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* New polling…
A majority of voters oppose the Trump administration’s demand that K-12 schools and day care centers be fully opened for in-person instruction during the coming academic year, according to a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.
In addition, a decisive 65 percent of voters rejected President Donald Trump’s threat to cut federal funding for schools that don’t reopen, agreeing instead that schools need resources for continued virtual learning or other types of instruction. Only 22 percent said schools should have their federal money reduced if they don’t fully reopen. […]
Fifty-three percent of voters say they are somewhat or strongly opposed to fully reopening day cares or K-12 schools, while a slightly smaller 50 percent say they are opposed to fully reopening colleges and universities. […]
Women were slightly more opposed (53 percent) than men (47 percent) to colleges and universities fully reopening, as well, while 53 percent of suburbanites opposed the idea, somewhat or strongly.
The poll surveyed 1,992 registered voters between July 10 and 12 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Toplines are here.
* I told you about this poll yesterday…
* Meanwhile, here’s a press release…
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) announced on July 14, 2020 that it will defer to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), and the Governor’s Office on all of its Return To Play Guidelines moving forward.
“There is an unprecedented level of planning for this school year due to COVID-19, and we have come to understand that there needs to be a greater consistency between the guidelines for returning to learn and returning to interscholastic athletics,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “Some of the recommendations by the IHSA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) and directives from IDPH have come into direct conflict with each other, especially as it relates to the use of masks by student-athletes. As a result, we feel it is important to let IDPH and ISBE provide a consistent direction for our membership moving forward. We will wait on direction from these organizations for further guidance on Return to Play plans for the 2020-21 school year.”
* Press release…
The Lake County Health Department continues to work closely with Lake Zurich School District 95 in response to multiple cases of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) identified last week among participants of high school athletic camps and recent social gatherings. In the past week, 36 Lake Zurich High School students have tested positive for COVID-19, and all participants of Lake Zurich High School athletic camps are being instructed to self-quarantine for 14 days from their last possible exposure. […]
On Sunday, July 12, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) contracted with a private company to run a mobile testing site at Lake Zurich High School. Despite high demand for testing which resulted in long wait times, 355 individuals were tested throughout the day.
* And then there’s this problem…
A dramatic slowdown in testing turnaround times is undermining the U.S. response to the coronavirus, rendering tools like contact tracing almost useless in some instances.
Quest Diagnostics, one of the main companies doing coronavirus testing, said Monday that “soaring demand” due to the surge in cases across the South and Southwest had pushed back their average turnaround time for getting results of a coronavirus test to at least seven days for all but the highest priority patients.
LabCorp, another major testing company, said last week that its turnaround times were only slightly better, at four to six days, because of “significant increases in testing demand and constraints in the availability of supplies and equipment.”
The longer delays from previous waits of around two days as recently as late June in getting test results make it much harder to slow the spread of the virus. The fundamental strategy to help contain the virus is to test people quickly so that those who test positive can isolate. Contact tracers can then reach out to people who have been in contact with those infected to avoid spreading the virus on to others.
In Dallas, Texas, there’s a wait of up to 8-10 days for some facilities.
* Related…
* Trump Administration Strips C.D.C. of Control of Coronavirus Data - Hospitals have been ordered to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and send all patient information to a central database in Washington, raising questions about transparency.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jul 15, 20 @ 11:06 am
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My kids went back to daycare and summer camp two weeks ago. Both have been home all week because the youngest got the sniffles on Saturday. That isn’t a criticism of the policy. Just to point out that these institutions have to treat every unknown sickness as COVID and when it takes 5-7 days to get a test result, even a rash of common colds is going to cause major disruptions for students, staff, parents and their employers alike. It’s going to be chaos
Comment by Bob Loblaw Wednesday, Jul 15, 20 @ 11:11 am
We are all now paying for the president’s failure to ramp up testing, PPE production and anything resembling a national strategy. Talk of individual responsibility all you want, but as a society, two heads are better than one.
Comment by Socially DIstant Watcher Wednesday, Jul 15, 20 @ 11:16 am
its hard to believe that we have blown this so badly. not necessarily Illinois, but the united states in general. the outbreaks in other states will inform the caution that illinois officials exercise while making decisions. the fact that we may not have students in the classroom this fall speaks to the mixed messages sent from POTUS. there is no trust that people are safe, and this is felt by teachers, parents, and students. we could have followed the success found in other countries, but we failed. this will not be good for my kids. they need to be in the classroom, but simply saying that doesn’t make the virus go away, no matter how much POTUS believes this to be the case. very sad.
Comment by 32nd warder Wednesday, Jul 15, 20 @ 11:16 am
My sister has been waiting 10 days from CVS so she can return to work.
We took the test at CVS approximately a month ago and got ours back in 2 days.
Comment by James the Intolerant Wednesday, Jul 15, 20 @ 11:17 am
And the federal government STILL isn’t moving on any of this. Quite the contrary. Now they are screening all COVID data through political channels, not public health. What could possibly go wrong with that plan?
Criminal incompetence from the President on down.
Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Jul 15, 20 @ 11:21 am
I get that children need to have the interaction that schools provide for their development, but it is virtually impossible to have kindergarteners and first graders social distance and wear masks, let alone toddlers at day care centers.
Comment by pool boy Wednesday, Jul 15, 20 @ 11:31 am
It’s not that the federal government isn’t doing their job. That’s almost a given at this point. It’s that it is now deliberately contradicting the science and medical community and making a bad situation far worse. Our response as a nation is on par with the poorest countries in the world. Worse yet it’s being driven by a minority of individuals. I’d like to believe that we’ll start to rectify this in November but that’s a long way off.
Comment by Pundent Wednesday, Jul 15, 20 @ 11:36 am
Headline - If you want to know why coronavirus is spiking in the US, compare Florida with Illinois
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/coronavirus-cases-usa-states-florida-illinois-covid-19-donald-trump-a9619286.html
Comment by OutHereInTheMiddle Wednesday, Jul 15, 20 @ 11:41 am
No worries, with the WH getting Covid data first, instead of the CDC, I’m sure the statistics will improve dramatically.
Comment by nadia Wednesday, Jul 15, 20 @ 11:50 am
I read today that in Florida 31% of children (age 17 and under) who were tested were positive for the virus.S
In the face of such statistics, it is unfathomable to me that anyone would think “fully reopening for in-person instruction” is appropriate.
Comment by JoanP Wednesday, Jul 15, 20 @ 12:22 pm
I never thought we’d see a time when putting our children first means putting them on the front lines for a pandemic. Wow, just wow.
Comment by Froganon Wednesday, Jul 15, 20 @ 12:44 pm
Just took 14 days for me to get test results from a clinic in River North. Not OK.
Comment by Arnold Wednesday, Jul 15, 20 @ 2:14 pm