The inevitable has finally happened: a classmate of my two-year-old son tested positive, so our little guy is in quarantine for the rest of this week. Thankfully, my wife and I have been here before. Miles was born just a few months before the pandemic, and we kept him home for most of his first year of life, with one of us taking point in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
It's a decent enough solution, but one that works only because my wife and I both work from home and have somewhat flexible schedules and understanding bosses and coworkers. Many parents out there aren't so lucky, and I truly don't understand how they're dealing with the uncertainty of unexpected daycare and school closures. Students, meanwhile, pretty clearly suffer academically and mentally when they're not in school, an effect felt most acutely among marginalized groups. At the same time, I understand that quarantines serve an essential public health function; teachers and daycare providers didn't sign up to work on the front lines of a pandemic; and, while younger kids generally don't develop severe disease and older ones can now be vaccinated, it's still terrifying to send your kid somewhere they're likely to be exposed—especially given the alarming spike in childhood hospitalizations.
So as the debate over school closures drags on, I find it almost impossible to pick a side. The situation in Chicago, to cite just one high-profile example, seems particularly intractable. Public school officials there have cancelled classes for the fourth school day in a row amid an ongoing spat with the teachers' union. The officials, including mayor Lori Lightfoot, argue that teachers and students, many of whom are now able or required to be vaccinated, belong in the classroom. But the teachers say those officials haven't done enough to keep them safe as new daily case records keep getting shattered on a daily basis.
Both of these are perfectly compelling arguments! But the fighting has left parents without any clear sense of when their children will be back in school, making it impossible to plan their lives more than a day ahead. What parents want—what we need—is predictability. I feel deep sympathy for Chicago's public school parents, who at the moment have no idea whether classes will be in session tomorrow, the day after, or the day after. Millions of parents across the country are similarly one close contact or positive test away from their world getting tossed upside-down at any given moment.
There is one clear way to get a little more predictability in our lives: vaccination. Miles only needs to quarantine because he's unvaccinated; as a two-year old, he can't yet get his shots. Vaccinated kids, meanwhile, don't need to leave school just because a close contact tested positive, per the latest CDC guidelines. Yet only a quarter of U.S. 5-11 year olds have received even a single dose as of last week. To increase that rate, we should be screaming from the rooftops that childhood vaccination is key to making parents' lives just a little more predictable, with the nice benefit of protecting our kids and those around them, teachers and school staff included. As the nervous-wreck parent of a kid who probably won't be able to get vaccinated until the second half of this year, it's mind-boggling to me that any parent of an eligible child wouldn't take advantage of the remarkable—and remarkably safe—protection the shots confer.
TODAY'S CORONAVIRUS OUTLOOK
More than 307.1 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 12 a.m. E.T. today, and nearly 5.5 million people have died. On Jan. 9, there were nearly 2 million new cases and 3,815 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 5 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 60 million coronavirus cases as of 12 a.m. E.T. today. Almost 838,000 people have died. On Jan. 9, there were 305,100 new cases and 330 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
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 Jan. 10, 12 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Approximately 7 million Americans with compromised immune systems will be eligible for a fourth vaccine dose starting later this week, per new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations. The CDC advised such people to get a third dose back in August 2021, but the agency considers that dose to be part of those recipients' primary series, whereas the new fourth dose is effectively a booster shot. A few other countries, including Israel, have also authorized fourth doses for some at-risk groups.
China, which sought to contain the virus through extraordinary strict containment measures when it first emerged, is back under tight lockdown as Omicron spreads around the country, the Washington Post reports. More than 13 million people are in home isolation in Xian, a large city in central China with the country's worst outbreak, and the outbreak stands to jeopardize the Beijing Winter Olympics, which are set to begin early next month. While more than 80% of China's population is vaccinated, some experts are worried that the Chinese-made vaccines are less effective against Omicron compared to previous variants.
Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is a "moral obligation," Pope Francis told a group of ambassadors visiting the Vatican this morning, using some of his strongest language yet in favor of the shots. "Vaccines are not a magical means of healing, yet surely they represent, in addition to other treatments that need to be developed, the most reasonable solution for the prevention of the disease," Francis said, adding that too many people had been swayed against vaccination by "baseless information or poorly documented facts."
An Australian judge this morning reinstated Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic's visa, paving the way for him to compete in this month's Australian Open despite not being vaccinated, as Australia's entry rules generally require. However, government officials said they would make another attempt at revoking the defending champion's visa ahead of the Jan. 17 tournament. Djokovic's arrival in Australia was controversial among locals, who continue to face tough travel restrictions meant to curb viral spread.
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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