Thursday, November 19, 2020

NPR: Euro Schools Stay Open During Surge

 We shut our schools down while European schools roll on despite a surge of Covid-19 cases across the continent.  NPR reported November 13:

Mahua Barve lives in Frankfurt, Germany, with her husband, a son in first grade and twin daughters in kindergarten. All three children are currently attending school full time and in person. That's despite a coronavirus surge that has led Germany to shut down restaurants, bars, theaters, gyms, tattoo parlors and brothels (which are legal in the country) for November. Schools were allowed to remain open.

Despite the resurgence of the virus, Barve says, her children's school's careful safety strategies give her confidence. Each "pod" of kids goes to recess at 10 minute intervals, for example, so they don't mix in the hallways.

"When I see all the parents who are coming to pick up and drop off, they're wearing masks. The teachers are always wearing masks. They're doing their best to minimize risk. And as soon as something is detected, they are quarantining."

Barve says everyone is doing their part: "It's a little bit of choppy water, but if people are swimming in their own lanes, there's less likelihood of a disturbance." 

Across Europe, schools and child care centers are staying open even as much of the continent reports rising coronavirus cases, and even as many businesses and gathering places are shut or restricted. Countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy appear to be following the emerging evidence that schools have not been major centers of transmission of the virus, especially for young children. And experts say these nations are also demonstrating a commitment to avoiding the worst impacts of the pandemic on children.

The U.S. has taken a different approach. As new cases climb above 100,000 per day, there are very few places in the U.S. where classrooms have remained full even as restaurants and bars are empty. In cities such as Boston and Washington, D.C., schools are remote, but indoor dining is allowed. This week, Detroit announced it was closing its schools through January, while indoor dining and bars there remain open at 50% capacity. Meanwhile, in states like Florida and Texas, schools — along with most businesses — have stayed open, even with very high and rising case rates.

Andreas Schleicher has a global view on education from his position in Paris overseeing the PISA international assessment program at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. He says that while schools in Europe were initially closed out of an abundance of caution, "Research has shown that if you put social distancing protocols in place, school is actually quite a safe environment, certainly safer than having children running around outside school."

At the same time, he says that in Europe, "I do think people have understood fairly quickly how much damage the school closures have done, particularly to disadvantaged learners." He says the science especially favors opening elementary schools, with young children both less likely to spread the disease and less able to benefit from remote learning.

Randa Grob-Zakhary of the group Insights for Education recently analyzed school reopening patterns across the world. When it comes to European countries, she says for the most part, "They have ... localized closures based on numbers of cases." For example, at Barve's children's school in Germany, sometimes just a single "pod" of about 20 children and teachers will be sent home to quarantine because of a case.

Johannes Huebner, the head of the pediatric infectious disease department at the Ludwig-Maximilians University Hospital in Munich, recently told NPR correspondent Rob Schmitz that scientific studies have not detected high rates of transmission in schools. "Most of the infections are brought into the schools by adults, by teachers, and then spread among kids. But most of the time, it's only single cases. It's two, three kids, five maybe that get positive."

Grob-Zakhary says, "I think five, six months ago there was a view that we don't know what the heck we're dealing with and we better keep our kids safe no matter what. And now there's a view that, yes, it's dangerous, but we know so much more about how to handle it."...

President-elect Joe Biden has called school closures "a national emergency." Some members of his newly appointed COVID-19 task force — including former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, epidemiologist Michael Osterholm and oncologist and bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel — have spoken cautiously in favor of reopening schools, but only with proper mitigation measures in place such as testing, contact tracing, social distancing and masking, which not all schools or locations have the resources to do currently. Murthy and Emanuel have written that schools should be open only where the virus is controlled. 

Other American observers are adamant that the United States ought to make a different calculation of the societywide impact of school closures, even when virus spread is high. Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician at Seattle Children's Hospital and editor of the journal JAMA Pediatrics, has just published a paper that estimates 5.53 million years of life could be lost as a result of school closures in the United States.

