There was no issue getting him into college, in fact I wrote his transcript, but colleges are very eager to have homeschooled students.

 

[weepingangel]

I agree with that plan-every other week vs some other on/off schedule
FWIW a local vo tech high school does one week in academics classes and the following week in the shop classes. It’s always been that way (for at least the past 40 years) and it works well at least for that age group
And eta - for younger kids it would be even better for some kind of continuity- go a whole week have a week off- as well as the Practical reasons you mentioned

imho, it would be good to have the kids go to school for a week, and then off for a week while the other half of their class goes to school, rather than have them attend every other day. This gives the weekend for deep cleaning the classroom, and give each group of students a week for symptoms to show up at home before they come back into the classroom. And wouldn't it be wonderful if each half class had their own teacher. Yeah, in my dreams.

 

[SA55]

Will Fauci be at this briefing????

Of course not, he contradicts what they are advising.

 

[10ofRods]

Apparently the Mayor of Phoenix hasn't been in contact with FEMA or CDC or other agencies in advance, or she'd know that federal response to the testing crisis is quite slow. Or non-existent, as apparently, the Federal Government isn't going to be in the business of paying for and supplying CoVid tests any more.

FEMA has specifically announced that it is scaling back/closing its testing services, which is why some of us have deep worries about Arizona and other states where CV is just getting started.

 

[weepingangel]

Also re schools keeping them in totally separated groups- as some workplaces have done- to limit cross exposures

stuff like this, totally impractical and overkill IMO
Closing down an entire building because of one case *shrug*

Worcester courthouse closed Wednesday and Thursday after employee tests positive for coronavirus

our local (new england) ERs are definitely seeing cases of people who have recently come back from their Florida vacations
“And now I’m sick”. Omfg

 

[JerseyGirl]

5 Sacramento County clinics to close amid COVID-19 testing shortage

Labs, supply chain overwhelmed by coronavirus surge and demand

Omaha testing site closed down because of supplies shortage

Lawmakers from both parties urge Trump administration to keep funding seven coronavirus testing sites

Alternate COVID-19 testing sites available while health department is closed

US virus cases top 3 million, Americans face frustrating test delays

MD: COVID: TEST SITES CLOSED, BEING INVESTIGATED

Those are just a few I found ...

 

[Trino]

I agree with that plan-every other week vs some other on/off schedule
FWIW a local vo tech high school does one week in academics classes and the following week in the shop classes. It’s always been that way (for at least the past 40 years) and it works well at least for that age group
And eta - for younger kids it would be even better for some kind of continuity- go a whole week have a week off- as well as the Practical reasons you mentioned

Good idea. Who's going to watch the kids on the off week?

 

[JerseyGirl]

Also re schools keeping them in totally separated groups- as some workplaces have done- to limit cross exposures

stuff like this, totally impractical and overkill IMO
Closing down an entire building because of one case *shrug*

Worcester courthouse closed Wednesday and Thursday after employee tests positive for coronavirus

our local (new england) ERs are definitely seeing cases of people who have recently come back from their Florida vacations
“And now I’m sick”. Omfg

I didn't read the article, maybe they just shut the building down for a day or two to disinfect? Where I work, if someone enters the building and then tests positive for coronavirus, the entire building is shut down a few days for disinfecting.

 

[10ofRods]

Also re schools keeping them in totally separated groups- as some workplaces have done- to limit cross exposures

stuff like this, totally impractical and overkill IMO
Closing down an entire building because of one case *shrug*

Worcester courthouse closed Wednesday and Thursday after employee tests positive for coronavirus

our local (new england) ERs are definitely seeing cases of people who have recently come back from their Florida vacations
“And now I’m sick”. Omfg

Yeah, the building closing and deep cleaning thing is superfluous. The instant humans go back inside, the problem is repeated - again and again. CoVid19 is not all that transmissible from floors, for example. Desks and devices need to be disinfected - but the sheer number of bodies in a school at one time is the real problem.

Keeping CV+ staff and students separate is a good health idea and having a group for "Covid symptom positive but awaiting test results" is a good health idea - but will it work in a practical and human sense? I'd be up for it if I had antibodies.

Can't wait for a vaccine.

 

[Trino]

No surprise here if you know anything about White House senior advisor Stephen Miller’s agenda regarding immigration. From an article about USC foreign students....

Although ICE says this change is because of the pandemic, the Trump administration has been pushing for schools across the country to hold in-person learning. On Monday, President Donald Trump tweeted, "SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!"

SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2020
"The contradictions reveal that the intentions behind all of these immigration policy changes are not pandemic response. They are fulfilling a promise that (Trump senior adviser) Stephen Miller has long made to end legal immigration to the United States," said Andrea Flores, the Deputy Director of Immigration Policy at the ACLU.
BBM

ICE order to exit country leaves USC international students in limbo

Many universities rely on income from international students!

 

[tabitha111]

The parents will insist that schools "shut down" if there are cases...well, some parents will...so to appease them, they will more than likely shut down for deep cleaning. Or they will end up shutting down completely and going back to online learning, that has actually happened in other countries that have opened schools already.
Then there are the working parents that have to have the kids in school 5 days a week...single parents too.
I don't see any doable solution. I have also heard (rumor) that substitute teachers are in short supply becasue many of them don't want the risk. all MOO

 

[JerseyGirl]

Pence says new CDC school guidelines coming next week: "It's time" to get kids back to school

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will issue new guidance on reopening schools next week after President Trump dismissed their current recommendations as “very tough & expensive."

Speaking at a briefing by the White House coronavirus task force, Vice President Mike Pence said the new guidance would be "part of a five-part series of recommendations that will give all new tools to our schools."

