This is an excellent message from the Bidens about reopening schools safely.
They say what most educators and parents say.
We want schools open but we want them open safely.
Job one: lower the infection rate in the community.
Job two: Make sure schools have the resources so that students and adults are safe.
Biden pledges to follow through on both.
Trump demands that schools open in a few weeks regardless of the pandemic, regardless of the inability to provide a safe building and smaller classes.
Vote for Biden.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Older Children Spread the Coronavirus Just as Much as Adults, Large Study Finds
…The study of nearly 65,000 people in South Korea suggests that school reopenings will trigger more outbreaks.
But they face a monumental challenge because the evidence on transmission within schools has been far from conclusive so far, experts said. Some countries like Denmark and Finland have successfully reopened schools, but others, like China, Israel and South Korea, have had to close them down again.
“People, depending on their ideology on school opening, are choosing which evidence to present — and that needs to be avoided,” said Jeffrey Shaman, an epidemiologist at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in New York.
Although the new study does not offer definitive answers, he said, it does indicate that schools can increase virus levels within a community.
“So long as children are not just a complete dead end — incapable of passing the virus on, which does not seem to be the case — putting them together in schools, having them mix with teachers and other students will provide additional opportunities for the virus to move from person to person,” he said.
At the same time, Dr. Shaman said, it’s important for children not to miss out on critical years in education and socialization, and school districts have the unenviable task of choosing between those options: “It’s hard trying to find the right balance.”
Based on this information, students in 5th grade and higher should be required to wear a mask to reduce the chances of spreading the virus.
Indianapolis Public Schools are planning to delay opening of schools for two weeks because of the increase in confirmed cases.
TWO WEEKS! As if that will make a HUGE difference.
and in some places delaying “by one week”: the logic simply isn’t there
My mailman and his running dogs would definitely make better consultants on public health policy than Trump and his 😉
Tip to Joe for the debates: go armed with a lot of Quotations from Chairman Trump. Let Trump on the Stump speak against his own idiotic self.
Good advice. Some of the most effective political ads against Trump are just Trump’s words and images of the devastating aftermath.
The Washington Post
Alert
News Alert
July 19, 8:57 a.m. EDT
Biden leads by double digits as the coronavirus takes a toll on Trump, Post-ABC poll finds
A Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that former vice president Joe Biden leads President Trump 55 percent to 40 percent among registered voters. That compares with a 10-point Biden lead in May and a two-point edge in March, when the pandemic was just beginning to spread rapidly in parts of the country. Among those who say they are certain to vote in the presidential election, Biden’s lead stands at 11 points.
Trump’s prospects for winning in November appear to depend heavily on his ability to rally an enthusiastic core base of supporters and on convincing a broader swath of a largely skeptical public that he is dealing effectively with the pandemic.
Good morning Diane and everyone,
“Job 2” in your post hasn’t even been achieved in good periods in this country. How many times have we read about schools being infested with rodents, having the ceilings cave in from water damage, all kinds of unsafe conditions let alone not having the proper teaching materials. And now, in the midst of a pandemic, schools are magically going to get the resources to have “safe” conditions on top of all that? It’s a mess and we are in it right now with a federal government that doesn’t give 2 hoots. Maybe Biden will improve things. Who knows. But at this point we are a ship with a crazy captain trying to weather a hurricane while he destroys the ship itself. So, I wouldn’t count on getting the resources we need for anything.
The ship of state with the crazy captain. A perfect analogy.
It’s great to hear the calming, supportive voices of the Bidens.
But please, don’t perpetuate the magical thinking that school buildings can safely reopen during an out-of-control pandemic without jeopardizing lives.
The problems that exist right now need to be addressed by science, political will, and time. It is truly crazy to think that teachers can/should fix what’s wrong right now.
Anyone looking to successes in other countries are cherry-picking the facts. What are their infection rates? How successful is their contact tracing? How compliant are citizens in adhering to safety guidelines? What is the national consensus re: science?
So many serious differences exist. There is no way to take heart from re-openings abroad.
And no amount of money can fix the serious issues that exist inside US school buildings in time to reopen buildings this school year.
And this inconvenient fact: There is no realistic way to impose mask-wearing, social distancing, and hand washing.