The calculation is based on research showing that missing months of school lowers a child's chances of graduating from high school. Lower educational attainment, in turn, is well established to lower life expectancy because people with less education are more likely to smoke, more likely to drink heavily, more likely to suffer from heart disease, and more likely to perform more hazardous work, among other reasons.

"When you frame it in terms of school versus lives, it becomes a no-brainer," says Christakis. "And everybody says, 'Well, we can't send kids to school if it's going to cost lives.' But in fact, not sending kids to school also costs lives."

Lala Tanmoy Das, an M.D.-Ph.D. student at Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Memorial Sloan Kettering, is familiar with the kind of modeling Christakis used, and calls the paper "fairly robust." But Das also points out that the virus is more dangerous for Black children, Latino children and those with preexisting conditions, and that we don't know enough about its long-term effects on children or adults to capture the full impacts on health. He also notes that many school districts in the U.S. have faced budget cuts that make it hard to do mitigation measures, like regular disinfection, or put proper social distancing protocols in place.... Rest of article.

Kingfish note: Going off of past posts, here are some numbers for the hospitalization of Mississippi children due to Covid-19 just to give readers an idea about pediatric Covid-19 cases in Mississippi.

June 5: 27 hospitalizations (1% of all hospitalizations)

June 28: 28 hospitalizations

August 12: 64 hospitalizations, 0 deaths

October 25: 99 hospitalizations (1.55% of hospitalizations, 0.08% of cases) 

November 17: 109 hospitalizations, 2 deaths ( 1.6% of all hospitalizations, 0.67% of all pediatric cases)

 

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just a cold. Take off your face diapers and live your best life.

Anonymous said...

It's a good thing there are only children in schools, isn't it?

Anonymous said...

250k dead and an economy in shambles. Wearing a damn “face diaper” works and won’t put a single person out of business.

But sure, 10:08, keep refusing to do your part because ItS a PeRsOnAl DeCiSiOn.

Anonymous said...

"CDC quietly removes guidance pushing for school reopenings"


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has quietly removed controversial guidance from its website that pushed for schools to reopen in the fall and downplayed the transmission risks of COVID-19 to children and others.

The documents, one of which was reportedly written by political appointees outside of the CDC, stated that children appear to be at lower risk for contracting COVID-19 compared to adults and that children are unlikely to be major spreaders of the virus.

The CDC removed two guidance documents from its website in late October with no public announcement.

When reached for comment, a CDC spokesperson said, "Some of the prior content was outdated and as new scientific information has emerged the site has been updated to reflect current knowledge about COVID-19 and schools."

While kids are far less likely than adults to become seriously ill from COVID-19, less was known at the time about what role children play in spreading the virus to others including teachers and staff.

The Trump administration made a hard push for reopening schools this fall, citing the importance of in-person education to children and the boost parents going back to work would give the economy.

However, experts criticized the CDC’s guidance, which they say appeared to be politically motivated and light on evidence.

Before the documents were removed, CDC Director Robert Redfield told Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, that the guidance was “out of date” and would be updated.

“I am pleased that, in response to this request, CDC has now removed two guidance documents unsupported by science and has agreed to update two more that Director Redfield concedes are ‘out of date,’” Clyburn said in a statement.

“With infections rising dramatically across the country, it is critical that schools, teachers, and families have accurate, trustworthy public health information on the coronavirus.”

Anonymous said...

The operative words in your article are
"safety strategies" and " localized closures".

Other countries also are doing a better job with testing and contact tracing and national coordination.

We, on the other hand, have "it's a hoax" or a scattergun approach without rhyme or reason and without full cooperation by the citizenry.

It's always been possible for us to be rational. Sadly, politics and misinformation has made that impossible.( see 10:01 unless the post is misguided sarcasm ...misguided if he/she hasn't notice some of us are stupidly literal).

Anonymous said...

