Schools Reopen: No Easy Answers for Keeping Kids Healthy

It’s back-to-school time, which means pencils, books, hand sanitizers and, for some, . The vice president visited a campus of Thales Academy in Apex, North Carolina, saying, “We’ve got to open up America’s schools, and Thales Academy is literally in the forefront.” Unfortunately, a few days later, Thales suffered a setback when a fourth grader at its Wake Forest campus tested positive for COVID-19.

Things weren’t much better in other states, either. Groups of students and teachers in , , , and have been forced into quarantine after being exposed to the virus. When a at North Paulding High School north of Atlanta went viral this week, Superintendent Brian Otott acknowledged that the photo “does not look good ” but said the school was following state health recommendations. (On Thursday, two teens who posted the photo were .) And this just in: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for in-person classes this fall across a state that was once the epicenter of the global pandemic.

Day cares and preschools might offer a glimpse into how to keep children safe. As KHN’s Anna Almendrala wrote this week, the facilities are “part of an unplanned national experiment” for parents weighing the pros and cons of in-person school. So far, the number of outbreaks at child care centers has remained low.

Other nations are , with varied success. puts students in “micro-groups” of 12. Kids in New South Wales, Australia, go to school just . In Dandwal, India, . Israel, convinced it had beaten the virus, opened every school in May. By the first week of June, more than 2,000 students, teachers and staff had tested positive. (“[Other nations] definitely should not do what we have done,” said the advising Israel’s National Security Council. “It was a major failure.”)

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine Tests Positive, Then Negative: Can We Fix Our Testing System?

I live in Ohio, and the whole state practically gasped Thursday when Republican Gov. Mike DeWine tested positive for COVID-19. Everyone asked, “How could this happen to someone who steadfastly supports wearing a mask?” Then, on Friday, another gasp when — followed by a collective, “Well, of course that happened.”

It’s an understatement to say we have had major problems with our COVID testing system. Some places are flush with them; others aren’t. Celebrities, the , and , but many regular folks have been turned away multiple times, waited more than a week for results or were told their results were lost. Frustrated with delays, six states (Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia) announced this week in an effort to reduce turnaround time.

Meanwhile, some people are pushing for , the idea being that you could identify outbreaks, trace them, quarantine people and move on with life. But . One: Most tests take samples from behind the nose or the back of the mouth and will come out positive only if that area contained the virus. In some people, however, the virus has been shown in large quantities only deep in their lungs. And two: A false-positive result sidelines a healthy person, leading to unnecessary quarantining that can affect their mental health, job, school, etc. Kelly Stafford, wife of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, wrote on Instagram this week that her family was harassed and put through after Matthew tested false-positive for COVID.

Hurricane Isaias: How Do You Evacuate But Stay Socially Distant?

For just about everyone on the East Coast, the big talker of the week was Hurricane Isaias. (That’s pronounced “.”) Isaias skimmed Florida’s Atlantic coast as a Category 1 hurricane and banged its way up the East Coast before making landfall Monday near . All told, Isaias killed nine people, spawned more than 30 tornadoes (here’s one in Marmora, New Jersey), and forced thousands to evacuate. One major health concern was whether people in the path of the storm — including — could . “We were prepared with non-congregate sheltering,” said Mike Sprayberry, director of North Carolina Emergency Management, “but many people heeded the advice to stay with family or friends or at a hotel. It wasn’t needed.” Hurricane season is in full swing (it doesn’t end until Nov. 30), so — and more .

Beirut Blast: The Lasting Health Effects of a Massive Explosion

About 150 people were killed and 5,000 hurt when a warehouse full of ammonium nitrate . Ammonium nitrate, an odorless, crystal salt, is a common but highly explosive chemical that was used in several other devastating blasts, including , in 2015 (165 killed); in 2013 (15 killed); and in 1995 (168 killed). Tuesday’s blast, involving about 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, was roughly equal to the power of 1,155 tons of TNT, according to one weapons investigator, making it “many times larger than the most powerful conventional airdropped bomb in the U.S. arsenal [the GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast],” .

