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Post by rgs318 on Jul 1, 2021 11:49:43 GMT -5
NJ just informed parents that for this year they can have their child repeat a year in grades K-8 with no negative consequences. It is hoped this move will allow children to make up for instruction time lost due to Covid and allow them to raise their level of performance and their test scores.
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Post by longsuffering on Jul 1, 2021 12:06:38 GMT -5
NJ just informed parents that for this year they can have their child repeat a year in grades K-8 with no negative consequences. It is hoped this move will allow children to make up for instruction time lost due to Covid and allow them to raise their level of performance and their test scores. Is Johnny going to play on the line for the high school football team this year? Oh no, he's only in sixth grade. I'd prefer to see an option for extra class time in the summer, after school or Saturday mornings to catch up but that would cost more than shoehorning a few bigger kids into a classroom. Very nice of them to proclaim there will be no negative consequences to anyone in advance instead of offering one minute of extra instruction to make up for lost ground, even though Billions in aid to education has been included in the various Covid Stimulus Trillions sent out by the Federal Government.
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Post by alum on Jul 1, 2021 12:26:47 GMT -5
NJ just informed parents that for this year they can have their child repeat a year in grades K-8 with no negative consequences. It is hoped this move will allow children to make up for instruction time lost due to Covid and allow them to raise their level of performance and their test scores. Is Johnny going to play on the line for the high school football team this year? Oh no, he's only in sixth grade. I'd prefer to see an option for extra class time in the summer, after school or Saturday mornings to catch up but that would cost more than shoehorning a few bigger kids into a classroom. Very nice of them to proclaim there will be no negative consequences to anyone in advance instead of offering one minute of extra instruction to make up for lost ground, even though Billions in aid to education has been included in the various Covid Stimulus Trillions sent out by the Federal Government. Apparently the teachers don't want to do it and the parents aren't signing their kids up for these summer enrichment/remedial programs. Sounds like everyone wants the summer off. My recently graduated daughter was accepted to work at some enrichment program in CT run by someone at Fairfield on behalf of the state. The pay, if it actually happens, is pretty good but she gets a new email daily with different instructions. She has done a bit of online training but has yet to be told when she will actually start and where it will be.
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Post by rgs318 on Jul 1, 2021 13:30:52 GMT -5
First, this is not Texas so there does not seem to be a connection to sports in this...just academics. Second - Your summer/supplement plan makes sense, but it would probably be more expensive. Third - Parents do enroll their kids in summer enhancement programs but they typically are the ones who need it the least (already high achieving students with strong academic skills). I saw this as a summer school vice-principal. We did get students who were academically underperforming in the summer but typically only to make up D or F grades. The students who really needed summer enhancement or study skills programs seldom (as in almost never) took part in them.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Jul 1, 2021 14:17:50 GMT -5
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Post by efg72 on Jul 4, 2021 12:06:12 GMT -5
William A. Haseltine
Contributor
Health
Map of Australia covid outbreaks Map of Australia covid outbreaks
Australia struggles to keep new cases of the Delta[+]
ACCESS HEALTH INTERNATIONAL
Random variation is an essential component of all living things. It drives diversity, and it is why there are so many different species. Viruses are no exception. Most viruses are experts at changing genomes to adapt to their environment. We now have evidence that the virus that causes Covid, SARS-CoV-2, not only changes but changes in ways that are significant.
This is the twenty-five part of a series of articles on how the virus changes and what that means for humanity. Read the rest: part one, part two, part three, part four, part five, part six, part seven, part eight, part nine, part ten, part eleven, part twelve, part thirteen, part fourteen, part fifteen, part sixteen, part seventeen, part eighteen, part nineteen, part twenty, part twenty-one, part twenty-two, part twenty-three, part twenty four.
While many are celebrating declining cases rates in the U.S. due to vaccination, other parts of the world are telling a different story. We are no longer dealing with the original Covid-19 virus that first emerged from Wuhan. Instead, we are dealing with a far more deadly virus, better-termed Covid-21. We have not yet seen the worst of this virus as it continues to evolve and adapt to outsmart prior interventions. The previously successful methods used to control the virus in some countries are no longer proving effective.
Despite keeping cases close to zero for almost a year, China now finds itself locking down multiple regions to curb ongoing outbreaks. Taiwan is now in a similar position, experiencing its first surge after holding a record for the world’s longest Covid-free streak.
More people have died from Covid this year worldwide than in all of 2020. The official global death toll stood at 1,813,188 at the end of 2020 and more than 2 million people have died as a result of Covid so far this year, according to WHO.
The increased transmissibility of the Delta variant is a dire concern. In Sydney, Australia, several people were infected in “fleeting” non-physical contact in a cafe and a shopping mall. CCTV footage revealed two people walking past each other while at a mall transmitting the virus. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney that “We also need to recognize that this Delta variant… is actually a gold medallist when it comes to jumping from one person to another,”. As the cluster of cases grew to 110, Sydney has entered a two week lockdown to curb further spread of the highly infectious variant amongst a largely unvaccinated population. The city of Darwin has also entered a separate two-day lockdown after a handful of cases were linked to a Delta variant outbreak on a remote mine.