Follow the effective mitigation strategies used in Europe and schools can operate safely. Keep the students in the same classroom, have them wear masks, keep the teacher a safe distance away. Go to school and then go home.
Simple common sense that Americans can't seem to figure out as you see massive gatherings of students on and off campus and rednecks screaming for competitive sports. Education is a low priority in the U.S.

Anonymous said...

You guys just don't it. It's not so much about being cautious for the children as it is eliminating places where there are large numbers of people (regardless of age) in close proximity to each other 5 days a week. Schools are just that. Basketball games are closed not because of the fear of basketball fans becoming contaminated but people becoming contaminated.

Anonymous said...

@11:01. Yet Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum openly stated COVID is “our” opportunity to “reset” society as we know it. He literally was pushing for the elimination of cash, the elimination of national Constitutions, a Green New Deal and and to move all of us cattle into city centers under the guise of “COVID” response.

And here we have China, WUHAN even, where people were “dropping dead in the streets” yet have zero cases today? This is a scam, dummy. You are walking right into it while proclaiming that people with common sense and EYES are the problem.

Anonymous said...

you misspelled siege

this is the great china seige of 2020

wait until they come ashore in San Fran next month

Kingfish said...

The rest of the civilized world has their kids in school while they deal with this crap. We don't or certain communities make every excuse not to have them in school. Call it a failure of nerve. Period. Forget politics, the rest of the world laughs at us because we are soft spoiled brats who can't handle making tough decisions.

Anonymous said...

To be clear, your position is that wearing a face mask paves the way for the Green New Deal?

I really hope you’re trolling. If so, that’s actually a somewhat good job. If not, God help you.

Anonymous said...

MaH FrEeDuMbS

Anonymous said...

Kingfish - it is amusing to me that we tend to compare ourselves to other nations when it promotes our position. So let's sit back and see what Europe, Asia and Africa do about economics, human rights, civil liberties, defense, terrorism, etc., and then we make a decision on what to do. Yeah; that's the ticket. That's just what we've done for the past 250 years, right?

Anonymous said...

KIngfish call it like it is. This is a United States Shit Show and one big as hoax to take control over the people of the United States.

Anonymous said...

1:00 - so let's see, the Iluminati (or fill in with whatever subversive group you want) has convinced every mayor, every governor, every school superintendent, every member of Congress, every state legislature, and on and on and on that there are significant harmful effects of COVID when there really are none? Boy, they did one hell of a selling job. If they are that smart and persuasive perhaps they do need to take over the country.

Anonymous said...

" The rest of the civilized world has their kids in school while they deal with this crap. We don't or certain communities make every excuse not to have them in school"

Kingfish summed everything up in a nutshell.

We can't have classroom instruction in many school districts, but the kids all have to return to the classroom to take the these goofy State "tests".

None of this makes sense.

If we can have "mail in" votes around this country, why can't we have have "mail-in" tests ?



Anonymous said...

The people making fun of the "muh freedums" are eventually going to wish they had some gun toting right wing friends. You cant defend yourself with your liberal arts degree, some fancy coffee, and a better that you attitude garnered from watching Rachel Maddow in your parents house. Just hang tight.

Anonymous said...

"You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before"-Rham Emanuel

Anonymous said...

Europeans prioritize education. That's why they are socialist. Greed has ruined the USA.

Anonymous said...

" Kingfish - it is amusing to me that we tend to compare ourselves to other nations"

That goofy idea went mainstream with Hillary Rodham when she TOLD her husband to promote such.

Bill did whatever she said and the left saw an opportunity to run with it . . .
I'm not sure Billy agreed, but hey . . . that Arkansas boy had married into money.

Obama ran with it too.

The United States really does have much in common with Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries.

Anonymous said...

@12:26,

I didn’t explain my point well as I still can’t believe there are people in this particular state okay with this and was aghast. This WHOLE thing is overblown, purposely, by a bunch of lunatics in, primarily, Europe, as a way to take complete control of nations across the globe. Why did the IMF offer the president of Belarus millions in exchange for a lockdown, which was refused and THEN a coup was attempted against him?

