Pennsylvania finally wins against PA Dept. of Ed to educate poor children


Finally a Pennsylvania Victory for the States K12 Children

https://fundourschoolspa.org


Every child in Pennsylvania has the right to a public education that prepares them for college and career.

But our legislative leaders in Harrisburg have created a school funding system where the students who need the most get the least, because of where they live.

It’s wrong. It’s unconstitutional. And now, school districts and parents have taken the state to court and WON.

A four-month trial concluded on March 10.

William Penn School District et al. v. PA Dept. of Education et al., visit FundOurSchoolsPA.org, a joint online project of the Education Law Center-PA and the Public Interest Law Center.
https://www.fundourschoolspa.org/

What the Constitution Requires
In writing the education clause of the Constitution, petitioners have argued, the drafters used the phrase “thorough and efficient” to mean “complete” and “effective,” and their constitutional language from 1874 was aimed at ensuring a right for all children to a quality education that prepares them to meet the demands of the time and to function as active citizens in a democracy.

The language of the court order:

1. The Education Clause, article III, section 14 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, requires that every student receive a meaningful opportunity to succeed academically, socially, and civically, which requires that all students have access to a comprehensive, effective, and contemporary system of public education;

2. Respondents have not fulfilled their obligations to all children under the Education Clause in violation of the rights of Petitioners;

3. Education is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Pennsylvania Constitution to all school-age children residing in the Commonwealth;

4. Article III, section 32 of the Pennsylvania Constitution imposes upon Respondents an obligation to provide a system of public education that does not discriminate against students based on the level of income and value of taxable property in their school districts;

5. Students who reside in school districts with low property values and incomes are deprived of the same opportunities and resources as students who reside in school districts with high property values and incomes;

6. The disparity among school districts with high property values and incomes and school districts with low property values and incomes is not justified by any compelling government interest nor is it rationally related to any legitimate government objective; and

7. As a result of these disparities, Petitioners and students attending low-wealth districts are being deprived of equal protection of law.

The case William Penn School District et al. v. Pennsylvania Department of Education et al. was filed in 2014 by six Pennsylvania school districts (William Penn, Greater Johnstown, Lancaster, Panther Valley, Shenandoah Valley, and Wilkes-Barre Area), the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools, the NAACP-PA State Conference, and a group of public school parents. They filed suit in Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court against state legislative leaders, state education officials, and the governor for failing to uphold the General Assembly’s constitutional obligation to provide a “thorough and efficient” system of public education. Petitioners also assert that the massive inequality this system fuels between poor and wealthy school districts discriminates against students in low-wealth communities, violating their right to equal protection in the state Constitution.

The school districts and other petitioners in the case are represented by the Education Law Center – PA, the Public Interest Law Center, and O’Melveny. During a four-month trial before Judge Cohn Jubelirer that concluded in March, witnesses explained in detail the deficiencies of the current system and the extreme, egregious disparities between school districts in Pennsylvania.

BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE BILL, K12 COVID, The Big Read

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BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE BILL

On November 5, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a once-in-a-generation investment in the nation’s physical infrastructure and competitiveness.  This bipartisan legislation will rebuild roads, bridges, ports, and rail; expand access to clean drinking water; help ensure every American has access to high-speed internet; address the climate crisis and advance environmental justice; and support communities that too often have been left behind.  Combined with President Biden’s Build Back Better framework, it will also add, on average, 1.5 million jobs per year for the next 10 years (fact sheets 1 and 2).

Among the highlights for education:

  • Clean water.  Currently, up to 10 million households and 400,000 schools and child care centers lack safe drinking water.  The legislation invests $55 billion to expand access to clean drinking water, eliminate the nation’s lead service lines, and help clean up the toxic chemical PFAS.
  • Broadband access and affordability.  Reliable, high-speed internet is necessary for Americans to do their jobs, participate equally in school learning, and stay connected.  Yet, more than 30 million Americans live in areas where there is no broadband infrastructure that provides minimally acceptable speeds.  The legislation invests $65 billion to help ensure that every American has access to reliable, high-speed internet through an investment in broadband infrastructure deployment.  It will also help lower prices for service and help close the digital divide.
  • Clean school buses.  The legislation will deliver thousands of electric school buses, replacing the yellow school bus fleet.  Investments in zero- and low-emission public transit will drive demand for American-made batteries and vehicles, creating jobs and supporting domestic manufacturing.  It will also help the more than 25 million children and thousands of bus drivers who breathe polluted air on bus rides.  Air pollution is linked to asthma and other health issues that cause students to miss school.