Queensland’s chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young decided to close the state’s borders to people from Sydney hotspots, telling The Guardian, “with the Delta variant, we’re seeing very fleeting contact leading to transmission. At the start of this pandemic, I spoke about 15 minutes of close contact being a concern. Now it looks like it’s five to 10 seconds that’s a concern. The risk is so much higher now than it was only a year ago.”
Several individuals in Australia were also infected with the Kappa variant through lingering virus aerosol particles in the hallway of a quarantine hotel in May. Though the individuals had no direct contact with each other they opened the doors to their hotel rooms within 30 minutes of each other and tested positive for the same strain. The incident led to more than 300 potential sites of exposure and more than 17,000 people potentially exposed to the virus, resulting in the state of Victoria locking down. A similar event occurred earlier in April where two families quarantining in rooms next to one another were found to share the same viral sequence, after briefly opening their doors 30 minutes apart.
These instances of transmission through “fleeting non-physical contact” should serve as a warning to the US and the rest of the world. Compared to the Alpha variant, the Delta doubles the risk of a person being hospitalized. An analysis of genomic surveillance data released by the Centers for Disease Control shows that the Delta variant now accounts for 20.6% of America’s Covid cases, up from 9.5% in the previous two-week period. Given the low and fragmented level of genomic surveillance in the US, it’s likely that this percentage is even higher than what is being reported.
We are also hearing similar reports of the rapid transmission of the Delta variant around the world and have witnessed how the Delta variant contributed to the most devastating wave of infections in India so far. Ninety percent of newly-detected COVID-19 cases in Moscow are being identified as the Delta variant as the city reported its highest ever death toll. The share of COVID-19 infections identified as the Delta variant of the coronavirus has doubled in Germany. Africa is facing a devastating resurgence with cases rising for five straight weeks since the beginning of May and a 21% increase this month. 14 African countries have reported cases of Delta variant.
In Australia, these cases that emerge from ‘fleeting’ exposure are controlled by vigilant testing, contact tracing, and isolating systems but we have no such protections in the U.S., and vaccination uptake is continuing to stall. As cities across the US are reopening and removing restrictions, we can’t let public health measures like contact tracing and continued testing fall by the wayside also. With only 45% of all Americans (of all ages) fully vaccinated, over half the country is vulnerable to this more lethal variant. Children under 12 are still currently not eligible for vaccination. In some states, only about a third of the population has been fully vaccinated. Globally there are also discrepancies between the efficacy of vaccines in use against the variants.
The stalling of vaccination comes even after a slew of vaccine incentives including; lotteries, college scholarships, gift cards, and free beer. The Biden Administration has also offered tax credits to employers that provide paid time off for people to get immunized, erected mass-vaccination sites, sent funds to community health centers, and partnered with local organizations, celebrities, and volunteers to get shots in arms. However, the initiatives have not had the expected impact, with the Biden Administration conceding that they will fail to meet their desired goal of 70% of adults vaccinated by Independence Day. The case rate among the unvaccinated seems to still be hovering at around the same rate as it was in January, when we were seeing upwards of 200,000 new cases a day in the US, demonstrating that the variants are still a powerful force in the US. A recent Covid outbreak at a Florida government building killed two people and hospitalized several others who were unvaccinated.
With the rapid rate at which the virus is evolving and the persistence of vaccine hesitancy, it is clear that the “vaccine only” approach will not be the pathway that leads us out of the pandemic. Vaccine breakthrough cases will continue to occur and those with compromised immune systems such as cancer or transplant patients are also not able to experience the full benefits of vaccination. Instead, we should be focusing on a multimodal strategy that utilizes preventative drugs, treatments, mass testing accompanied by dramatically scaled-up genomic sequencing in conjunction with vaccines. Only then can we create the multiple layers of protection needed to outsmart this ever-evolving virus.
The recent investment of $3.2 billion by the Biden Administration, to support the development of antiviral pills, is a wise decision and a great start, yet we need more focus on long-term strategies beyond the vaccines, impressive as they are.
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Post by Crucis#1 on Jul 5, 2021 10:18:46 GMT -5
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Post by mm67 on Jul 5, 2021 10:52:12 GMT -5
Evidently the vaccinated with asymptomatic covid have a small amount of the virus in the nasal pharynx. Unvaccinated asymptomatic carriers have a far greater amount of the virus to transmit.The vaccinated are less likely to transmit disease than the unvaccinated. Many risk-averse vaccinated people such as myself will continue to wear masks & distance in congregate settings such as stores out of an abundance of caution due to the possibility of getting infected by an unvaccinated person. Too many younger folks don't seem to understand or care that by not vaccinating although they may not get sick, they could get infected and provide a host for the development of a new variant which may be able to evade vaccines and spread disease & death more widely. Heard over 40% said they won't vaccinate because they "don't want to." No sense of community responsibility. Am I my brother's keeper? What's that? Gotta' blame their parents, their teachers and the lawyers(HA!!) but never the youngster. Another example of the epidemic of failure to take personal responsibility in our society.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Jul 7, 2021 6:30:20 GMT -5
The search for patient zero. This WaPo article is a global overview, with stops in France and Italy. The link should not be behind a paywall. www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/covid-pandemic-origin-wuhan-lab/2021/07/07/41fbbf9e-d560-11eb-b39f-05a2d776b1f4_story.htmlThe conclusion seems to be that a patient zero, or even a cluster of patient zeros, is unlikely to ever be found. Some Italian scientists, associated with the lung cancer clinical trial, theorize that a precursor to the Wuhan reference variant was less transmissible and went undetected, and that their blood samples with COVID antibodies collected in the fall 2019 reflect infections with this less transmissible, precursor variant.
