C Is For Covid, As Outbreaks, Mask Rules, Quarantines Impact Schooling
Pennsylvania schools now have a mask mandate, but Utah's conflicting mask rules frustrate parents. In Indiana's schools, 7,200 new cases were reported. Unmasked kids are stressing teachers, and some schools opt to buy high-tech air purifiers to battle covid infections, as covid is upsetting education.
AP:
Statewide Mask Mandate For Pennsylvania Schools Takes Effect
A statewide mask mandate for Pennsylvania schools went into effect Tuesday with some school districts in open defiance of the Wolf administration, while GOP leaders in the state House planned to come back to Harrisburg early to mount a legislative response. The state health secretary’s order that students, staff and visitors at K-12 schools and child care facilities are required to wear masks while indoors, regardless of vaccination status, has provoked outrage from some parents, students and school board members who say the decision should remain local. (Rubinkam, 9/8)
Salt Lake Tribune:
Utah Parents Frustrated As COVID-19 Cases Rise In Schools
As childhood coronavirus cases escalate throughout Utah, parents say they are encountering a chaotic process of testing delays, conflicting instructions on masks and quarantine, and frustration that their kids’ school year is getting off to such a rocky start. “If we are not going to do mask mandates, I’m frustrated we didn’t amp up other ways to keep COVID in check,” said Emily Clifford, the mother of a Holladay first grader who tested positive last week for the coronavirus. “It’s been 18 months. We knew this was going to happen. But we keep making decisions when things are at traumatic levels, versus making any preparations.” (Alberty, 9/7)
Indianapolis Star:
COVID In Indiana Schools: Nearly 7,200 New Cases Reported
Indiana schools continue to reach new heights in COVID-19 cases reported among the state's K-12 students — driven, in part, by an increase in the number of schools participating in the state-mandated reporting this week. This week's update of the state's dashboard tracking COVID-19 cases in students, teachers and other school staff members reported nearly 7,200 new cases. Most of those cases did occur in the last week, although more than 1,000 of those cases dated back to the previous week. Of the newly reported cases this week, 6,322 occurred in students, 338 were in teachers and 488 occurred among staff members. (Herron, 9/7)
The Oregonian:
To Keep K-12 Open Amid COVID-19, Oregon’s Schools Chief Asks Students To Try Not To Gather Outside School Hours
As more than 600,000 K-12 students head back to school in Oregon -- the vast majority for in-person and full-time instruction inside classrooms -- the state’s top schools chief pleaded with families Tuesday to try to “limit” gatherings with other families “to the extent that they can” in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. (Green, 9/7)
The New York Times:
How Professors Are Handling Unmasked Students Amid Delta
Certainly, some professors are happy to go maskless. A smattering have resigned in protest over optional mask policies. Most are soldiering on. But the level of fear is so high that even at universities that do require vaccination and masks, like Cornell and the University of Michigan, professors have signed petitions asking for the choice to return to online teaching. (Hartocollis, 9/7)
CNN:
Schools Don't Need To See A Big Uptick In Cases If They Follow These Measures, Fauci Says
Climbing Covid-19 cases -- and particularly the increasing proportion reported in children -- are causing many health experts to worry about the outlook as the school year gets underway across the entire country. But Dr. Anthony Fauci said there shouldn't be a big uptick "if we do it right." There are certain simple things that are essential, he told CNN on Tuesday. "We've gotta get the school system masked in addition to surrounding the children with vaccinated people," the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease said. "That's the solution." (Holcombe, 9/8)
KHN:
To Quarantine Or Not: The Hard Choices Schools Are Leaving To Parents And Staff
On the second day of high school in Texas, Natosha Daniels’ 14-year-old daughter went all day without eating because she did not want to remove her mask. The teen’s school has a couple of thousand students, and the cafeteria was crowded. Plus Round Rock Independent School District outside Austin didn’t require masks, so some students weren’t wearing them. Even her honors biology teacher was maskless. Daniels said her daughter, who like her is fully vaccinated, is terrified of bringing home the virus because it could infect her 7-year-old sibling, who is too young for a shot. (Gomez and Pradhan, 9/1)
KHN:
Listen: Many Schools Are Buying High-Tech Air Purifiers. What Should Parents Know?
As students return to school, parents are getting a lot of mail about what schools are doing to better protect kids in the classroom — including details on mask policies and how kids will sit at lunch. One item on many administrators’ lists of protective measures is improving ventilation in the classroom. Many studies have shown that better ventilation and air circulation can greatly reduce covid-19 transmission. But rather than stocking up on HEPA filters, some school districts are turning to high-tech air purification strategies, including the use of untested electronic methods and airborne chemicals. (9/8)
In other news about mask mandates —
Louisville Courier Journal:
Kentucky Special Session: Ban On Kentucky Mask Mandates Advances
A House committee adopted a ban on statewide mask orders in a 15-5 vote Tuesday, the first day of a special legislative session dealing with emergency measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The measure was added to a lengthy draft of a bill dealing with COVID-19 testing, treatment, vaccines and other measures Republican lawmakers who control the legislature are proposing during an ongoing surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser, a Taylor Mill Republican, said the bill, if adopted, would bar Gov. Andy Beshear from issuing any "blanket mask mandate" as he had previously done during the pandemic. (Yetter, 9/7)
AP:
Man Pleads Guilty To Stealing And Selling VA Masks, Supplies
A Veterans Affairs supply manager in south Mississippi made more than $50,000 stealing and selling medical masks during the coronavirus pandemic, federal prosecutors say. Court records show Chad Paul Jacob, 54, of Saucier, Mississippi, pleaded guilty Tuesday to theft of government property. Sentencing is set for Dec. 7, and he faces up to 10 years in prison. (9/8)