PROMOTE DEMOCRACY AND PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION

Destroying Democracy Is Central to the Privatization of Public Goods

COVID

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officially recommends children ages 5- to 11-years-old be vaccinated against COVID-19 with the Pfizer-BioNtech pediatric vaccine.  This recommendation comes after months of rigorous review and the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to authorize emergency use of the vaccine for children.  The COVID-19 vaccine is the best way to keep students safe and protect them against COVID-19, including the delta variant.

Starting this week, the pediatric vaccination program is fully up and running, and there are approximately 20,000 convenient locations where families can go to get their children vaccinated, with more sites coming online in the weeks ahead.  The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services are supporting schools and communities with setting up vaccine solutions that work best for families, including hosting thousands of school-located vaccine clinics; matching school districts with local pharmacy providers; and supporting collaboration between schools, families, and local pediatricians and children’s hospitals.  A joint letter from the agencies delineates three requests of school communities and shares information and resources to help fulfill them.  (Note: First Lady Dr. Jill Biden recently visited a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia — which was the first school to administer the polio vaccine in 1954.)

The Department of Education and CDC are also providing resources to states and schools for testing and other mitigation efforts.  A partnership among the agencies and the Rockefeller Foundation specifically aims to accelerate school-based screening testing for students and staff.  It is making staff available to state health departments to coordinate, execute, and expand school-based testing, contact tracing/case investigation, and related public health activities; holding weekly “office hours” to help schools set up and sustain testing programs; and releasing guidance for districts on using American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to provide incentives to families to participate in testing programs.

Meanwhile, the Department, in collaboration with CDC, launched a COVID-19 data dashboard to help the public track the impact of COVID-19 on K-12 schools.  The dashboard aggregates — in one location — data on pediatric cases, youth vaccination rates, and schools operating in-person, remotely, or a hybrid of those two.  Data will be updated each week, and, where possible, the information is presented geographically, so that educators and families can understand the impact within their communities.

  1. Coronavirus and the Heart | Harvard Medical School
  2. Like Venom Coursing Through the Body: Mechanism Driving COVID-19 Mortality Identified
  3. Creating dangerous viruses in the lab is a bad way to guard against future pandemics
  4. Study of 6.2 Million Patients Reveals No Serious Health Effects Linked to mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines
  5. FDA approves pill with sensor that digitally tracks if patients have ingested their medication

Biden administration orders federal agencies to fix hundreds of cyber flaws
The federal government has been told to go on a security patching spree. Thanks to a new CISA directive out this week, agencies have six months to fix hundreds of bugs across their networks — and just two weeks to fix bugs from 2021. Each agency patches their own stuff, so some agencies may have fewer bugs to fix than others. The full catalog of vulnerabilities are here (which might also be useful for folks in the private sector).

COVID-19 conspiracy theories thrive on social media platforms, EXCEPT Twitter

#DELETEFACEBOOK
500 doctors demand Facebook disclose data about COVID misinformation

Facebook spent $23.4 million in 2019 on Zuckerberg’s security, private air travel Facebook released its latest regulatory filing that shows executive compensation for 2019.#DeleteFacebook

MILITARY  – NO SHOT NO PROMOTION 

WON’T ALLOW YOU TO REUP CAUSE YOU’LL BE OUT.

