Mercedes Schneider reviews the current condition of many states and points out that no state has met the conditions described in the CDC guidelines.
As of this writing, no state has met the May 2020 Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines for moving into Phase 1 (“Downward trajectory or near-zero incidence of documented cases over a 14-day period) muct less the additional criteria for entering Phase 2 (“Downward trajectory or near-zero incidence of documented cases for at least 14 days after entering Phase 1).
That’s 28 days of supposed “downward trajectory” prior to entering Phase 2, and that assumes increased testing.
Also in phase 2, COVID-19 test results are supposed to be available in three days or less. That is not happening.
In most states, cases are increasing.
Nonetheless, many states are moving towards reopening their schools so parents can get back to work.
Children can get sick with COVID-19. So can teachers.
Schools are asking teachers to risk their lives for their livelihood.
If a teacher or student does get sick, expect schools to close again.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Press Release The next two months throughout the world, and especially in the United States, will look especially gnarly in all ways, politically. economically and public health-wise. Hold onto your hats and hope for the best! It’s up to all of us! Take a read: Time to Crush, not flatten, Coronavirus Curve
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All over Planet Earth infectious disease experts and scientists everywhere are intensely even feverishly chasing… |
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All over Planet Earth infectious disease experts and scientists everywhere are intensely even feverishly chasing… |
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Teachers and all who work in schools deserve better than to be replaceable guinea pigs.
And sacrificial lambs
This year the stakes for most teachers will be much higher than any bubble test. Even the scientists do not fully understand all the intricacies of this virus. While they understand that the elderly and those with preexisting conditions are a high risk, they cannot explain how other seemingly healthy younger people get a severe case, and some even die. Politicians are not experts in public health so their decisions may not be in the best interests of students and educators.
European countries that followed the WHO guidelines, which are less stringent, at 5% or less positivity for fourteen days, have managed to open without greatly spreading the virus. To do this it takes a collective effort to keep each other safe by strict adherence to the safety protocols. In states where the people have worn masks and kept a safe distance, the numbers of infections remain under 5% when people adhere to the safety rules. In states where mask wearing is considered a political issue, the rate of infections continues to surge. It would be a mistake for governors to open schools with surging infections. This graph shows which states have met the 5% threshold, and which have not. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/testing/testing-positivity
Gov. Holcomb [R-IN] chicken-shitted out after declaring that starting Monday everyone over the age of 8 would be required to wear a mask. Our Red state Attorney general thought this might be illegal and some police and sherif departments said they would not enforce the law.
I went into a Target store yesterday and posted by the door was a notice saying that everyone entering the store must wear a mask. I saw people coming out who didn’t wear masks. A law with no teeth is worthless. Trump supporters still will not wear a mask.
I don’t know how this will play out in schools. One rural district recently said that since 87% of the parents didn’t want their children to wear a mask, nobody who came to the school would have to wear one.
…………………………………….
Saturday, July 25, 2020 1:00 am
Mask decree issued but no legal penalty
Wording changed after criticism
NIKI KELLY | The Journal Gazette
INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Eric Holcomb on Friday officially issued an executive order requiring Hoosiers to wear face coverings – but one without enforcement teeth.
It came as Indiana eclipsed the 1,000-case mark Friday with a single-day record of 1,011 new COVID-19 cases.
The governor on Wednesday announced the new mask mandate, saying it would be a Class B misdemeanor to violate it. But he backed down after several GOP state lawmakers opposed the requirement – especially criminal penalties. Indiana’s attorney general also questioned Holcomb’s legal authority.
Several police departments and county sheriffs posted statements saying they would not enforce a mask mandate.
The exact wording in the order now says “state and local health departments shall be responsible for enforcing compliance through education about the importance of wearing face coverings and dispelling myths and misconceptions about the use and/or benefits of the requirement.”
For comparison, the stay-at-home order issued by Holcomb in March said the order “may be enforced by state and local law enforcement … to the extent set forth in Indiana law.”
https://journalgazette.net/news/local/indiana/statehouse/20200725/mask-decree-issued-but-no-legal-penalty
The virus will spread.
Yielding to political pressure is a mistake in the middle of a pandemic. Politicians need to listen to the scientists. People will get angry if the politicians cannot get the infections under control. Voters will show their frustrations at the polls.
Here’s a letter that I sent to Holcomb:
Governor Holcomb, I’m disappointed in you. Quote: “Face coverings can and will help us blunt the increase of this virus.” You didn’t stick to what you know. Instead, you followed Todd Rokita and President Trump who don’t care about the health of Hoosiers. Your chicken-shitted backward move means the virus will continue to spread. You issued a mask decree but there is no law enforcement!!
I went into Target yesterday in Highland, IN. There is a sign on the door saying that masks are required of everyone who enters this store. I saw people with NO masks on.