Why did Trudeau say this is an opportunity to reset and usher in initiatives toward Agenda 2030 in Canada? Why are “leaders” across the planet all using the pre-packaged tag line “Build Back Better?” Why has every megacorp used the same phrases “We are all in this together” and “the new normal” (might I add using these slogans a week into this bullshit, almost like a memo went out.)

The worst of it is, when the conspiracy “theorists” were saying this in March, I laughed at the insanity. Now you have world leaders openly saying it.

My point is, for every lockdown and every mask, YOU are giving them what they want. Stop.

Anonymous said...

Looks like Whitfield is letting the patients online now. Sure are some loose screws in this bunch.

Anonymous said...

@kingfish

“ Forget politics, the rest of the world laughs at us because we are soft spoiled brats who can't handle making tough decisions.”

The rest of the world laughs at us for lots of reasons and politics is probably the biggest. If we are going to start making decisions that make our European allies proud, I don’t think it’s going to be anything you will like. Guns, healthcare, fast food, and the orange clown are top of the list. Which would you like to address first?

Anonymous said...

It would appear that those that consider themselves, haha, superior in intellect and education, are either suffering from lack of information or feigning ignorance. Perhaps they should use their Google machine to investigate a man by the name of Klaus Schwab. You will find him involved with an organization called the World Economic Forum. This lesson will be for free.

Anonymous said...

Ah yes, socialism. The form of government you can vote your way into but must shoot your way out.

Anonymous said...

YES! @3:59! Using common goddamned sense and listening to what the Presidents and Prime Ministers of countries across the globe, as well as unelected heads of the IMF, WEF, WHO and CDC and World Bank are saying is absolutely Whitfield level crazy.

Does Netanyahu pay you in cash or gift cards to Wal-Mart?

Calm Down said...

@11:01 am

"Wearing a damn “face diaper” works"

Can you provide any study that supports your claim that masks work, especially considering that the public is wearing thin, cloth/mesh/sheer masks?

If at some point it is shown that SCIENCE supports the claim, I'll quit sneezing on you. Until then, gesundheit!

Anonymous said...

Covid is the third leading cause of death in the US for 2020. Trolls, digest that fact before posting your inane garbage about "hoaxes", "frauds", and other QAnon conspiracies.

Anonymous said...

Let's spoon feed you, Clown Down.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02801-8

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/masking-science-sars-cov2.html

https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent

https://medical.mit.edu/covid-19-updates/2020/07/do-cloth-masks-work

Etc., etc, etc.

Must be hard living a lonely, angry little life, encouraging disease and suffering, to no avail. The mark of a small man.

Anonymous said...

Well 6:31, you are assuming the Covid death figures are correct. We all know what happens when one “assumes”.


Recent Comments

Search Jackson Jambalaya

Subscribe to JJ's Youtube channel

Archives

Trollfest '09

Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).


Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.

Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson".

In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one.

Relax at the Fox News Tent. Since there are only three blonde reporters in Jackson (being blonde is a requirement for working at Fox News), Megan and Kathryn from WAPT and Wendy from WLBT will be on loan to Fox. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both and a torn-up Obama yard sign will entitle you to free drinks served by Megan, Wendy, and Kathryn. Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required. Just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '09 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.


Note: Security provided by INS.

Trollfest '07

Jackson Jambalaya is the home of Trollfest '07. Catch this great event which promises to leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Sonjay Poontang and his band headline the night with a special steel cage, no time limit "loser must leave town" bout between Alan Lange and "Big Cat"Donna Ladd following afterwards. Kamikaze will perform his new song F*** Bush, he's still a _____. Did I mention there was no referee? Dr. Heddy Matthias and Lori Gregory will face off in the undercard dueling with dangling participles and other um, devices. Robbie Bell will perform Her two latest songs: My Best Friends are in the Media and Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be George Bell. Sid Salter of The Clarion-Ledger will host "Pin the Tail on the Trial Lawyer", sponsored by State Farm.

There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

Note: Security provided by INS
.