COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic

[wonderfly]

Putting aside how long it took Walmart to require masks for a moment, the two situations really aren't compatible. A lot of people go in and out of stores like Walmart every day, but they don't tend to spend six hours there five days a week like kids do with school. It's easier for people to social distance within a store since they're just going in and out to get what they want/need. I haven't been inside a Walmart for at least ten years, but they're pretty big too. Everyone can wear a mask while walking a school hallway, but I don't know how effective they'll actually be if there are hundreds of students crowded together. Based on the schools I went to, which does include a private high school and college, there just isn't enough room for students walk around the hallways while being six feet apart. There's also the issue of where people still refuse to wear masks going into stores. I don't think I've heard of any stories of that being a problem in Walmart specifically, but wearing a mask is still considered controversial for at least some people when it really shouldn't be.

I haven't been on a school bus since I was twelve, but if they're still full of chaos now as they were back then, I don't know how well they can manage wearing masks, especially when buses are also pretty crammed. They didn't even have seat belts installed when I was a kid, although I don't know if that has changed yet. The spacing issue in classrooms is also a big concern, especially when classrooms are usually pretty small. To be fair, maybe the public school system in your area is different than it is in mine and I'm going off a lot just by what I remember of what my schools were like too. But based on what I've seen and heard, on campus learning is just not a safe and viable option. If they really wanted to have schools reopen in time for the fall, the situation should have been handled better from the start and schools should have gotten more funding to help cover safety measures as opposed to being forced to reopen now when the situation is even worse than it was back in March.

I'd like to address the "kids are gonna be kids and disobey" aspect of what you're saying. I think this is such a collective national event/trauma, there won't be a rebellion quite like what I think you're describing. I think a majority of kids want their schools back (I know mine were sick of home schooling from late March to the end of May earlier this year).

Plus, I think a majority of kids want to do "their part" to help fight the virus. They're going to conform, sit in a manner on the bus assigned by the drivers, they're going to proceeds through hallways as instructed, and abide by social distancing and mask wearing policies. If the concern is the occasional "my dad says the virus is being overblown, so I don't have to wear the mask", then that kid won't be allowed, they'll be sent home (or not allowed on campus in the first place). The rules are going to be strict, but I think people want this to succeed, until a vaccine is readily available.

I think this is going to be a large social experiment the country is about to undertake. We will see what states fair better this Fall. I think across the country, there are going to be schools that have serious outbreaks, there are going to be schools that perform masterfully and go by without incident, and I think there are going to be a majority of schools that fall somewhere inbetween.

We will see how it goes.

 

[Light Lucario]

I'd like to address the "kids are gonna be kids and disobey" aspect of what you're saying. I think this is such a collective national event/trauma, there won't be a rebellion quite like what I think you're describing. I think a majority of kids want their schools back (I know mine were sick of home schooling from late March to the end of May earlier this year).

Plus, I think a majority of kids want to do "their part" to help fight the virus. They're going to conform, sit in a manner on the bus assigned by the drivers, they're going to proceeds through hallways as instructed, and abide by social distancing and mask wearing policies. If the concern is the occasional "my dad says the virus is being overblown, so I don't have to wear the mask", then that kid won't be allowed, they'll be sent home (or not allowed on campus in the first place). The rules are going to be strict, but I think people want this to succeed, until a vaccine is readily available.

I don't think I mentioned anything about kids are going to be kids and disobey wearing masks. At the very least I didn't mean to imply that. While I do think that it will be difficult to keep every student wearing a mask, especially younger kids, my main point was how other safety measures would be difficult to near impossible for schools to follow in order to make on-campus classes possible. School hallways and classrooms aren't designed to keep people six feet apart from each other. They're designed to pack in as many kids as possible. Same with school buses. Regular buses have adults sitting away from each other with masks, but I don't think that they're on as much of a tight dead line compared to school buses. Even if all kids do wear a mask properly, it might not be that effective when they're all trapped inside a single building for hours almost every day.

Having strict rules to help make the schools safer is all well and good, but it feels so pointless to me because I don't think that they can actually make it work for a ton of reasons. Schools in general have poor funding, run out of supplies and teachers often have to buy everything they need for classes out of their own pocket. But they're also supposedly able to get all of the necessary cleaning supplies, use them effectively in-between classes and have a steady supply of hand sanitizer on standby. I don't buy it for a second.

