More states and school districts have decided that they cannot have in-person classes for the fall semester, a sign of the country’s struggles with the pandemic and a setback for President Trump’s agenda.
Trump and officials at the White House have been pushing to reopen schools fully and send students to in-person classes because children have a lower risk of getting seriously ill due to COVID-19. States and school districts, however, worry that older staff and teachers are at higher risk of getting sick from students.
Alabama, Florida, Texas, Utah, and Vermont are the only states so far to have announced that all schooling will take place in person. Five state education departments — Hawaii, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, and South Carolina — will institute a hybrid teaching model. Students will take some classes remotely over the computer and spend some days in the brick and mortar school, with classrooms capped at a smaller number of students. New York City, the largest school district in the United States, would provide several days per week of in-person learning, with students working online from home the rest of the time.
In most states, the authority to decide which learning model to use falls to individual school districts. Los Angeles and San Diego, California’s two largest public school districts, will go online-only in the fall. The Fairfax County School Board in Virginia and the Clark County School District in Nevada decided this week that school will also start the academic year with all-virtual schooling. Oklahoma City Public Schools will start the school year three weeks later than expected, and all classes will be held online.
Trump has been increasingly aggressive on schools reopening fully, going so far as to threaten to withhold funding to public schools if they decided to reopen virtually. He said in a press briefing Wednesday that he would be “comfortable” with his own son and grandchildren returning to school.
The total number of coronavirus infections in the U.S. has surpassed 3.9 million, and more than 142,700 people have died. The number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 is nearly tied with the peak in April of 60,000. On Wednesday, the number of hospitalized patients reached 59,628, according to COVID Tracking Project data.
California has surpassed New York for the most coronavirus cases in the U.S., reporting more than 409,000 infections, the Associated Press reported. California, which is by far the most populous state, confirmed 12,807 new cases on Tuesday — its highest single-day total since the start of the pandemic. New York still has, by far, the most coronavirus-related deaths in the country with more than 32,500. New York’s death toll is 4 times more than California’s tally.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser instituted a new mandate for residents to wear masks in public. Previously, people could go maskless in the nation’s capital if they practiced social distancing. The mandate is in response to a rising number of coronavirus cases in the district.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, instituted a mask requirement that will begin Saturday. Under the mandate, residents must use a face covering in public indoor settings such as restaurants and retail stores. Those who violate the mandate could face fines up to $100.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb will initiate a statewide mask mandate on Monday to remain in place for the foreseeable future. The mandate applies to anyone older than 8, and masks must be worn in all indoor public spaces, commercial areas, transportation services, and in outdoor public spaces where people cannot socially distance. Masks will also be mandatory in Indiana schools and extracurricular activities.
Failure to wear a mask under the order will be a Class B misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.
Pfizer and BioNTech have signed a $1.95 billion agreement with the Health and Human Services Department and the Defense Department for 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it is proven safe and effective.
“Depending on success in clinical trials, today’s agreement will enable the delivery of approximately 100 million doses of vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said Wednesday.
The deal with Pfizer and BioNTech for the jointly researched vaccine is the largest contract granted as part of the vaccine development initiative, overtaking the $1.6 billion granted to Novavax and the $1.2 billion granted to AstraZeneca. Pfizer will begin to deliver doses to locations across the U.S. at the government’s direction. The vaccine would then be made available to people “at no cost.”