"We’re absolutely determined to work in partnership with our states to give the guidance for states and communities to be able to safely reopen our schools," Pence said.

Still, he repeated a statement made a day earlier by the CDC's director that the agency's guidelines should not act as a barrier to reopening schools.

"We’re here to help," Pence said. "We don't want federal guidance to be a substitute for state and local laws and rules and guidance. We’re here to assist with the shared objective, which I think is shared by every parent in America, which is we want to get our kids back. We want to get them back in the classroom."

"As the President made clear yesterday it's time. It's time for us to get our kids back to school," Pence said.

Some context: Earlier Wednesday, Trump accused the CDC of producing “very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools,” saying he disagreed with the health agency’s recommendations.

“While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things,” Trump wrote. “I will be meeting with them!!!”

 

[JerseyGirl]

States with surges should return to "phase one" guidelines, Birx says

People living in states with coronavirus surges should return to the White House's original "phase one" recommendations on gatherings, Dr. Deborah Birx said on Wednesday.

Citing guidelines like wearing face masks and avoiding bars and indoor events, Birx said those steps should be resumed in order to bring cases back under control.

She said they are "asking the American people in those counties and in those states to not only use those face coverings, not going to bars, not going to indoor dining, but really not gathering in homes either. And decreasing those gatherings back down to our phase one recommendation, which was 10 or less."

Birx touted the importance of mask-wearing and said "any kind of indoor gathering" should be avoided in places experiencing a spike in cases.

President Trump has repeatedly said the economy should not be shut down again, even as cases increase.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Pence says medical personnel are being sent to states with surging cases

Vice President Mike Pence said the White House coronavirus task force is focusing their efforts in states where half of the new cases have arisen, including Arizona, Florida and California. Pence said governors have described a need for personnel.

"Over the last week, working through FEMA, the Department of Defense and HHS, we've been processing requests to deploy over 1,070 doctors and nurses and medical personnel. At this point, roughly 525 doctors and nurses are on the ground in Arizona, California and Texas and we are processing a request from Florida for an additional amount," Pence said.

 

[charminglane]

If it takes 8 days for the mayor to get results, I wonder how long the average citizen is waiting?

I had my test at 1pm Monday and received the negative result by 10 am the next morning in an email.
Los Angeles County, El Monte Airport drive thru testing.
I'm a nobody.

 

[10ofRods]

Many universities rely on income from international students!

Yes, and they will probably shut down due to this. These are not our major public schools, obviously, nor our top notch colleges. But many a college has come to rely on recruiting high tuition-paying foreign students (some of whom would have been prohibited from arrival by various travel bans). It's the students already in the country who will be stranded in many cases.

Fortunately, Harvard and another university have filed for an injunction (just as always happens with these immigration issues - I hope the injunction is given).

 

[Victoria Chambers]

They believe the cause of this is lack of oxygen to the brain.

1. Hypoxia (Low Oxygen Level) When there is lack of oxygen to the brain, hallucinations and delusions can result.

MOO

I find it odd that patients never experience a fairytale vision but they always seem to be menacing. I would die of fright me! X

 

[JerseyGirl]

Harvard, MIT Sue Immigration Authorities Over Rule Barring International Students from Online-Only Universities | News | The Harvard Crimson

The guidelines were released just hours after Harvard announced it would house no more than 40 percent of undergraduates and would hold all College classes online in the fall.

“We will pursue this case vigorously so that our international students—and international students at institutions across the country—can continue their studies without the threat of deportation,” Harvard University President Lawrence S. Bacow wrote.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced Tuesday that her office “will sue” over the guidelines, which she called “cruel” and “illegal.”

Still, Bacow and Harvard chose not to wait for Healey’s suit. Their case argues that the guidelines violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to consider “important aspects of the problem” in advance of its release, failing to provide a reasonable basis for the policy, and failing to adequately notify the public.

Dean of Undergraduate Education Amanda J. Claybaugh said in a panel Monday that Vice Provost for International Affairs Mark C. Elliot is also contacting ambassadors on behalf of international students.

“As a university with a profound commitment to residential education, we hope and intend to resume full in-person instruction as soon as it is safe and responsible to do so,” Bacow wrote. “But, until that time comes, we will not stand by to see our international students’ dreams extinguished by a deeply misguided order. We owe it to them to stand up and to fight—and we will.”

 

[JerseyGirl]

MIT, Brown release reopening plans as Trump slams Harvard approach | Boston.com

MIT will only allow seniors to be on campus for the fall semester — because out of all students, they have the least flexible schedules — along with a “relatively small fraction of other students whose circumstances require special consideration in terms of their safety, living conditions, visa status, or other hardship,” President L. Rafael Reif wrote in a letter to the school community Tuesday.

Classes for on-campus students will be a mix of in-person and remote instruction. Those who are off-campus will have online instruction, Reif wrote.

Administrators hope to allow freshmen, sophomores, and juniors to campus in the spring, according to MIT.

__

At Brown, the university will offer a three-term academic year, with fall, spring, and summer semesters, instead of its typical two-term year, under its plan unveiled Tuesday.

“Three terms will allow the university to distribute the undergraduate population in a manner that results in far fewer students, and less density, on campus during each term,” the plan says.

Juniors and seniors will attend during the fall and spring semesters, while freshmen will be on campus during the spring and summer terms.

“Sophomores will attend fall-spring but could be shifted in full or in part to fall-summer if public health conditions worsen over the course of the fall,” the plan says.

Classrooms will allow for at least six feet of space between individuals and everybody on campus is required to wear a mask, according to the plan. All students will be tested for coronavirus when they arrive at school.