Will Schools Have to Go Back to Remote Learning this Autumn?
Earlier this summer, it seemed perfectly reasonable that U.S. K-12 schools could reopen for in-person learning relatively safely this coming academic year. Cases were dropping, vaccination rates were steadily climbing, and study after study revealed that remote learning doesn't work all that well (and exacerbates pre-existing racial and economic education gaps). Indeed, as my colleague Katie Reilly reports in her latest story, "many school districts had planned on only offering in-person learning this fall, hoping for a more normal school year with fewer pandemic concerns after a tumultuous year of remote and hybrid learning."
But then came the Delta variant, and the corresponding fourth wave. Now, the latest spike in cases is throwing schools' reopening plans into disarray with precious little time for administrators to recalibrate; some districts open as soon as this month.
"It was like having the wind taken from your sails,” Anthony Mays, chief of schools for Texas' Austin Independent School District (ISD), told Katie. “It was just the impact of and the realization of, man, we’ve done all this work to rebound. And now we’re going to have to stand up and be responsive to a new challenge with the pandemic.”
So far, many school districts—including that of New York City, the country's largest—remain committed to full in-person learning. But some are offering alternatives: For example, ISD parents of K-6 kids, who aren't old enough to be vaccinated, can opt for remote learning. But Mays’ district will have to fund the program itself, to the tune of as much as $45 million, because, despite bipartisan support, a state bill that would have supported remote learning failed to pass after a number of Democratic Texas lawmakers walked out of a vote over Republican-written legislation that would have rewritten state voting laws
While it has so far been rare for young kids to get seriously sick from or die of COVID-19, at least some parents appreciate the option to keep their kids home—especially given that, in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has banned schools from requiring kids to wear masks, despite U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance otherwise.
“I want my kids to go to school in person. That’s the best kind of learning,” one ISD parent told Katie. “But I’m also thinking, hey, a few more months, and then we can get him vaxxed and maybe get him into in-person school.”
About 400.7 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to various U.S. states as of last night, of which nearly 347 million doses have been administered thus far, according to TIME's vaccine tracker. About 49.7% of Americans have been completely vaccinated.
More than 200.9 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 1 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 4.26 million people have died. On August 5, there were 687,940 new cases and 10,979 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 3 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 35.4 million coronavirus cases as of 1 a.m. E.T. today. More than 615,300 people have died. On August 5, there were 109,824 new cases and 535 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Aug. 6, 1 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
As the Delta variant fuels fresh spikes around the country, people are once again queuing up in long lines to be tested, the Wall Street Journal reports. As we wrote in this newsletter earlier this week, it's a good thing more people are getting swabbed, but the sudden demand threatens to strain the country's testing infrastructure. "Delayed results can hamper efforts to contain the spread of the virus and interfere with attendance at work, school or other activities that require proof of a negative test," as the Journal puts it.
Germany, France and Israel—three countries with relatively high vaccination rates—areplanning to administer booster shots to elderly and otherwise vulnerable populations, Reuters reports, despite a recent plea otherwise from the head of the World Health Organization (WHO). "We cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday, while pointing out that much of the world remains woefully under-vaccinated largely due to lack of supply. U.S. public health officials have not yet authorized booster shots, though they are expected to do so soon.
The Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine works well against the Delta variant, per a new study out of South Africa involving nearly 480,000 health workers. The shot, which requires only a single dose, was 71% effective against hospitalization and 96% effective against death, according to the study. The protection lasts for at least eight months.
United Airlines will require all of its nearly 70,000 U.S. employees to get inoculated, becoming the first major airline to do so. "The facts are crystal clear: everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated," United's CEO and President wrote in a joint letter to employees.
Also in employer vaccine mandate news: CNN has fired three employees who were going into the office while unvaccinated, breaking the company's rules on the matter. "Let me be clear—we have a zero-tolerance policy on this," company president Jeff Zucker wrote in an internal memo to employees, the New York Times reports.
Students, teachers and other staffers will be required to mask up at New Jersey K-12 schools this year, NJ.com reports. Governor Phil Murphy is set to announce the new rules later today, which come after the CDC recently recommended that schools enforce mandatory masking rules to curb the spread of the Delta variant. Murphy previously said it would be up to individual districts to set their own masking rules.
Japan's strategy to contain COVID-19 relies on public trust, but the country's decision to hold the Olympics even as cases spiked there have shattered citizens' confidence in their leaders, my colleagues Amy Gunia and Mayako Shibata report, complicating efforts to enforce viral containment measures. "It's getting very difficult to persuade people to stay at home because we are holding the Olympics," one expert told Amy and Mayako. "So, we are in a very difficult situation right now."
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Alex Fitzpatrick and edited by Elijah Wolfson.
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