So anyone who supports reopening buildings is saying that it’s worth the gamble of lives to get kids back into classrooms.
Classrooms where they will be sitting at desks most of the day, unable to socialize with peers, unable to work in groups, unable to receive 1:1 support from teachers.
No reassuring hand on a shoulder, no quiet side-conversation for re-direction, no walks in the hall to refocus.
Maybe real learning isn’t the goal of reopening buildings.
If everyone is honest, the goal is really to get kids out of their homes so parents can work and get a break from 24/7 parenting.
I sympathize.
I raised 2 kids of my own while working full-time.
But what we should be working on right now is re-imagining how to educate kids during a national crisis – make remote learning more effective/doable, re-envision outdoor spaces, make use of other spaces in communities to support necessary childcare needs.
Most school buildings are the least safe places to fill with kids and adults during a pandemic caused by an invisible germ.
You can’t claim that that is more important than literal lives – the lives of teachers, staff, and the kids themselves.
We all know what happens when a group of people who are ordinarily allies are pitted against each other with competing self-interests.
Ask yourself if your self-interest is a matter of life and death and is worth teachers’ and kids’ and other staff members’ lives.
Please, teachers need you support.
Apparently, for a lot of people, their own self interest is more important. People won’t even wear masks. In Utah, a county commissioner wants to get a waiver so that students don’t have to wear masks in schools and got a huge group to come to the meeting as an anti-mask protest https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/07/16/utah-county-commission-meeting-tanner-ainge-anti-mask-protest-coronavirus-ebof-vpx.cnn
it is beyond my imagination to figure out how I could fool myself into believing that I should not wear a mask because the virus will see my obstinate stance and thus leave me alone
Beautifully said, M. Jacobs!
That’s a good message and video. I’m glad I sent Biden some money. I cleaned up my lawn for the sign I should be getting in the mail any day now. And, if anyone swipes the sign or damages it, I’ll just put up a bigger one. (There’s been times I’ve had the only sign in favor of a Democratic candidate for 20 miles or more.)
I just ordered a BIDEN face mask.
Hey, that’s cool.
I saw on the news they also have these face masks that look like, well,the person who orders them….. it’s a picture on the fabric.
What next???
A Biden face mask. That’s awesome!
The American Academy of Pediatrics should be ashamed of themselves. That statement is being used by everyone to justify fully opening schools. They have blood on their hands. I don’t care that they “clarified” their statement later. They didn’t think about adults or even kids with their statement
Agree entirely. Heedless and dangerous.
Do. No. Harm.
Trump says, “I supplied everybody. We have the best testing in the world. I’m not losing, those are fake polls. I built the best economy in history.”
He sounds like a broken record.
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Trump downplays virus, disputes bad polls in testy interview with Fox’s Wallace
From TheHill.com:
07/19/20
When Wallace pressed Trump on criticism of the lack of a national plan to address the coronavirus, Trump said he takes responsibility for “everything” before criticizing the responses of some of the governors.
“Look, I take responsibility always for everything because it’s ultimately my job, too. I have to get everybody in line. Some governors have done well, some governors have done poorly. They’re supposed to have supplies they didn’t have. I supplied everybody,” Trump said.
When asked about increase in cases in the country, Trump said many of those who contract the virus are young and would heal quickly.
“They have the sniffles and we put it down as a test. … I guess it’s like 99.7 percent, people are going to get better and in many cases they’re going to get better very quickly,” Trump said.
“Cases are up — many of those cases shouldn’t even be cases. Cases are up because we have the best testing in the world and we have the most testing.”
The appearance on “Fox News Sunday” was the president’s first on a Sunday morning show since June 2019 and his first interview on Wallace’s program since November 2018…
Trump also projected optimism about his reelection prospects despite recent national and battleground state polling showing him losing to Biden. Confronted with a new Fox News poll showing him trailing Biden nationally by 8 points, Trump rejected the poll as “fake.”
“I’m not losing, because those are fake polls. They were fake in 2016 and now they’re even more fake,” the president insisted. “I have other polls that put me leading, and we have polls where I’m leading. I have a poll where we’re leading in every swing state.”