The blast released nitrogen oxides, ammonia and carbon dioxide into the air. According to and the American Lung Association, some of their health effects include lung damage, asthma attacks, lower birth weight in newborns, blindness, convulsions, suffocation and death. In the years after the Oklahoma City bombing, doctors tracked survivors’ physical and emotional health. A said that up to a third of survivors reported having anxiety, depression, PTSD, asthma, bronchitis and problems with their hearing. As , the mayor of West, Texas, put it this week: “We don’t seem to learn that chemical is deadly.”

Other Stories You May Enjoy:

• Why yes, you can use an Instant Pot to clean your N95 respirator:
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• So. Much. Trash!
• Fashion designers are making dresses that look like COVID:

Happy reading! Have a great weekend.

— Lauren

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

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Why yes, you’re right — a pandemic is a heck of a time to take over this job. I’d argue, however, that it’s the best time, because who doesn’t need a hand sorting out all this craziness? So far, 2020 has been like trying to paint the “Mona Lisa” while riding a unicycle in a rainstorm — in other words, a sloppy mess teetering on disaster — but, with any luck, when it’s done we might all manage to smile.

In the meantime, I won’t Louvre you in the lurch. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) Be sure to read each day’s top health news headlines in KHN’s Morning Briefing, compiled by yours truly. Please subscribe, if you haven’t already — and tell your colleagues and friends, too. Have a comment about the Briefing or the Breeze? Send me an email at laureno@kff.org. I look forward to hearing from you.

A Gift for You, My New Friend

Because we’ve just met, I’d like to offer you a token of friendship: Today’s Breeze will do its best to have a positive spin. Things are dreary enough in the world right now — you don’t need me to blow more gray clouds your way. In the words of Helen Keller, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”

What’s Donald Up To?

Today, let’s play a game called “What’s Donald Up To?” You won’t win any points or money. What you will win is the knowledge that there are 180 days until Inauguration Day! (I suppose your real prize will be if “your guy” wins, whether it’s President Donald Trump, Joe Biden or .)

So what is Donald up to? He began his busy week of tweeting, mask-wearing and name-calling with a feisty on Sunday. In it, he lamented (“I’m glad we do it, but it really skews the numbers”), called Dr. Anthony Fauci, America’s infectious diseases superstar, an “alarmist,” boasted about the (“I built the greatest economy in history, I’m now doing it again”), reasserted his opinion that the virus will “disappear” and downplayed the potentially devastating physical effects of COVID-19 by saying some people just have the When asked about the nearly 1,000 deaths a day in the U.S., Trump said it On the positive side? Well, the interview was only about an hour.

The critiques rolled in, and for most of the week we saw a kinder, gentler version of Trump. Maybe it was because he was happy he supposedly aced the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, a test that detects early signs of dementia. Or maybe it was because he’d passed “multiple” COVID tests a day, according to his press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany. (“I don’t know of any time I’ve taken two in one day,” he clarified a few hours later.) Or perhaps he was simply feeling generous, providing $5 billion for struggling nursing homes, resuming COVID task force briefings, renewing the national and even (gasp!) But I think the real reason may have been because two White House cafeterias closed this week after a staffer tested positive for the coronavirus — providing another excuse for him to keep eating McDonald’s. (Just a theory.)

Even so, Trump’s good mood subsided by the end of the week, probably because he had to cancel the GOP convention in Jacksonville, Florida, amid . (Not to mention that the Duval County sheriff did warn him about not being able to provide security.)

Wondering what Biden, Trump’s probable Democratic rival in November, was up to? Well, this week he released his massive “caregiving plan” for Americans — $775 billion over 10 years. (That certainly would .)

California and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

California, the most populous state, on Wednesday surpassed New York as the worst-hit state for cases (tallying 413,576 as of that day). The increase of 12,112 was the biggest single-day increase since the pandemic started. At the national level, there have been 4 million cases — it took only 15 days to jump from 3 million to 4 million — and the death toll stands at 144,000. Unfortunately, the rise in cases is outpacing the rise in testing, with The New York Times explaining: “About 21,000 cases were reported per day in early June, when the positive test rate was 4.8 percent. As testing expanded, the positive test rate should have fallen. … Instead, the positive test rate has nearly doubled.”