I think this is going to be a large social experiment the country is about to undertake. We will see what states fair better this Fall. I think across the country, there are going to be schools that have serious outbreaks, there are going to be schools that perform masterfully and go by without incident, and I think there are going to be a majority of schools that fall somewhere inbetween.

We will see how it goes.

I really can't see any school going through the first month or at least the first semester without any incident, especially if they do have larger class sizes. I don't think this social experiment is worth the risk. Online classes can be time consuming and too difficult for a lot of people, but it is better than the alternative at the moment. We're not only asking children to risk their safety and the health of their families. By forcing schools to reopen, we're also asking teachers, staff members, bus drivers and such to risk their lives too. There have already been cases of teachers or staff members getting sick just by having on campus meetings to discuss reopening. I don't want any student to get sick of course, but it's a huge risk for all of the teachers too and I don't think that gets as much attention with this issue as it should.

While this issue would be important to me regardless, one reason why I emphasize teachers' health risk is because my mother is a teacher. She is a private school teacher, so her school isn't forcing her to come back to teach yet, but if they did require classes to resume like public schools are trying to do, it would be a massive health risk for her. She usually has around twenty to thirty students in a class pre-COVID-19. A class size like that would be incredibly dangerous right now for pretty much any school. I'm constantly worried about all of my family members' health. Both of my parents have history of lung issues, particularly with my Dad's COPD, so they don't need a virus on top of everything else, but the thought of my Mom being forced to choose between her teaching career and her health is just sickening to me and that is sadly what a lot of teachers are going through right now.

EDIT: I just realized another reason why this rush to reopen schools bothers me so much. Instead of wasting time and money on trying to reopen schools, they could have spent the summer preparing for more online classes. At least part of the reason why it might have been so difficult for everyone was because schools suddenly had to put all of their courses online in the middle of the spring semester. There was little to no prep time involved, which was rough but understandable given the circumstances. More prep time might not have fixed every problem in this case, especially when plenty of families might have a hard time affording good Internet and computers to handle online courses, but it wouldn't have hurt.

Rushing too fast for business to reopen has backfired. That's exactly why California is now one of the states with highest amount of virus cases. Schools aren't a business, but I can't really see how this really benefits anyone in the long run, especially when it's just a matter of when someone will get sick and not if. They aren't really doing this for the benefit of students either. Otherwise, more funding would have been given to schools to handle reopening more effectively or more ideally, they'd just put more money into online courses instead. This is a social experiment designed to fail by the very nature of our poor education system and treatment of teachers.

 

[SpongeBobFan2004]

Bakersfield school districts to begin 2020-21 school year with distance learning, this is because all the districts will begin with a distance learning school year while the next semesters will consist of a hybrid between the two. I wanted all of the school districts in my area to have social distancing marks and sanitized desks but this is their decision. ALSO: In Japan, two reports related to Yuriko Koike's handling of COVID-19 had gone viral in that country which caused their time in Japan during quarantine changing forever.

 

[harry580]

i blame the 2008 recession for paving the way for this virus in my country and overseas companies buying usa assets

 

[Asa]

Covid-19 is certainly turning into the defining adolescent experience for Gen Z, much like the Sept. 11th attacks for Millennials and the Fall of the Berlin Wall (or arguably the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster) for Gen X.

My kids are going to be required to wear face masks in school this Fall. That's just...something you won't forget as you get older.

Proving that our world will always evolve and change every decade.

I don't know what other shocking turn of events this decade will bring us post-COVID-19.

 

[kanc]

Alyssa Milano thought she was dying and tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies

Alyssa Milano says she has tested positive for coronavirus antibodies after having tested negative for Covid-19.

www.cnn.com

Alyssa Milano thought she was dying and was tested positive...even after tested negative

 

[Dr.Pepper]

I have to say I didn’t realize how much of the country started school in July or early August. In my neck of the woods, schools dont start until after Labor Day (or very late August at the earliest). Also all the school districts in my area, as far as I am aware, are going to be virtual only at the start of the year. I’m blown away that this isn’t happening everywhere.

 

[Light Lucario]

I have to say I didn’t realize how much of the country started school in July or early August. In my neck of the woods, schools dont start until after Labor Day (or very late August at the earliest). Also all the school districts in my area, as far as I am aware, are going to be virtual only at the start of the year. I’m blown away that this isn’t happening everywhere.