Navy prepares to begin discharging sailors who refuse COVID-19 vaccine

Oklahoma Guard goes rogue, rejects COVID vaccine mandate after sudden change of command

U.S. Cyber Command, the NSA sister agency that carries out offensive cyber operations, hijacked the servers of the REvil ransomware group earlier this year. But the compromise wasn’t detected until Cybercom blocked its website traffic a month ago. The operation wasn’t a hack or a takedown but crucially “deprived the criminals of the platform they used to extort their victims.” Well that’s one way to make sure they don’t get paid. One of the group’s leaders confirmed domains were “hijacked from REvil,” and that the authorities were looking for them. “Good luck everyone, I’m off,” the hacker wrote. REvil was behind the ransomware attacks on JBS, Travelex, and Kaseya. The AP has a detailed interview with deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco, who said following the U.S.-Russia tensions over cyberattacks that the U.S. has “not seen a material change in the landscape.”
https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/18/revil-ransomware-group-goes-dark-after-its-tor-sites-were-hijacked/

AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN

Last week, the Department announced approval of two more American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund state plans — California and Colorado — and distributed remaining ARP ESSER funding to those jurisdictions.  The plans detail how states are using and intend to use ARP ESSER funds to safely reopen and sustain the operations of schools and classrooms and address the essential needs of students, including by equitably expanding educational opportunities for students disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.  Earlier this year, the agency distributed two-thirds of ARP ESSER funding, or $81 billion, to all 50 states and the District of Columbia.  The remaining funding is being made available to states once plans are approved.  To date, 46 plans have been approved (see state-by-state press releases and highlights online).

THE BIG READ

The National Endowment for the Arts’ (NEA) The Big Read, established in 2016, supports Americans reading and discussing a single book in their communities.  Local governments, libraries, school districts, colleges and universities, and non-profit organizations are encouraged to apply for one of an estimated 75 grants to be awarded for programming occurring between September 2022 and June 2023.  Besides the grant, communities will receive resources, including reader’s guides, teacher’s guides, and audio guides featuring commentary from artists, educators, and public figures, and publicity materials.

For this cycle, communities will choose from 15 titles:

  • The Bear(novel) by Andrew Krivak
  • The Best We Could Do(graphic memoir) by Thi Bui
  • Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?(graphic memoir) by Roz Chast
  • Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude(poetry) by Ross Gay
  • Circe(novel) by Madeline Miller
  • The Cold Millions(novel) by Jess Walter
  • Deaf Republic(poetry) by Ilya Kaminsky
  • Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth(memoir) by Sarah Smarsh
  • Homegoing(novel) by Yaa Gyasi
  • Infinite Country(novel) by Patricia Engel
  • Interior Chinatown(novel) by Charles Yu
  • Nothing to See Here(novel) by Kevin Wilson
  • Postcolonial Love Poem(poetry) by Natalie Diaz
  • Sitting Pretty: The View from my Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body(memoir-in-essays) by Rebekah Taussig
  • There, There(novel) by Tommy Orange

The application deadline is January 26, 2022.

JOB FREE EDUCATION

IBM will offer free COBOL training to address overloaded unemployment systems

Jazz Study Looks for the Source of Creativity in the Brain | Technology Networks

Democratic Government can deliver for its people

A DEMOCRAT PRESIDENT CAN DO THIS ALL THIS.

! DEMOCRATS GOT RID OF BETSY DEVOSS A CRIMINAL THUG  !

  1. DEMOCRATS PLANNED, ORGANIZED AND DELIVERED the distribution of THE  COVID-19 vaccine  to 100 million people.
    GET YOUR VACCINE If you can’t connect with help from a senior center or church, call your local public library. Ask to speak to a reference librarian, or another librarian on duty. They are usually plugged in to community resources, and many libraries even host their own awesome tech support clinics.
  2. DEMOCRATS Delivered checks – $$$$ – money – to  families who are broke
  3. DEMOCRATS Transformed  investments to rescue and rebuild the Green Economy. If more people work from home, they can live farther away from downtown, reducing the cost of housing in cities — and reducing pollution — in those areas. Commercial spaces can be turned into parks. Businesses that rely on workers’ spending will adjust to the new configuration.
  4.  DEMOCRATS helped a majority of K-8 schools reopen for in-person learning
  5. DEMOCRATS Provided the $$$$ money for child care  for preK-12 schools

BIDEN NEEDS TO ABOLISH STUDENT LOAN DEBT !

