Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
White House To Give Extra 10 Million Covid Tests A Month To K-12 Schools
NPR: The White House Will Distribute 10 Million More COVID Tests Per Month To Schools
With schools all over the country struggling to deal with a surge of coronavirus cases from the omicron variant, the White House on Wednesday announced it is increasing the supply of COVID-19 tests for schools in order to help keep facilities open for in-person learning. President Biden and others in his administration insist schools should stay open, even with the omicron wave making it harder than ever to manage. The administration will increase the number of COVID tests available to schools by 10 million per month — 5 million rapid tests and 5 million lab-based PCR tests. Wednesday's announcement is in addition to other testing resources and programs, and comes as the supply of COVID tests struggles to keep up with intense demand. (Wise, 1/12)
The New York Times: Why Coronavirus Testing Is Falling Short In Many Schools Across The U.S.
In California, storms over the winter break destroyed a million coronavirus test kits that were meant to help schools screen returning students. In Seattle schools, children waited for hours for virus testing, some in a driving rain. In Florida this month, an attempt to supply tests to teachers in Broward County turned up expired kits. And in Chicago, a labor dispute, partly over testing, kept students out of school for a week. (Hubler, 1/11)
In more school news —
The Washington Post: Oakland Students Threaten To Strike If School District Doesn’t Meet Covid Demands
Students from the Oakland Unified School District have threatened to strike and not attend in-person classes unless the district reverts to remote learning or complies with a list of health and testing demands that include KN95 masks for each student, more testing and expanded outdoor space for lunchtime. (Bellware, 1/11)
AP: Bus Driver Shortage Forces Vancouver Schools To Go Remote
A shortage of bus drivers caused by a surge of the highly contagious COVID-19 omicron variant has forced Vancouver Public Schools in southwest Washington to switch to a rotating schedule of remote instruction in its middle and high schools, making it the latest Pacific Northwest school district to suffer impacts from the pandemic’s spread. Three groups of schools will take turns doing online instruction for one week each in a rotation that starts Tuesday and goes until Jan. 27, The Columbian reported. (1/12)
USA Today: Las Vegas School District Takes 'Five-Day Pause' Due To Staffing Shortage
An "extreme staffing shortage'' linked to a wave COVID-19 cases has prompted the school district that serves Las Vegas to close classrooms for two days and other school-related activities for five. The Clark County School District, one of the largest in the country with 320,000 students, will take a "five-day pause'' starting Friday and running through the Tuesday after the holiday weekend. The district is reporting nearly 3,000 coronavirus infections among its staff. (Ortiz, Yancey-Bragg and Tebor, 1/11)
AP: Virus Rocking New Mexico Schools Again, Santa Fe Goes Remote
The coronavirus is catching up with New Mexico’s largest school districts once again. On Tuesday, Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Larry Chavez announced the district will return to remote, online attendance for the four-day holiday week starting on Jan. 18. (Attanasio and Lee, 1/12)
Politico: Chicago Mayor Tests Positive For Covid A Day After Announcing School Reopening Deal
Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Tuesday that she tested positive for Covid-19, less than 24 hours after announcing a deal to bring teachers and students back to classrooms this week during an Omicron surge. “I am experiencing cold-like symptoms but otherwise feel fine which I credit to being vaccinated and boosted,” Lightfoot said in a statement. “I will continue to work from home while following the CDC guidelines for isolation. This is an urgent reminder for folks to get vaccinated and boosted as it's the only way to beat this pandemic.” (Kapos and Perez Jr., 1/11)
Axios: Poll: Americans Value "Health And Safety" Of Students And Teachers Over In-Person Learning
More than half of Americans say that it's more important to protect the health and safety of teachers and students by moving to remote learning to avoid COVID exposure than to keep schools open for in-person learning, according to a new Harris Poll provided exclusively to Axios. How to handle in-person learning amid yet another surge of cases is again the subject of intense debate following the Chicago Teacher's Union refusal to return to in-person classes as Omicron cases surged. (Owens, 1/12)
