Add Concerns About Legionnaires’ Disease To Schools’ New Assignments
School officials in Ohio and Pennsylvania have found the bacteria that causes the disease in nine schools. It can form in stagnant water, including systems in unused buildings. Also in the news are developments about COVID protections for schools in New York, Maryland, Georgia, Virginia and Kansas.
The New York Times:
Reopened Schools Find Health Risks In Water After Covid-19 Lockdowns
The new coronavirus is not the only illness that teachers, students, parents and staff will have to worry about as some schools attempt to reopen this fall. Legionella could lurk in the water supplies of school buildings, and some measures to keep people in schools safe from coronavirus may even increase risks from deadly illnesses caused by the bacteria. Last week in Ohio, officials found Legionella at five schools in an assortment of towns. On Friday, a district in Pennsylvania also announced it had found Legionella at four of its schools. (Horberry, 8/27)
ABC News:
NYC Approves Outdoor Learning, But Offers No Plan For Schools
Mayor Bill de Blasio's latest chess move in the tense battle over in-person education in the New York City was to unveil a surprise plan this week for outdoor learning in public, private and charter schools. "Parents have asked about it. Educators have asked about it," de Blasio said during a news conference Monday. "Outdoors is one of the things that works," de Blasio added, noting that Italy, Norway and Denmark have implemented outdoor learning effectively. "The disease doesn't spread the same way outdoors. We've seen that over and over." (Schumaker and Chalasani, 8/28)
AP:
Hogan Urges All Schools To Plan Some In-Person Instruction
Maryland’s COVID-19 health metrics have improved enough for all schools to have some in-person instruction this fall, Gov. Larry Hogan said Thursday. All of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions are starting the school year with online instruction, but 16 of them plan some in-person school instruction for K-12 this fall. Hogan said it “doesn’t make any sense” for eight jurisdictions to not have plans to return students to the classroom. Still, Hogan said it will remain up to local school officials to decide. (Witte, 8/27)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Atlanta Resources For Children Who Can't Do Online School At Home
The sites give parents a supervised place to send their child during day to do their online school work. Staffers, in some cases volunteers, help students keep up with their classes, troubleshoot technology problems and even provide a bit of social interaction or extracurricular fun. (McCray, 8/26)
Detroit Free Press:
Ford Fund Donates 450,000 Masks To Detroit Schools
The Ford Motor Company Fund is donating about 450,000 face masks to the Detroit Public Schools Community District to protect students and staffers as they prepare to return to school. The masks were made under Project Apollo — Ford Motor Co.'s code name for its production of personal protective equipment including respirators, face shields and medical gowns, and ventilators for COVID-19 patients. The company has been making medical-grade masks for its own workers but production is now humming to the point that the company has extras to give away to groups in need. (Wisely, 8/28)
In higher-education news —
AP/Capitol News Service:
More College Students In Quarantine As COVID-19 Cases Rise
As more universities open, they’re collecting and releasing COVID-19 data and grappling with contingency plans for those who contract the disease.The University of Virginia in Charlottesville released its first set of COVID-19 testing data on Wednesday. There have been 58 total positive cases at the university since Aug. 17, including 31 students. The university’s quarantine rooms are currently 5% occupied and the isolation rooms are not occupied. (Fleischman, 8/27)
AP:
9 Greek Houses At University Of Kansas Told To Quarantine
Health officials ordered residents of nine University of Kansas fraternity and sorority chapter houses to quarantine for two weeks following a coronavirus outbreak on campus. The university opened its fall semester Monday with in-person classes and offered free testing for students, faculty and staff. By Tuesday, 222 people had tested positive out of 19,452 test results received, for a positivity rate of 1.1%, according to the university. But the rate among fraternities and sororities was nearly 5.5%, with 133 Greek members testing positive. Updated results will be released Friday. (Hanna and Hollingsworth, 8/27)
The Hill:
Cuomo Says NY Colleges With 100 Coronavirus Cases Must 'Go Remote' For Two Weeks
Colleges in New York must switch to remote learning for two weeks if they experience an outbreak of 100 or more COVID-19 cases or equal to 5 percent of their population, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Thursday. “As college students return to campus, schools must be prepared for all possibilities,” Cuomo tweeted. (Klar, 8/27)