I'm almost positive that schools are trying to start early because of being forced to close down back in March. I've never heard of schools starting the new fall term in July or even early August before. Schools don't usually start around here until late August. I'm not sure how many schools in my area are trying to reopen for on campus learning. One school in my neighborhood has been doing some construction work for awhile, but I hope that doesn't mean that they'll want kids to actually be there in a few weeks.

Schools need to be virtual only for the rest of the year and quite likely covering the whole school year at this rate. It is just not safe for the students, their families, the teachers and staff members to do so.

 

[Wounded_Dragon]

There was a push years ago to shift school calendars to early August in some areas to either accommodate for year round schooling and/or winter weather. When you're legally mandated to have kids in school for a certain number of hours, you have to schedule ahead.

What I find odd is that a story on my local schools said the desks are only being spaced 4 feet apart. I guess that's the best they could come up with?

 

[Asa]

I predict around next year or two, there should be a television special celebrating the end of the COVID-19 pandemic (I'm pretty sure the coronavirus will lose by next year considering we'll start to get the good vaccines).

 

[Elijah Abrams]

I predict around next year or two, there should be a television special celebrating the end of the COVID-19 pandemic (I'm pretty sure the coronavirus will lose by next year considering we'll start to get the good vaccines).

I'd prefer the pandemic be erased from history when it's over.

 

[wonderfly]

I've never heard of schools starting in July. Maybe that's a private school thing, not public schools?

Over the past few years, my kids school has always started the 2nd week of August. This year, because of how much "prep" is going into things, school isn't starting until the last week of August. It's going to be the longest summer they've had in years.

 

[Asa]

The Coronavirus Is Never Going Away

No matter what happens now, the virus will continue to circulate around the world.

www.theatlantic.com

Really?

 

[Light Lucario]

I predict around next year or two, there should be a television special celebrating the end of the COVID-19 pandemic (I'm pretty sure the coronavirus will lose by next year considering we'll start to get the good vaccines).

That's really assuming a lot, especially when we aren't sure when we'll get the "good vaccines." Stuff like that takes a lot of time, especially when they can't put out any potentially dangerous vaccines for something like this.

I'd prefer the pandemic be erased from history when it's over.

That would be virtually impossible. As much as I'm sure a lot of people would like to forget about the pandemic, it has had too much of a huge impact for it to be erased from history. People aren't going to forget this for a number of reasons.

I've never heard of schools starting in July. Maybe that's a private school thing, not public schools?

Over the past few years, my kids school has always started the 2nd week of August. This year, because of how much "prep" is going into things, school isn't starting until the last week of August. It's going to be the longest summer they've had in years.

I've gone to two private schools and I never started the new terms in July. That's still the middle of summer break. The earliest school started for me was around the third week of August, but summer break would usually start in the middle of May instead of June too.

 

[Dr.Pepper]

On the subject of schools starting, I think it was a district in Tennessee that was starting in July. I’ve always heard that many districts in the east and south start in mid-August, but that’s because they get out around Memorial Day. In Washington state, every district I’ve been in, worked for, or have known somebody from have started around Labor Day. But then again we don’t get out until mid to late June.

The Coronavirus Is Never Going Away

No matter what happens now, the virus will continue to circulate around the world.

www.theatlantic.com

Really?

Yes really. It is not going to be a pandemic forever, but is something that will always be out there, like the bubonic plague.

 

[Asa]

100 days without Covid-19: How NZ got rid of virus

There are key lessons from New Zealand's Covid-19 experience.

www.nzherald.co.nz

 

[Low Spark of Lyman]

Georgia on my mind:

Coronavirus cases lead over 800 to quarantine in Georgia school district where masks not required

Cherokee County School District drew attention last week when students without masks posed for a group photo.

www.nbcnews.com

Also, Russia claims to have the first COVID-19 vaccine approved (via Gamaleya Institute, as mentioned earlier in this thread), yet many scientists are understandably skeptical due to unfinished testing.

 

[SweetShop209]

New York Comic Con Going Online Only With Live YouTube Sessions

New York Comic Con will partner with YouTube to stream live panels to fans from Oct. 8 to Oct. 11 in place of its original in-person plans.

variety.com

Just like with San Diego Comic Con a few weeks ago, New York Comic Con will be virtual this year. It's from October 8-11.

 

[RandomMe]

The Russian vaccine is symbolically enough named Sputnik, after the satellite of the same name.

 

[Asa]

It is not going to be a pandemic forever.

Oh, thank goodness.