DEMOCRATS OFFER EDUCATION TO USA

The American Families Plan guarantees four additional years of public education for every person in America — starting as early as we can.  We add two years of universal, high-quality preschool for every 3- and 4- year-old in America.  The research shows that when a young child goes to school — not day care — they are far more likely to graduate from high school. Then we add two years of free community college.  And we will increase Pell Grants and investment in Historically Black Colleges and Universities [HBCUs], Tribal colleges, and [other] minority-serving institutions.”

Many professionals begin their career at a local community college. Eileen Collins, @NASA‘s first female shuttle commander, attended Corning Community College where she earned an associate degree before going on to earn her bachelor’s and master’s at Syracuse and Stanford.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved the nominations of Cindy Marten to be Deputy Secretary of Education and James Kvaal to be Under Secretary of Education, sending them to the full Senate.

President Biden sent the Senate his nominations of Gwen Graham as the Department’s Assistant Secretary for Legislation and Congressional Affairs and Roberto Rodriguez as the Department’s Assistant Secretary of Planning, Evaluation, and Development, and Secretary Cardona issued statements of support (1 and 2).

May 25, from 1 to 2:15 p.m. ET, please join the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for a virtual event with analysis and discussion of the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science results for grades 4, 8, and 12.

There are so many incredibly ignorant people in America. It is ultimately sad & pathetic. THIS is why K12 Public Education is IMPORTANT. The United States need K12 to teach what FASCISM is, and what it looks like. American Citizens need to be able to See It, Name It, and Defend against it. The embarrassing Trump loyalty doesn’t make sense when you think of him as a losing candidate, but makes perfect sense when you think of him as a mob boss, TRYING TO OVERTHROW AN ELECTION.

THE BIG LIE — The. Election. Was. Not. Stolen.

“Trial by combat.” Oregon GOP state rep Mike Nearman is charged with official misconduct and criminal tresspass. He was caught on cameras letting protesters into the Oregon Capitol who attacked police with bear spray, while others assaulted reporters and broke glass doors. Seditionists and traitors are breaking the law. Roger Stone, Paxton, Cruz, and Cawthorne, Mo Brooks & Giuliani can go to prison for their pre-insurrection speeches. Newsmax has issued a retraction and apology after it falsely accused Dominion Voting Systems and one of its employees of manipulating 2020 election results.

The American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan — once-in-a-generation investments in the nation’s future.  The American Jobs Plan will create millions of good jobs, rebuild the country’s physical infrastructure and workforce, and spark innovation and manufacturing here at home.  The American Families Plan is an investment in children and families — helping families cover basic expenses, lowering health insurance premiums, and continuing the American Rescue Plan’s (ARP) historic reductions in child poverty.

DEMOCRATS Biden on supporting unions, raising minimum wage and equal pay

Union’s evidence in Amazon vote ‘could be grounds for overturning election’, U.S. Labor Board says

ARP Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund.  This application supports states in describing how they will use federal resources to continue to reopen schools, sustain operations, and support students — particularly those most impacted by the pandemic.  Last month, states received access to two-thirds of their ARP ESSER allocation, or $81 billion.  After the final one-third is made available, upon approval of their plans, states will have received access to nearly $122 billion (Secretary Cardona’s letter to Chief State School Officers and fact sheet).

States must submit their ARP ESSER applications by June 7, and the Department will approve applications and distribute remaining funds expeditiously once plans are received and reviewed. interim final requirements with additional details.

$800 million ARP ESSER Homeless Children and Youth Fund and distributed $200 million in funding.

Wrap-around services in light of the impact of the pandemic, and provide assistance to enable homeless students to attend school and fully participate in school activities, including in-person instruction this spring and upcoming summer learning and enrichment programming.

Critical federal investments for homeless students

The Department launched the Summer Learning and Enrichment Collaborative, a professional learning community of 46 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, three territories, and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) working together to use federal relief funding to support as many students as possible through educational and enriching summer programming.