“I built the greatest economy in history, I’m now doing it again,” Trump said, expressing confidence about the economic recovery amid the coronavirus, which resulted in millions of job losses due to lockdowns meant to curb its spread.
“I think the economy is expanding and growing beautifully,” Trump said later, doubting that the state of the economy would be a problem for him come Election Day. “Now, the Democrats want to keep it closed as long as possible because they think that’s good for elections.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/508009-trump-downplays-virus-dispute-bad-polls-in-testy-interview-with-foxs
He pointed out that the stock market is doing very well.
That’s cold solace for the millions out of work.
Trump doesn’t acknowledge the hardships that normal people are facing. My hope is that when people hear how great the economy is going, they begin to realize that Trump is totally out of touch…and VOTE to get rid of him.
The Hill:
The U.S. is facing significant long-term economic damage from the coronavirus as lawmakers spar over boosted unemployment benefits amid stubbornly high weekly jobless claims.
More than 1 million Americans have filed new claims for unemployment benefits each week for the past four months. Those figures provide a grim backdrop to the fight unfolding in Washington over whether to extend enhanced unemployment insurance for millions of job-seekers.
Hope Trump and all of his weak-kneed sycophants are gone in Nov. It’s past time to get rid of this ignorant fool. Trump has finally come up against something he can’t lie his way out of.
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As Trump Ignores Virus Crisis, Republicans Start to Break Ranks
President Trump continues to press for a quick return to life as usual, but Republicans who fear a rampaging disease and angry voters are increasingly going their own way.
President Trump’s failure to contain the coronavirus outbreak and his refusal to promote clear public-health guidelines have left many senior Republicans despairing that he will ever play a constructive role in addressing the crisis, with some concluding they must work around Mr. Trump and ignore or even contradict his pronouncements.
In recent days, some of the most prominent figures in the G.O.P. outside the White House have broken with Mr. Trump over issues like the value of wearing a mask in public and heeding the advice of health experts like Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, whom the president and other hard-right figures within the administration have subjected to caustic personal criticism.
They appear to be spurred by several overlapping forces, including deteriorating conditions in their own states, Mr. Trump’s seeming indifference to the problem and the approach of a presidential election in which Mr. Trump is badly lagging his Democratic challenger, Joseph R. Biden Jr., in the polls.
Once-reticent Republican governors are now issuing orders on mask-wearing and business restrictions that run counter to Mr. Trump’s demands. Some of those governors have been holding late-night phone calls among themselves to trade ideas and grievances; they have sought out partners in the administration other than the president, including Vice President Mike Pence, who, despite echoing Mr. Trump in public, is seen by governors as far more attentive to the continuing disaster….
Trump doesn’t have time to attend to coronavirus task force meetings? He MUST have time for golfing, eating hamberders and chocolate cake, watching Fox so he knows how and what to think, phone calls and lots of executive time to day dream about Ivanka.
Young people who get COVID-19 can heal in a day. No problem!!
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U.S. marks another record-setting day as Trump complains about coronavirus case counting
July 20, 2020
Sunday marked the 41st straight day that the seven-day average for new daily coronavirus infections in the United States trended upward. Six months after the novel coronavirus reached America, more than 3.7 million cases have been detected, and at least 137,000 people have died. Globally, the global death toll has surpassed 600,000, fueled in part by recent surges in states such as Texas, Florida and California.
President Trump — who aides say no longer attends coronavirus task force meetings because he does not have time — showed himself to be particularly misinformed about the basics of the virus that has been ravaging the nation. He told Fox News host Chris Wallace on Sunday that “young people that would heal in a day” made up many of the new cases.
“They have the sniffles and we put it down as a test,” Trump said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/20/covid-live-updates-us/
And Trump suggested he might not accept the results of November’s general election should he lose because he predicted without evidence that “mail-in voting is going to rig the election.”
Wallace later explained to Trump that the number of tests has increased by 37 percent but the number of cases has shot up by 194 percent. Trump replied, “Many of those cases are young people that would heal in a day. They have the sniffles and we put it down as a test. Many of them — don’t forget, I guess it’s like 99.7 percent, people are going to get better and [in] many cases, they’re going to get better very quickly.”
ABC News Exclusive: Mary Trump Interview with Stephanopoulos | ABC News
Jul 16, 2020