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HS that suspended teen who tweeted photo of hallway has 9 COVID-19 cases:
North Paulding High School in Dallas, Georgia, sent a letter to parents Saturday, saying, "At this time, we know there were six students and three staff members who were in school for at least some time last week who have since reported to us that they have tested positive." The letter was published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Most or even all of the six students and three staff members who tested positive could have had the virus before the school reopened on Monday, August 3. As Harvard Medical School explains, "The time from exposure to symptom onset (known as the incubation period) is thought to be three to 14 days, though symptoms typically appear within four or five days after exposure," and "a person with COVID-19 may be contagious 48 to 72 hours before starting to experience symptoms."
[...] As we reported Friday, the school issued a five-day suspension to student Hannah Watters after she posted a photo to Twitter, noting the "jammed" hallways and "10 percent mask rate." The school lifted her suspension after extensive media coverage. One other unnamed student who was suspended for a similar reason also had the suspension reversed, the Journal-Constitution said.
Students attended class in person only on Monday through Wednesday, as the district said it conducted a short first week "so that all of our schools can step back and assess how things are going so far."
Update at 6:50pm ET: North Paulding High School announced Sunday that it has canceled in-person instruction for Monday and Tuesday, August 10 and 11, because of the nine positive cases and "the possibility that number could increase if there are currently pending tests that prove positive." The school said that on Tuesday evening, parents and students will be notified about whether in-person instruction will resume on Wednesday. Remote learning will continue while the school is closed.
Previously:
(2020-08-08) Pupils Who Shared Photos of Packed Corridor of Maskless Georgia Students Suspended
(Score: 5, Insightful) by sjames on Wednesday August 12 2020, @05:40PM (2 children)
On the other hand, if a bunch of people are saddled with unpayable medical debt and/or left with lasting symptoms that leave them unable to work, that won't be good for the economy either.
In this case, school is an activity that can be accomplished virtually. There's no need to make the pandemic worse in order to do in-person school at this time. What's really inexcusable is that they not only insisted on having school in-person, they aren't requiring masks or apparently doing anything at all to mitigate potential spread of covid. Teachers in Polk and Cherokee county report that the promise to sanitize the classrooms between classes is a bad joke at best. They're doing no such thing.
That's part of the problem with the discussion in the U.S. Too many people pretending that a few reasonable precautions is the same as shutting down the economy and hiding in a bunker. Working from home where feasible is a prudent move and does not constitute shutting down the economy. Many workplaces have found work from home sufficiently effective that they're considering (or have already decided) making that policy even after the pandemic is resolved.
Also notable, in neighboring Cherokee county, 900 students are currently in quarantine due to contact with students that have tested positive. School has only been open for 1 week.
Some have pointed out that the reason kids seem to be more resistant to COVID is that until a week ago, they were much more socially isolated than the adults since they were on summer vacation. As soon as they start having more contacts, that apparent resistance proves to be an illusion.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday August 12 2020, @08:03PM (1 child)
Well, to be fair it's not clear that the early school levels can be handled remotely. The information can be put out there, but that's only a small part of what he early years of school are about.
And I still think the cost is too high. Neighborhoods were isolated villages, then "village schools" would be a reasonable choice, but the parents spread out throughout the city or town in working, shopping, etc. The barber comes from a different neighborhood than the butcher or cash register attendant, and the garbage collector from somewhere else again. You don't have isolated bubbles. And schools with kids coming in from all over the city/town make things a LOT worse...and they share the diseases they pick up. Back to school season has always been associated with a crop of new colds, etc. This time the etc. includes COVID. Even if the schools were all neighborhood schools, the parents don't live in the same bubble. When you get merging bubbles like that (this doesn't only apply to schools!) the very concept of bubble turns into a false security blanket.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Wednesday August 12 2020, @08:43PM
Australia [archive.org] has managed it for years.
It beats a repeat of the summer camp fiasco [webmd.com].