The number of COVID cases is likely 10 times higher than what we thought, experts now say. On Saturday, the FDA approved the use of pooled testing, essentially allowing the testing of many more people using fewer tests. But the White House, not to be outdone, announced it would push to phase out funding for testing from the COVID-relief bill in Congress. (More on that in a minute.)

In the “oops” category, 113 people in Rhode Island, about 90 in , 26 in and dozens in were told they had COVID-19 when in fact they had tested negative. (Does that qualify as positive news? I’m not sure, but I’m happy those folks are fine.) Conversely, in The Villages, Florida, one of America’s biggest retirement communities known for its golf and rockin’ house parties, is seeing a spike in positive cases, jumping from the single digits last month to at least 29 last week.

Scientists delved into the big question this week: Can you get reinfected with COVID? And the absolute, no-doubt-about-it answer was: Um, not sure. But it’s unlikely, they say. Scientists did determine that mosquitoes most likely don’t spread COVID, and they’re testing whether UV light, which can kill many nasty germs, can kill this virus, too. As a bonus, the CDC now says that if you do get sick, you should isolate for 10 days, not 14. (But severely ill patients should isolate for 20 days.)

So Much for Vacation

Congress returned from a two-week summer recess Monday to begin work on the fifth COVID-relief bill of the year, and it played out like a real-life version of Chevy Chase’s “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” starring Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as Clark Griswold, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the Ferrari-driving Christie Brinkley and Trump as the security guard at Walley World who basically ends their fun. (My goodness, can’t you just envision it?)

Republicans had a $1 trillion agenda that included funds for schools and COVID testing, a payroll tax cut, direct checks for individuals and $600-a-week stipends for laid-off workers. Senate Republicans seemed near a deal with the White House on Wednesday as the Griswold family station wagon chugged along. But the car crashed Thursday when the two groups failed to reach an agreement on the unemployment issue. (Mind you, the Democrats haven’t even gotten involved yet.) Republicans vowed to have a . As all this was going on, smooth-driving Pelosi left tire tracks all over Trump while speaking on CNN’s “The Situation Room” on Tuesday, calling the coronavirus the

Let’s Make a Deal: Which Vaccine Is Behind Door No. 1?

Am I the only person who can’t keep track of all the vaccines and treatments in play? Chinese group Sinopharm said it will have a vaccine ready for the public . (Woohoo!) British pharmaceutical firm Synairgen announced a breakthrough nebulizer treatment that reduces the severity of COVID-19, and Oxford-AstraZeneca’s vaccine AZD1222 showed promising results in human trials, too. Meanwhile, behind Door No. 2, the Russians are insisting they didn’t try to steal British coronavirus vaccine research.

Back in the good ol’ U.S. of A., five pharmaceutical giants testified to Congress on Tuesday that they wouldn’t cut corners when developing a vaccine. And Wednesday, as if on cue, Pfizer and German firm BioNTech made an unusual $1.95 billion deal to supply 100 million doses of a not-yet-finished vaccine to the federal government, which plans on giving it to Americans at no cost. (Not to nitpick, but there are 330 million people in America. I’m not great a math, but still …)

Meanwhile, behind Door No. 3, the Department of Justice indicted two Chinese nationals this week on charges that they hacked and stole research from companies working on COVID vaccines in the U.S., the U.K., Sweden, Spain, Australia and other nations.

The REALLY Important Questions

Sure, all of that stuff has big implications. But here in the real world, we’re worried about simpler stuff. For example, when can I watch NFL football? (Not for a while.) Has baseball started? (!) Can I travel to the (no), (yes) or New York (maybe)? If I live in California and need a haircut, where can I get one? (Outdoors.) Should I buy my teen some condoms? (It’s up to you, but more adolescents are improvising with plastic wrap — shudder.) Does it hurt to get shot with a less-lethal projectile? (Um, HECK YES.) Should I wear a mask in , at a or when buying jeans at the Gap? (Yes.) How about ? (Yes, as long as you promise not to rob the joint.)

That about wraps it up for me. Hope you enjoyed my inaugural Breeze. Until next week,

— Lauren

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about .

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This story can be republished for free (details).