Having a law with no enforcement is not a law worth anything. You announced Wednesday that the new mask mandate would be a Class B misdemeanor to violate this law. Some lawmakers, sheriffs and police departments said they wouldn’t enforce the law. Our Attorney General thought this might be illegal. You heard them and backed down.
Here is your now meaningless law:
The exact wording in the order now says “state and local health departments shall be responsible for enforcing compliance through education about the importance of wearing face coverings and dispelling myths and misconceptions about the use and/or benefits of the requirement.”
In total, 2,687 Hoosiers have died of COVID-19 and 60,598 Indiana residents are known to be infected by the coronavirus.
THE VIRUS WILL SPREAD AND YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR NOT ADHERING TO A LAW THAT WOULD PROTECT HOOSIERS.
The district in which I teach, which announced all students all the time starting one month from today, doesn’t even have a contingency plan in place if we have an outbreak.
Prayer.
Utah is a very perplexing place.
The people are generally very “anti-Federal government”, except , apparently when it comes to having the federal government tell them that they need to reopen schools and go back to business as usual.
And when it comes to implementing national standards and testing of course.
What a bundle of contradictions.
I could almost (almost) respect the politicians in Utah if they took a consistent “states rights” view, but they don’t. In fact, it’s all just a bunch of empty rhetoric.
All the opposition to federal control goes right out the window as soon as they are faced with losing federal dollars.
You have it right on the nose. And Utah is a big fa.n of “local control” until the state legislature decides they want to regulate stuff like displays of international flags in classrooms ( the Ameican flag has to be bigger and higher than any other flag) or what teachers have to tell students about what type of government the US is (Constitutional compound republic, since I guess saying “federalism” is a dirty word). Two true Utah laws, people.
key word always: dollars
NOW THIS IS GREAT NEWS. If Trump drops out he will immediately begin to Make America Great Again. Good riddance to a unfit ignoramus who is truly hated by a majority of people.
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Trump in ‘fragile’ mood and may drop out of 2020 race if poll numbers don’t improve, GOP insiders tell Fox News
Richard Hall 29/06/2020
Donald Trump may drop out of the 2020 presidential race if he believes he has no chance of winning, a Republican Party operative reportedly told Fox News.
The claim comes in a report in the president’s favourite news outlet that cites a number of GOP insiders who are concerned about Mr Trump’s re-election prospects amid abysmal polling numbers.
Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, currently holds an average lead of nine points over the incumbent, according to a tracker of 2020 polls by RealClearPolitics.
Crucially, Mr Trump has lost support from older white voters — typically a bedrock of support for the Republican Party and a group that was crucial to his narrow 2016 victory. Mr Trump is also trailing the former vice president in almost all the swing states.
“It’s too early, but if the polls continue to worsen, you can see a scenario where he drops out,” one anonymous GOP operative told Fox News…
http://a.msn.com/01/en-gb/BB166ZWa?ocid=se
Don’t count on him dropping out. He will do everything possible to suppress the black vote, discourage mail in voting, enlist Putin’s help.
He ain’t going to drop out. That would destroy his fragile ego. If he stays in, he can soothe his ego (and create a Constitutional crisis at the same time) by claiming the election was “rigged.”
Trump says all the polls are fake news. His ego is secure behind a massive shield. He believes only what is favorable.
Chicago Teachers Union:
We all miss our students desperately. There’s no place we’d rather be than in our classrooms. But going to work should not mean also risking our lives.
Mayor Lightfoot moved this week to re-impose restrictions on bars, fitness centers and restaurants to cut down the increasing local spread of COVID-19. But she continues to insist on returning hundreds of thousands of students and school staff to in-person learning—during a highly contagious and deadly pandemic. CPS failed to provide even the most basic sanitation and staffing before the pandemic. They’re neither ready nor able to open schools safely to in-person learning this fall.
That’s not safety. That’s a callous and inhuman disregard for the lives of our students, their families and our rank and file members.
Tell the mayor, the board of education and CPS executives that we are deeply concerned about safety this fall, have a thousand questions CPS has yet to answer—and that we’re united in putting the safety of our students, their families and the educators who serve them front and center.
Good for her and herwillingness to put public health ahead of politics. In Florida. DeSantis said that despite the surge, we are not going backwards. Some people were calling for another lockdown.
DeScentis has has been going backwards since he was born.
It’s his namesake.
Descend-us into hell . . .
See also some remarkable posts from teachers at Larry Cuban’s website: https://larrycuban.wordpress.com/2020/07/25/please-dont-make-me-risk-getting-covid-19-to-teach-your-child-rebecca-martinson/
I think about the 169 pairs of nurses’ shoes that were left outside the capitol building to honor the fallen nurses. I do not want to see a similar memorial for fallen teachers.
You won’t have to worry about that. Even if tens of thousands of teachers die, there will be no memorials. We get less respect than nurses, doctors, engineers, even lawyers.
