Close to 100,000 children tested positive for covid-19 in the last two weeks of July as students return to some form of school, teachers unions threaten to strike and health officials learn more about the role young people play in spreading the virus.
A new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics finds that more than 97,000 children tested positive for the covid-19 from July 16 to July 30. The age range for children differed, with some states defining children as up to age 14. Alabama, by contrast, included up to age 24.
More than 338,000 children have tested positive among the 5 million reported covid cases in the U.S., CBS reported.
While some U.S. lawmakers including POTUS minimize the risk of covid when it comes to children, a recent study said children younger than age 5 carry a higher viral load than adults. Another study suggests older children can transmit the virus as much as adults, CNN reported.
At least 86 children have died since May, according to the new report. Black children are disproportionately affected with higher rates of infections, hospitalizations and complications. A 7-year-old boy with no pre-existing conditions recently became the youngest coronavirus victim in Georgia. In Florida, two teens died for a total of seven deaths among minors in Florida.
Superintendents in more than 13,000 U.S. school districts have the task of figuring out how to keep children and teachers safe in the chaotic back-to-school season.
Parents who need to get back to work are relying on school systems to be open. However, “remote learning failed many children this spring, deepening achievement gaps by race and income,” New York Times reported.
Teachers’ unions are playing a powerful role in determining the shape of public education in the continuing pandemic, according to NYT.
They argue that political leaders are putting the needs of the economy before safety and pushing schools to reopen without adequate guidance or financial support. “Pressure from President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who are distrusted by many educators, has hardened the opposition of many teachers to returning to classrooms, even in places where the virus is under control.”
Teachers in many districts fought for longer school closures, more safety requirements and limits on what they are must do in virtual classrooms, taking their concerns to lawmakers and threatening to strike on social media.
Georgia high school student Hannah Watters, 15, was suspended after posting on social media a video of a school hallway crowded with students who were neither wearing masks nor social distancing. North Paulding High School has since revoked the punishment, ABC News reported.
“Going in (to school) I was nervous, but trusting that Paulding would keep us safe,” Hannah told ABC News. “But it was worse than I thought it was going to be. I didn’t feel safe, especially coming home to family after going to school.”
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The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the second largest teacher’s labor union, authorized local and state chapters to strike if their districts don’t take sufficient safety precautions including requiring masks and updating ventilation systems before classrooms reopen.
Teachers’ unions have sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over his efforts to force schools to offer in-person instruction.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said schools will deal with the covid-19 risk “like with a stomach bug or a flu,” and accused the media of unfairly portraying the risk of students going back to class, 11Alive reported.