The Department of Agriculture announced a new effort to provide adequate nutrition to more than 30 million children over the summer and extended a broad range of flexibilities (through June 20, 2022) to allow schools to return to serving healthy meals in the fall.

On May 12, eligible households will be able to enroll in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Emergency Broadband Benefit Program to receive a monthly discount off the cost of broadband service from an approved provider.  The program is open to households with children receiving free or reduced-price lunch or school breakfast and Pell Grant recipients.

Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Suzanne Goldberg outlined current efforts to address questions regarding the 2020-21 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC).  The Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recognizes that the pandemic has affected the way that many schools provide instruction.  To assist districts and schools that have offered virtual instruction for all or part of the school year, OCR has added new instructions and directional indicators to district- and school-level forms, clarifying how to respond to in-person, virtual, and hybrid educational environments.  (Note: For technical assistance, superintendents may reach out to the CRDC’s Partner Support Center at cr**@*****rp.com or 855-255-6901.)

The list of semifinalists for the 2021 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program, which honors some of the nation’s most distinguished graduating high school seniors.

Special Education Programs (OSEP) released two Fast Facts that take a closer look at the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Section 618 data and Part B personnel.

Many schools have developed integrated student support systems to help ensure students’ social, emotional, physical, mental health, and academic needs are better met. See a few examples in Vol. 2 of the COVID-19 Handbook:

WHAT DO REPUBLICANS OFFER?

SEE ABOVE “THE BIG LIE”

HEAR: RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PETRO DOLLAR

READ: Uncovering The Hidden Costs Of The Petrodollar

RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE RUSSIANS TO UNDERMINE DEMOCRACY

JANUARY 6TH OVERTHROWING THE GOVERNMENT

INCURRING DEBT MAKING AMERICANS PAY FOR REPUBLICAN CRIMINALS IN JAIL

THE ONLY THING REPUBLICANS PASSED WAS TO REDUCE THE TAX RATE FOR THE  1% AND BUILD A WALL.

REPUBLICANS NEVER EVER SUBMITTED A  HEALTH CARE PLAN FOR ANYONE

NO VACCINATION PLAN AT ALL FOR THE COUNTRY

BASICALLY NOTHING FOR YOU! THEY ARE THE PARTY OF DEATH.

K-12 COVID-19 (Coronavirus) information and resources web page for schools and school personnel.

The Educational CyberPlayGround ® Inc.

https://edu-cyberpg.com/

K-12 COVID-19 (Coronavirus) information and resources web page for schools and school personnel.

MOST CURRENT information on COVID-19 (primarily from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]), as well as guidance and resources for everyday disease prevention strategies. Any questions for the Department may be directed to CO******@**.gov

#K12Covid-19 DIRECTIONS FOR LIVING
TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY
– SELF ISOLATE

* The nation’s top expert on infectious diseases said it would be
nice if a global-health unit that President Donald Trump scrapped
were still around.
* Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told House lawmakers, “It would
be nice if the office were still there.”
* Fauci said that the bottom line for the coronavirus outbreak in
the US is that “it’s going to get worse.”

 

IT IS HERE

IT IS IN YOUR TOWN

IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

*******************

Donald’s mom Mary Tells Donald to
 PROTECT OTHER PEOPLE !!!!!

– STAY HOME
– STOP SHAKING HANDS

– DON’T SHAKE HANDS
– STOP BUMPING FISTS

CLEAN YOUR MONEY

MONEY  Spray Lysol on your paper money on both sides
-Spray your wallet
– Wash your coins
The Bank of Korea said it is putting currency notes through a high-heat process and then keeping them in a safe for 14 days, before releasing them back into circulation, according to a Reuters. That should be enough time to remove any trace of the virus, the bank said.

Routine procedures for disinfecting banknotes have been stepped up in the country. Those involve heating notes 150 degrees Celsius for a few seconds, a bank official told Reuters. Another way to kill germs is to expose the notes to ultraviolet light.

