CDC's Shameful Cave-in

[SexyAsianStud]

Trump decided a few weeks ago that he could help his prospects for re-election if he could get schools across the nation to reopen fully, regardless of the state of the pandemic in their community, regardless of the risks to students and staff. He has threatened to cut off federal funding to schools that refuse to reopen fully, and he proclaimed that he and Pence were pressuring the CDC to weaken its guidelines.

At first, the CDC held firm, urging schools to practice social distancing, to require personal protective equipment, and not to reopen unless all safety precautions were in place.

No longer. It changed the tone of its guidance, now stressing the necessity of reopening over the importance of safety. Now the CDC sings the song that Trump, Pence, and DeVos want to hear.

The agency issued a full-throated call to reopen schools in a package of new “resources and tools” posted on its website that opened with a statement that sounded more like a political speech than a scientific document, listing numerous benefits for children of being in school and downplaying the potential health risks. It published the new guidance two weeks after President Trump criticized its earlier recommendations on school reopenings as “very tough and expensive,” ramping up what had already been an anguished national debate over the question of how soon children should return to classrooms.

While children infected by the virus are at low risk of becoming severely ill or dying, how often they become infected and how efficiently they spread the virus to others is not definitively known. Children in middle and high schools may also be at much higher risk of both than those under 10, according to some recent studies.

Thanks to Trump, the public can no longer trust the impartiality of the CDC. Under pressure, it revised its guidelines to please the president. Science will not “get in the way” of Trump’s political campaign. Any student or teacher or other school personnel who dies because of a premature opening will be blood on the hands of Trump, Pence, DeVos, and the CDC.

The CDC and its director, Dr. Robert Redfield, are hereby enrolled on our nation's Wall of Shame.

[tassojunior]

who's going to teach?

In fairness, Europe and the UK have opened their schools. 

 

[Riobard]

In neither scenario, current closure status nor prospective opening, can many parents return to work outside of the home in a sustained way, without a back-up plan for when getting the dreaded call over and over “Sorry, the class is down until further notice”. 

I assume that one positive school case will result in a stay-at-home and testing order for the collective, as is occurring in day camps that recently commenced in Quebec?

I am not sure whether in Europe or elsewhere the school re-opening is plagued with the same unpredictability by way of episodic shutdown protocols. For the dozens of countries with open school status there is not one standardized way of handling infection control when a case comes to light, but for the most part it has not been a dismal failure. However when overall case incidence is low it is easier to reasonably attribute a blip in new infections to a defined lockdown ease of a few weeks prior.

In places with exponential infection growth such as USA it is a big challenge to tease out the school factor in the prevalence metric. It may be more anecdotal and rest on the tolerance for isolated cases here and there being the determinant ‘face’ of it. A teacher will die and that will be it. Those fresh pristine September school supplies will have barely seen the light of day. 

These other locations do not want Trump to compare his orange to their apple. They are quick to underscore their context for opening academia was markedly different.

Edited July 24, 2020 by Riobard

[SexyAsianStud]

Let's hear it from the teachers themselves:

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said: “Our blueprint serves as a stark contrast to the conflicting guidance, bluster and lies of the Trump administration. The input of educators and healthcare workers, as well as parents, is crucial in making any reopening plan work. They are the eyes and ears, and are indispensable in making any plan work safely and effectively. We hope this blueprint will be the start of a real discussion on reopening schools, universities and other workplaces that allows our workers and families not only to dream of a safe and welcoming future, but to realize it.”

 

To gradually reopen, we need to: 

1. Maintain physical distancing until the number of new cases declines for at least 14 consecutive days. Reducing the number of new cases is a prerequisite for transitioning to reopening plans on a community-by-community basis. 
2. Put in place the infrastructure and resources to test, trace and isolate new cases. Transitioning from community-focused physical distancing and stay-in-place orders to case-specific interventions requires ramping up the capacity to test, trace and isolate each new case.
3. Deploy the public health tools that prevent the virus’ spread and align them with education strategies that meet the needs of students.
4. Involve workers, unions, parents and communities in all planning. Each workplace and community faces unique challenges related to COVID-19. To ensure that reopening plans address those challenges, broad worker and community involvement is necessary. They must be engaged, educated and empowered.
5. Invest in recovery: Do not abandon America’s communities or forfeit America’s future. These interventions will require more—not less—investment in public health and in our schools, universities, hospitals, and local and state governments. Strengthening communities should be a priority in the recovery.

 

[SexyAsianStud]

From the New York Times:

WASHINGTON — The school attended by President Trump’s son will not fully reopen in September out of concern over the coronavirus pandemic despite the president’s insistence that students across the country be brought back to classrooms in the fall.

St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, a private school in Washington’s Maryland suburbs, said in a letter to parents that it was still deciding whether to adopt a hybrid model for the fall that would allow limited in-person education or to resume holding all classes completely online as was done in the spring. The school will decide early next month which option to follow.

[tassojunior]

18 hours ago, Riobard said:

In neither scenario, current closure status nor prospective opening, can many parents return to work outside of the home in a sustained way, without a back-up plan for when getting the dreaded call over and over “Sorry, the class is down until further notice”. 

I assume that one positive school case will result in a stay-at-home and testing order for the collective, as is occurring in day camps that recently commenced in Quebec?

I am not sure whether in Europe or elsewhere the school re-opening is plagued with the same unpredictability by way of episodic shutdown protocols. For the dozens of countries with open school status there is not one standardized way of handling infection control when a case comes to light, but for the most part it has not been a dismal failure. However when overall case incidence is low it is easier to reasonably attribute a blip in new infections to a defined lockdown ease of a few weeks prior.

In places with exponential infection growth such as USA it is a big challenge to tease out the school factor in the prevalence metric. It may be more anecdotal and rest on the tolerance for isolated cases here and there being the determinant ‘face’ of it. A teacher will die and that will be it. Those fresh pristine September school supplies will have barely seen the light of day. 

These other locations do not want Trump to compare his orange to their apple. They are quick to underscore their context for opening academia was markedly different.

I think it's safe to assume the work-at-home model is going to stay more standard after this so study-at-home kids will just add to the need for more bandwidth. (Maybe the country's most-famous dad is pissed his kid is taking all the bandwidth when he wants on Twitter? It's being generous to 45 to think he wants his own son home.)

The peak has passed in the big states and countries and in a month we'll probably be down around Europe's level. Europe seems to be showing you can open up 100% once the surge has passed with little consequences. (I thought it would cause an uptick). I guess my theory is now that once a certain area has been seen a big surge, it's most-susceptible population to contagion and death has been run-through with illness and death and opening up doesn't do as much harm. Of course there are still many rural areas that are just starting to see their surge (why I worry about Czech Republic). It's not herd immunity but simply one segment being most susceptible. By the end of the year there will be vaccines and treatments but I don't think 2021 will be a return to the old ways. At least not for long. 

After every "big event" like this pandemic society changes a lot. Since the internet and broadband we were overdue for work-at-home, school-at-home, and also for massive job loss with robots and AI (this will be the first major AI-developed vaccine). Universal healthcare will eventually come with cheaper AI-provided healthcare and Universal Basic Income will come with 50% permanent unemployment. Oil-produced power and cars will seem as ancient as coal-produced power is now. 2021 won't be like 2019, and 2025 will be a different world.

[JKane]