It’s not enough to reopen schools; need mental health help: COVID news.
Reopening schools is a first step, but every student in the US should have access to mental health professionals after two years of grappling with the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said. on Thursday.
Cardona said school districts have a responsibility to use Rescue Plan America funding to hire mental health workers. One of President Joe Biden’s campaign promises was to double the number of school counselors, social workers and mental health professionals in schools. But Cardona’s speech shed some light on how schools are ramping up staffing and mental health support amid a national staffing crisis.
Critics argue that Rescue Plan funding is inadequate.
“Our school leadership continues to light candles at both ends,” said Ronn Nozoe, CEO of the National Association of High School Principals. “Without immediate action to address staffing shortages and concerns about the health and well-being of teachers and students, it will be extremely difficult to ensure these proposals are truly providing the real support our community needs and deserves.”
Cardona’s vision also includes promoting increased participation in extracurricular activities, access to intensive tutoring and student loan reform. The department has written off about $15 billion in student debt since Biden took office. The federal government has halted payments on federal student loans since the start of the pandemic. They are expected to resume in May.
– Chris Quintana and Alia Wong
Also in the news:
► Even as the more contagious but less virulent omicron variant emerged over much of the US, it still left a remarkable mark: 18.4 million infections in the country in January , accounting for a quarter of the 73.2 million in the entire pandemic.
►Current and former employees described a “toxic atmosphere” at the World Health Organization in the Western Pacific and accused its director, Dr. Takeshi Kasai, of conduct racist, unethical and abusive, Associated Press reported.
►Washington, DC, extended the shelf life of indoor masks for public settings by one month, which now expires February 28.
►The European Medicines Agency recommends that Pfizer’s coronavirus antiviral drug Paxlovid be approved for use in 27 European Union countries, the first time the agency has confirmed a COVID-19 pill. -19.
► People who experience small changes in their menstrual cycle after getting a COVID-19 vaccine only experience them for a short time, as a new study “assured” that low risk in vaccinated breeding individuals.
📈Today’s Number: The United States has recorded more than 73 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 878,000 deaths, according to Data from Johns Hopkins University. Global total: More than 365 million cases and more than 5.6 million deaths. More than 211 million Americans – 63.6% – are fully immunized, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
📘What we are reading: Many disabled people still do not return to the airport when they try protect yourself from getting coronavirus can feel like a flu that rages or takes their life.
Keep refreshing this page for the latest news. Want more? Sign up for USA’s free Coronavirus Watch newsletter TODAY to receive updates directly to your inbox and join our Facebook group.
Florida School District Will Not Defend Students Over COVID Concerns
The school district in Orange County, Florida, said its 209,000 students will no longer be allowed excused absences from school due to concerns about rising coronavirus infections.
The school district, with more than 200 schools in the Orlando area, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that the policy will go into effect on Monday.
“The number of cases continues to decline and we continue to require adults to wear masks and strongly encourage students,” said the notice. absenteeism.’
Orange County Public Schools website reports 19,548 infections on campus as of August 2more than 15,000 of them are students.
The district encourages parents to keep their children home if they have symptoms of illness, and to offer homeschooling as an option for those who do not want their child to attend classes due to illness. cautious about COVID.
Sarah Palin, infected with the virus for the second time, still goes out to dinner in NYC
Sarah Palin has been exposed to the coronavirus enough times to get the infection twice. Now she is exposing others to the virus.
The former Republican vice presidential candidate was seen dining in a Manhattan restaurant on Wednesday, two days after her trial in the New York Times lawsuit was adjourned because she tested positive. count for the second time.
CDC guidelines urge people to self-isolate for at least five days after starting to show symptoms or testing positive.
Palin, who has publicly said she won’t get a COVID-19 shot, also protested New York City’s rules on Saturday when she dined indoors at the same diner, Elio, despite not vaccinated. The restaurant said it made a mistake by not checking Palin’s vaccination status. On Wednesday, she ate at a heated outdoor area that didn’t require patrons to get vaccinated.
Opinion poll shows less than half of Americans think booster shots are essential
According to a new poll, only 59% of Americans think they need to be vaccinated against the coronavirus to feel safe in public. And although boosters provide significantly better protection than two-shot treatments of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, only 47% of Americans think they need a boost.
The poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also highlights what authorities call alarmingly low COVID-19 vaccination rates among U.S. children ages 5 to 11. Only 37% of parents consider immunizing their children essential.
In Minneapolis, 36-year-old public health researcher Colin Planalp blamed health authorities for failing to make the public better understand the importance of vaccinating children. Planalp said he got his 6-year-old son vaccinated as soon as possible.
“Children can get sick from COVID,” he said.
World travelers beware: Might have to shoot reinforcements soon
More and more destinations around the globe are put a limit on the time that tourists can go through with a series of one or two doses. Without action, holidaymakers could find themselves facing additional entry requirements, not being able to access certain locations, or being denied entry altogether. Beginning Tuesday, U.S. travelers to Spain who received the last dose of their first one or two immunization series 270 days or more before entry will need to present proof of booster vaccination. Health experts are expecting such requests to become more common as countries contain the spread of COVID-19.
“We know that being strengthened gives you much better protection against disease and disease,” said David Weber, professor of medicine, pediatrics and epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. terminal illness. So it’s not surprising.” “I think this is going to be an ongoing trend for countries that want to limit transmission.”
– Bailey Schulz
Moderna enhanced image focusing on omicron
Moderna announced Wednesday that its first participant was injected with a booster dose of the company’s drug that is specifically targeting the omicron variant. News comes a day later Pfizer and BioNTech have announced their own plans. Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccinations Proven 90% effective in preventing omicron-related hospitalizations, according to data from the CDC.
The Moderna study will include two groups: participants who previously received both doses of Moderna vaccine, with a second dose at least six months ago, and participants who received the initial two doses as well as the injection. reminiscent of Moderna at least three months ago.
Jewish advocacy groups condemn fiduciary comparisons to the Holocaust
Thursday marks the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz. Days before International Holocaust Memorial Day, to honor the 6 million Jews and other Holocaust victims, anti-vaccination activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said it was easier for Hitler to live in Germany today’s world with the missions of COVID-19.
“Even in Hitler’s Germany, you can cross the Alps to Switzerland. You can hide in the attic like Anne Frank did,” he said at an anti-vaccination rally on Sunday. “Today, mechanisms are in place that would make it impossible for any of us to run. And none of us can escape.”
Jewish advocates and Holocaust awareness groups condemned Kennedy’s words, and he later apologized. The Auschwitz Memorial calls his comparisons “sad symptom of moral and intellectual decline. “Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said his comment was “deeply inaccurate, deeply offensive, and deeply troubling. ”
“The Careless Called Anne Frank, Star Badge, and Nuremberg Trials Exploiting the history and consequences of hateThe American Holocaust Museum writes.
Kennedy’s comparisons of COVID-19 missions to Nazi Germany were just one of many made by celebrities, including US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and FOX Commentator Tucker Carlsonin the past two years.