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Post by efg72 on Jul 11, 2021 6:52:33 GMT -5
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Post by bfoley82 on Jul 14, 2021 21:12:11 GMT -5
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Post by hcpride on Jul 14, 2021 21:32:45 GMT -5
/\ /\ Princeton’s requiring their fully vaccinated students to test once a week. 🤔 They have a few kids with established medical conditions who are excused from the vaccine - they will be tested twice a week.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Jul 15, 2021 7:11:21 GMT -5
Holy Cross continues to test students who are on-campus, nearly 250 tests so far this week. I daresay that most students on campus are vaccinated at this point. HC will not be doing mass testing this fall. I say this because the testing site was moved from The Jo to Hogan (the ballroom?) which has lower testing capacity.
Boston University runs its own testing lab, as does Northeastern.
Northeastern explained they have so many international students arriving who may not have been vaccinated, or vaccinated with a less effective vaccine, that they will test all students once a week in September, and evaluate the necessity for weekly testing in October.
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Post by hcpride on Jul 15, 2021 9:20:03 GMT -5
I wonder if colleges that require full vaccinations AND still test all the fully vaccinated students on a weekly basis will triple down by masking those kids in class or elsewhere on campus.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2021 9:56:32 GMT -5
Having a family member who has worked at a hospital thru this "flu" as some have called it tells us that you could test a person in the Morning & get a neg. result. When they are ready for discharge 8 hrs later & tested again they could be positive.I have been told by many health professionals only get tested if you have symptoms.
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Post by timholycross on Jul 15, 2021 10:41:58 GMT -5
I wonder if colleges that require full vaccinations AND still test all the fully vaccinated students on a weekly basis will triple down by masking those kids in class or elsewhere on campus. When you have someone who's in the public eye telling people to put masks on 2 year olds, anything's possible.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Jul 15, 2021 11:41:10 GMT -5
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Post by bfoley82 on Jul 15, 2021 15:34:58 GMT -5
I wonder if colleges that require full vaccinations AND still test all the fully vaccinated students on a weekly basis will triple down by masking those kids in class or elsewhere on campus. Here are the BU move-in procedures www.bu.edu/articles/2021/move-in-2021-precautions/
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Post by bfoley82 on Jul 16, 2021 0:46:00 GMT -5
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Jul 16, 2021 5:03:34 GMT -5
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Post by Tom on Jul 16, 2021 13:31:36 GMT -5
Holy Cross continues to test students who are on-campus, nearly 250 tests so far this week That seems like a very large number for mid-July
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Jul 16, 2021 14:42:27 GMT -5
Holy Cross continues to test students who are on-campus, nearly 250 tests so far this week That seems like a very large number for mid-July The total this week is 555 tests. I'm sure tHC is not testing twice a week, so this number probably represents students (most of whom have had at least one shot).faculty and staff. The second summer term is open to non HC students, unlike the first summer term. Also at least one sport is holding summer camp off-campus. And there are visitors (e.g., recruits) on-campus who may be unvaccinated. So it appears HC is doing low-frequency surveillance testing. Massachusetts tracks cases and testing at colleges and universities in the state. In the past week, there were 28 positive cases in higher ed, and 35,400 tests. HC reported zero positives, and 734 tests July 3-16). As of today, 92% of matriculating HC students have reported receiving at least one dose. Many may be waiting on a second dose.
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Post by hcpride on Jul 16, 2021 18:38:05 GMT -5
For those concerned as to the actual origin of Covid, CNN is now reporting: Washington(CNN) Senior Biden administration officials overseeing an intelligence review into the origins of the coronavirus now believe the theory that the virus accidentally escaped from a lab in Wuhan is at least as credible as the possibility that it emerged naturally in the wild -- a dramatic shift from a year ago, when Democrats publicly downplayed the so-called lab leak theory.www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/07/16/politics/biden-intel-review-covid-origins/index.htmlThe Wuhan Lab continues to work with various bat coronaviruses as well as Ebola. One imagines this might worry a few folks.
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Post by efg72 on Jul 16, 2021 21:20:33 GMT -5
What two public health crisis have its origin in Wuhan?
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Post by hcpride on Jul 17, 2021 6:59:27 GMT -5
I assume that continued obstruction and otherwise on the part of the Chinese Government relative to the truth regarding Covid (given the 4+ million deaths) will result in some sort of a boycott (or at least threats of a boycott) of the February 2022 Beijing Olympics. That’ll be interesting.
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