COVID information indicates that reopening faculties is insufficient; psychological well-being assistance is required. After two years of dealing with the extraordinary coronavirus outbreak, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona emphasized Thursday that reopening schools is only the start.
Cardona declared that school districts must utilize American Rescue Plan funds to hire mental health professionals. One of President Joe Biden’s campaign promises was to quadruple the number of school counselors, social workers, and mental health experts. In light of the overall staffing crisis, Cardona’s address was light on details about how schools will increase mental health aid and employees.
Critics say American Rescue Plan financing is inadequate.
In a news release, Ronn Nozoe, CEO of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, said, “Our school leaders continue to burn the candle at both ends.” Without immediate action to address staffing shortages and concerns about teacher and student health, it will be impossible to ensure these plans provide the genuine aid our communities need and deserve.
Cardona’s vision includes increased engagement in extracurricular activities, access to specialized tutoring, and student loan reform. It has erased almost $15 billion in student loan debt since Biden assumed office. Since the epidemic began, the federal government has halted student loan payments. They may renew in May.
A. Quintana & C. Quintana
Also inside the data:
Even when the highly infectious but less virulent omicron variety fades throughout much of the US, it leaves a mark: The nation’s 18.4 million infections in January represent one-fourth of the pandemic’s 73.2 million.
Staffers at the World Health Group in the Western Pacific described a “poisonous workplace” and accused director Dr. Takeshi Kasai of discriminatory, unethical, and abusive behavior, the Related Press reported.
Washington, D.C., has extended its public indoor mask rule by a month, until Feb. 28.
Pfizer’s coronavirus antiviral Paxlovid was approved for use in the European Union’s 27 member states, marking the first time a capsule has been licensed for COVID-19 treatment.
A recent study “reassures” that inoculating fertile people poses no risk.
According to Johns Hopkins University data, the US has over 73 million verified COVID-19 cases and over 878,000 fatalities. Global totals: 365 million cases, 5.6 million fatalities. According to the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, about 211 million people (63.6%) are fully vaccinated.
What we’re studying: Many disabled people must return to airports to fight against coronavirus infections that can either feel like a bad illness or kill them.
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COVID concerns won’t excuse Florida college students.
Concerns over rising coronavirus infections have led the Orange County School District in Florida to ban excused absences for its 209,000 students.
The district, which has over 200 faculties in Orlando, announced the coverage on Facebook on Wednesday.
We continue to mandate face masks for adults and strongly advise them for college students, “the notification read.
Assisting large numbers of absent college students puts additional strain on our academic staff.
Since Aug. 2, the Orange County Public Colleges website has recorded 19,548 infections, with over 15,000 of them being college students.
The district advises parents to keep their kids home if they show indications of illness and offers homeschooling as an option for those who don’t want their kids to attend classes individually due to COVID.
Sarah Palin, virus-infected again, eats in NYC.
Sarah Palin has been exposed to the coronavirus enough times to be infected twice. She’s spreading the infection now.
On Wednesday, two days after her trial in a case against the New York Times was postponed because she was examined constructively for a second time, she was seen dining in a Manhattan eatery.
The CDC advises people to isolate themselves for five days after symptoms or a positive test.
She again broke New York City rules Saturday by eating inside at the same restaurant, Elio’s, despite not having the COVID-19 shot. The eatery admitted not confirming Palin’s immunization status. The restaurant’s heated outside area didn’t require vaccinations on Wednesday.
A poll shows that less than half of people think photo boosts are vital.
According to a new poll, only 59 percent of people believe they must be vaccinated against the coronavirus to feel comfortable at public events.
Despite the fact that boosters are far safer than the Pfizer or Moderna vaccinations, just 47% of people think it’s critical to be boosted.
The Related Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll also highlights unacceptably low COVID-19 immunization rates among US kids aged 5 to 11. Only 37% of parents think it’s vital that their kids get vaccinated.
In Minneapolis, 36-year-old public health researcher Colin Planalp blames health officials for not emphasizing the need for childhood vaccinations. Planalp said he vaccinated his 6-year-old kid as soon as possible.
“COVID may make kids sick,” he warns.
Travelers beware: a booster injection may be necessary soon.
Increasingly, countries limit the duration of a one-or two-dose immunization series.
Without the booster, tourists may face extra entrance requirements, be unable to enter some places, or be refused entry entirely. Beginning Tuesday, Americans visiting Spain must provide proof of a booster vaccine if their initial one-or two-dose vaccination series was completed 270 days before entrance. Experts anticipate that as nations combat COVID-19, such demands will grow in popularity.
“We all know that being boosted protects you against illness and catastrophic illness. No surprise there, “said David Weber, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor of medicine and pediatrics.” I believe this will be the norm in countries that need to limit transmission.
Schulz, Bailey
Booster shot for Omicron
Moderna said Wednesday that its first participant had received the company’s omicron-specific booster injection.
The news comes a day after Pfizer and BioNTech announced their own intentions.
According to the CDC, booster shots of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are 90% effective in preventing omicron-related hospitalizations.
Two cohorts will be studied: those who’ve had the Moderna vaccination twice, with the second dose at least six months prior, and those who’ve had the Moderna vaccine twice, plus a booster three months prior.
Jewish advocacy groups oppose Holocaust analogies.
On Thursday, the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz,
Days before World Holocaust Remembrance Day, anti-vaccine campaigner Robert F. Kennedy Jr. argued it was easier to live in Hitler’s Germany than in today’s world with COVID-19 regulations.
The Alps might even be crossed in Hitler’s Germany. “You’d hide in an attic like Anne Frank,” he said during an anti-vaccine protest in Washington, D.C. Right now, measures are being set up that may prevent us from running. And we can’t cover it. ”
Jewish and Holocaust awareness groups rushed to condemn Kennedy’s remarks, for which he eventually apologized. He called the Auschwitz Memorial an “unhappy symbol of ethical and mental decay.” The Anti-Defamation League’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, called the comments “very false, disrespectful, and unsettling.”
According to the US Holocaust Museum, to cite Anne Frank, Star of David, or Nuremberg Trials is to abuse history and the effects of hatred.
Kennedy’s COVID-19 directive analogies to Nazi Germany are among those made by notables, including US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and FOX pundit Tucker Carlson over the last two years.