DON’T ACT LIKE PRESIDENT TRUMP

PROTECT OTHER PEOPLE – STOP HUGGING PEOPLE
So far, Trump has had  at least 4 direct contacts that Trump has had to people who have come down with Coronavirus. He needs to be tested. Donald Trump ‘s staggering and deadly incompetence on #coronavirus didn’t happen accidentally. Trump did not push for early testing ‘because higher numbers would harm his re-election chances. Trump and Pence are making a show of not being tested to cover up the fact that they’re artifically depressing the #COVID19 numbers by making tests scarce.

#TyphoidTrumpy
Here’s Trump with Brazilian President Bolsanaro, who just tested positive for
#COVID19. Trump has also been exposed by Bolsanaro’s staff, someone at CPAC, and multiple GOP congressmen who are now in quarantine. Brazilian president and staff did not bring it with them. They contracted it while here. CPAC exposure came first. Trump and Pence are making a show of not being tested to cover up the fact that they’re artifically depressing the #COVID19 numbers by making tests scarce,

#coronapocalypse #SelfQuarantine

Trump is preventing states from broadening Medicaid coverage as an emergency response to the coronavirus. His anti-poor ideology takes precedence over public health. Trump administration blocks states from using Medicaid to respond to coronavirus crisis

Trump fears coronavirus  emergency declaration will cause him to lose the election – he cares about money and not people. The road to this moment was paved by the GOP’s decades-long war on government. Trump should declare an emergency, bringing in the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate and unleashing billions of dollars for struggling states. Moscow Mitch McConnell says he won’t look at House relief bill for coronavirus for another 12 days.

 WASH YOUR HANDS AND SING HAPPY BIRTHDAY

– WHEN THE SONG IS DONE YOU ARE DONE

– WASH YOUR HANDS,  UP TO YOUR WRISTS AND BETWEEN YOUR FINGERS

MAKE YOUR OWN HAND SANITIZER
USE SOME KIND OF ALOE GEL
AND RUBBING AlCOHOL
40% GEL TO 60% ALCOHOL OR IT WON’T WORK!

2/3 cup 99% rubbing alcohol to 1/3 cup aloe vera gel
Mix together in a bowl then pour into an empty bottle.

 SELF ISOLATE

DON’T GO WHERE THERE IS A LOT OF PEOPLE
(PARADES – STADIUMS – THEATERS – FESTIVALS )

STAND AWAY FROM OTHER PEOPLE

SIT AWAY FROM OTHER PEOPLE

Incubation period for this virus is 5-12 days. It CAN be longer.

– YOU REALLY DON’T HAVE TO GO ANYWHERE TO DO ANYTHING
DO NOT get stranded on a coronavirus-infected cruise ship no matter how low they price the trip.

– GO TO THE STORE  WHEN  LESS PEOPLE ARE AROUND

IF ANNE FRANK DID IT FOR 2 YEARS– YOU CAN DO IT FOR 2 MONTHS

Think of the Story of Anne Frank. She hid for 2 years in a three-story space entered from a landing above the Opekta offices on the Prinsengracht, where some of his most trusted employees would be their helpers.

PROTECT OTHER PEOPLE !!!!!

– WEAR A MASK OR WEAR A SCARF AROUND
YOUR NOSE AND MOUTH

PROTECT OTHER PEOPLE FROM YOU

– WHEN YOU COUGH OR SNEEZE
– YOUR OWN DIRTY HANDS
– don’t TOUCH YOUR MOUTH, NOSE or eyes

IF YOU DON’T OWN A MASK USE A SCARF

How To Wrap Face With Scarf/Dupatta In Just 1Minute // 5 easy ways to wear a scarf

Prepare for online teaching

Coronavirus on the high seas: Why the U.S. can’t touch cruise lines

The coronavirus reveals the power of industry and holes in regulation.

Eric Feigl-Ding @DrEricDing Epidemiologist / Health Economist / Senior Fellow @FAScientists V.Scientist @Harvard/ Harvard ‘07 J.Hopkins ‘04 / NYT-feat

#COVID19 Updates

Do you work at the CDC and have COVID-19 response information the government won’t share? Here’s how to contact news organizations using

DO NOT EXTRAPOLATE: WHO’s Dr Aylward warns that China has very “sophisticated health care” with not just tons of ventilators but also *ECMO* (see below). Very few countries can match China’s volume of beds+technology to save #COVID19 patients. Italy will be closer comparison.

