Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: COVID Is Here To Stay, So Get Children Back In Classrooms
The Washington Post: Covid-19 Isn’t Going Anywhere. So Schools Must Reopen.
In one ear, the trembling voice of a teacher says she’s terrified to return to the classroom. In the other, an exhausted mother of two young children tells me she’s praying her kids can go back to school. In the New York Times, teacher Rebecca Martinson writes that she won’t risk her life to teach other people’s kids. In the Atlantic, nurse Kristen McConnell, who is married to a teacher, argues that teachers are essential workers just like she is — and they should step up to the plate. These are all real people, who are doing their best to cope with the deeply altered world in which we now live. (Kathleen Parker, 8/7)
Los Angeles Times: The Wrong Way To Reopen Schools
Despite all the fears about reopening schools, we actually know a fair amount from watching other countries about how to do it safely. Success looks a lot like Uruguay and Denmark. It does not look like Israel. And it bears no resemblance at all to what’s shown in a photo from North Paulding High School in Dallas, Ga., in which teenagers are packed into a hallway, few of them wearing masks. Even before classes there began, members of the school’s football team had already been diagnosed with COVID-19. On Sunday, the school announced that nine infections had been reported in the first week of classes, and it was temporarily moving to online-only instruction. Other schools in Georgia and Mississippi are also reporting cases of infected students. In Corinth, Miss., which opened its schools two weeks ago, a single case of an infected student became six cases within days, and the quarantine of 116. (8/10)
The Washington Post: Students’ Safety Is The Biggest Loser In The Tug Of War Over Opening Montgomery County Private Schools
Whether, and how, to open schools that abruptly shut down in March following the outbreak of covid-19 is fraught with gut-wrenching issues. Children need to get back to their teachers and classmates. But can it be done safely? Much is still unknown about this virus. It makes the situation worse when public health issues become clouded with suspicions about politics. This is the unfortunate case in the back and forth between Montgomery County and state officials over whether private schools can — or, more importantly, should — provide in-class instruction while public schools offer only distance learning. The dueling directives of the past week are bound to leave parents, teachers and students confused. (8/9)
Des Moines Register: Georgia Camp Outbreak Is Wake-Up Call About COVID-19 Spread Among Kids
A publication from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about novel coronavirus infections among attendees at an overnight camp in Georgia made some headlines when it was published July 31. But during this infectious disease outbreak, when we're hanging on every word about vaccines and Googling the names of prescription drugs we can't spell, it's easy for one study to get lost amid the firehose of news. Fortunately, Dr. Tom Benzoni, an Iowa physician, regularly brings specific studies to the attention of a Register editorial writer. And these results deserve to be underlined.The doctor's note accompanying the link to the Georgia report: “Here’s a real world experiment.” (8/8)
The Hill: In The COVID-19 Economy, We Are Running Out Of Time To Prioritize Child Care
In March, working families across the country started to scramble. Our homes were transformed into makeshift classrooms, summer camps and daycare centers as the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered schools and child care facilities. For working mothers with young children, balancing a career and responsibilities at home during the coronavirus crisis has meant bearing an astronomically outsized share of the burden — a burden that for many exhausted and isolated mothers is not sustainable; a burden which, if we do not act, could result in a significant portion of women being pushed out of the labor force, erasing the progress we have made. (Liz Shuler, 8/9)
Atlanta Journal Constitution: COVID-19 Does Not Exempt The Young
There is a tendency for young people to feel invincible. They are often the strongest and healthiest among us. The thoughts of being impacted by illness or injury feel foreign to them and the kinds of things that only happen to older and unluckier people. Unfortunately, this is leading to a devastating trend during the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States is experiencing another surge of COVID-19 cases and Georgia is not immune. The disease is now spreading fastest among a younger population than it did earlier in the pandemic. (Neha Shah, 8/8)
CNN: Michelle Obama And Melinda Gates: We Can't Ignore Adolescent Girls In Covid-19 Fight
Around the world, life is often more difficult for adolescent girls. During a pandemic, it can be downright dangerous. We know from past crises, like the 2014 Ebola outbreak, that adolescent girls in low and middle-income countries are particularly at risk of being overlooked and left behind. (Michelle Obama and Melinda Gates, 8/7)
Stat: 3D Printing Communities Rise To Meet Covid-19 Challenges
As Covid-19 raced across the globe, health care systems faced shortages in personal protective equipment. This essential gear became more costly, and there was greater reliance on imports for it. 3D printing suddenly and urgently became a critical tool for managing the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, and other medical equipment. (Frederic Vacher, 8/10)
The Advocate: Louisiana Spotlight: Nursing Homes Vulnerable From Staff's Infections
As Louisiana tries to protect vulnerable nursing home residents from coronavirus outbreaks, the facilities still have a significant source of risk for new infections. Hundreds of employees coming and going each day have refused to take a virus test.Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration ordered nursing homes to regularly test residents and workers for the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus or face financial penalties. But while nursing homes have to provide the testing, residents and staff can refuse to participate. (Melinda Deslatte, 8/9)