Becky Akers:
Newton’s Third Law of Experts; to wit, for every expert there is an equal and opposite expert – it merely depends on who is paying them. Follow the money …
The novel and evolving virus has spawned many novel and evolving EXPERTS.
From the start, COMMUNITY SPREAD (person to person) was coined as the
method of transmission. DUH, what does that mean?
Are children part of the community? DUH, let us quibble.
Between fingering out which “expert” we capitulate to, and the arguing over
symbolism (statues/institutions/symantics), many seemed to have “missed”
the memo posted days ago.
“EVERYTHING is made up. We’re NOT behind.
C-19 has shown, what a fool believes can kill ’em.
We are governed by OUR concept…
These 8 Basic Steps Will Let Us Reopen Schools
If we move too fast, ignore science, or reopen without careful planning, this will backfire.
JULY 9, 2020
Thomas R. Frieden
Former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Arne Duncan
Former U.S. secretary of education
Margaret Spellings
Former U.S. secretary of education
…The single most important thing we can do to keep our schools safe has nothing to do with what happens in schools. It’s how well communities control the coronavirus throughout the community. Such control of COVID-19 requires adhering to the three W’s—wear a mask, wash your hands, watch your distance—and boxing in the viruswith strategic testing, effective isolation, complete contact tracing, and supportive quarantine—providing services and, if necessary, alternative temporary housing so patients and contacts don’t spread disease to others.
The CDC has released helpful guidelines for safely reopening schools, which each state and school district will need to apply to its specific context. Localities will need to develop solutions tailored to their unique needs and based on the latest information on the virus. In places where the virus is spreading explosively, it may be difficult or impossible to have in-person schooling. But in most school districts most of the time, schools should look to reopen by following these eight basic safety measures.
First, shield the most vulnerable. Children, older staff, and those who have underlying health conditions that put them at high risk should not return to school in person unless there is little or no community transmission; the school system should enable them to participate remotely to the greatest extent possible…
Read More:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/eight-steps-reopen-schools/613939/?utm_source=atl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share
I have said this before and I will have to say it again, and it’s horrifying. I would not wish this upon any one at all:
When there will be enough deaths of children and school personnel, then there will be major backlash and a dramatically increased probability for structural changes. We will be exposed to the rest of the world once again and hopefully to the UN for violations of civil and human rights.
It will take deaths; may it be no one’s but it’s going to end being someone’s and way more than that. This is the silent, bloodless revolution that still causes deaths. It’s part of a revolution, intended or not, and it will be weaponized by both camps, one way or another. If that what it takes to get people to drop their labels and notions of “political branding” to find common ground, perhaps that’s about one of very, very few but positive outcomes arising what is about to happen when schools reopen across the United States.
Again, I don’t wish it upon anyone (not even Trump’s children or grandchild), and I myself am not immune to becoming a casualty.
Let’s keep up our peaceful but relentless, focused advocacy with minds, hands and hearts of steel and iron!
Boston has a new(ish) school superintendent, Brenda Cassillius, who began her tenure auspiciously enough, but now it seems daily her actions either raise my eybrows or cause my heart to sink. She’s authorized a hybrid plan for return to classes, with some kids in schools and others participating remotely, through Zoom or another portal.
She expects that teachers will do both simultaneously.
She cut off negotiations with the BTU over the issue of returning to school, as reported in the union’s last bulletin and neither school leaders nor other staff had input either:
“BPS shared their reopening plans tonight at School Committee. When it was shared yesterday with union leaders, we raised dozens of questions pertaining to it and advised that they did not present it until those questions could be answered. We are disappointed to share that despite repeated efforts over the last few months, weeks and days to meet with the district and share our ideas, questions and concerns before BPS shared a reopening plan draft, BPS cancelled our Reopening Task Force Subcommittee Meetings last week, cancelled our Collective Bargaining Committee meeting on Friday and cancelled our negotiating meeting yesterday. Contrary to what was suggested at the Boston School Committee tonight, just like the principals and all other unions representing BPS staff, WE HAD NO INPUT into the first draft of this plan. Unsurprisingly, it is totally out of touch with reality and what will be needed to safely, thoughtfully, and equitably reopen schools under a realistic timeline. ”
https://btu.org/presidents-message/national-day-of-resistance-member-reopening-survey-and-more/
On March 13th, just as schools were closing across Massachusetts and a state of emergency was declared by the governor, she signed an MOU with the state board of education, which has been threatening to take over the school system on the basis of low test scores. I’m left wondering if she’s trying to provoke a job action by teachers and staff to facilitate the state’s goals. Never let a good crisis go to waste.
While it’s true that covid cases have dropped in MA and the city, it’s also true that New England has been flooded with tourists headed for the beaches and the Berkshires. In ordinary times, Boston hosts about a quarter of a million college students, too. All vectors for spreading infection.