What happens if you DO get coronavirus (many of us will), only advice for how to try to AVOID it. So as your friendly neighborhood RN, a wee thread:

Things you should *actually* buy ahead of time (Erm, not sure what the obsession with toilet paper is?): Kleenex, Acetaminophen (Tylenol) in 350 mg tablets, Ibuprofen (Advil) in 200 mg tablets, Mucinex, Robitussin or DayQuil/NyQuil, whatever your cough medicine of choice is.

If you don’t have a humidifier, that would also be a good thing to get. (You can also just turn the shower on hot and sit in the bathroom breathing in the steam). Also a good time to make a big batch of your favorite soup to freeze and have on hand.

If you have a history of asthma and you have a prescription inhaler, make sure the one you have isn’t expired and refill it/get a new one if it is.

You basically just want to prepare as though you know you’re going to get a nasty respiratory bug like bronchitis or pneumonia. You just have the foresight to know it’s coming.

For symptom management, use the meds I mentioned.

For a fever over 101, alternate Tylenol and Advil so you’re taking a dose of one or the other every 3 hours. Use both cough suppressants and expectorants (most cough meds have both). Drink a ton, hydrate hydrate. Rest lots.

You should not be leaving your house except to go to the doctor, and if you do, wear a mask (regular is fine, you don’t need an N95). You DO NOT NEED TO GO TO THE ER unless you are having trouble breathing or your fever is very high and unmanaged with meds.

90% of healthy adult cases thus far have been managed at home with basic rest/hydration/over-the-counter meds. We don’t want to clog the ERs unless you’re actually in distress. The hospital beds will be used for people who actively need oxygen/breathing treatments/IV fluids.

If you have a pre-existing lung condition (COPD, emphysema, lung cancer) or are on immunosuppressants, now is a great time to talk to your PCP or specialist about what they would like you to do if you get sick. They might have plans to get you admitted and bypass the ER entirely.

One major relief to you parents is that kids do VERY well with coronavirus— they usually bounce back in a few days, no one under 18 has died, and almost no kids have required hospitalization (unless they have a lung disease like CF). Just use pediatric dosing of the same meds.

I’m always around via DM if you have questions, and if I don’t have the answer I’ll just tell you to call your doctor. 😉 But feel free to contact me any time. 😘

1/ Frequently clean hands by using alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.

2/ When coughing and sneezing cover mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue – throw issue away immediately and wash hands.

3/ Avoid close contact with anyone that has fever and cough.

You can follow @smasheroteacups.

+++

Tips against :

Up your Vitamin D 2000-5000 IU per day.  Zinc lozengers because Zinc is good against viruses. It shortens the length of the infection.

Adding to the humidifier/shower: you can also boil water in a pot, put your head above it and a towel over your head. This will open airways, especially nose and it makes your throat less dry. It’s what I did when I had the flu but didn’t have a steamer.

Keep your chest & neck covered & warm at all times. Even in bed. Scarves & snoods are also useful for pulling up as impromptu masks.

Sciencey bit: Viruses replicate more readily at lower body temperatures. Cold is a risk factor.

Live-updating GIS dashboard that tracks the COVID-19. It will automatically update every couple hours as new data comes in by pulling info form the CDC, WHO, anda few other global health organizations. It is very powerful, visually interesting, and it really puts the situation in a spatial perspective. It was created by a student at Johns Hopkins.

++

MEANWHILE:

— While the world is focused on #COVID19, billions of #locusts invade East Africa & #Asia. State of emergency in #Somalia. A flight to #Kenya: 24000km² cloud, the equivalent of food for 84M people was devastated. (UN)

THE BUSINESS CASE FOR BITCOIN

This is why Bitcoin was created.
Federal Reserve just printed $500B
People’s Bank of China just printed $79B
European Union just printed $37B
South Korea just printed $10B
Bank of Japan just printed $2B
Britain just printed $39B
Italy just printed $8.4B