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The Pennsylvania Health Secretary said Monday that COVID-19 is spreading at an alarming rate, but the state does not intend to close schools statewide, as it did last spring .
However, the level of COVID-19 prevalent in many counties has the state advising local schools to switch to distance learning or even stop classroom teaching.
“We have absolutely no plans to close a school as happened in the spring, but we could continue to make adjustments to our recommendations to schools,” said Dr Rachel Levine. “Remember, all tips and recommendations are just that. These are not orders and there is local control in Pennsylvania and these decisions are made by local authorities.
The latest state recommendations call on schools to switch to distance learning entirely if the weekly incidence rate of COVID-19 in their county is greater than 100 cases per 100,000 residents or if the rate of COVID-19 testing positive is greater than 10%.
On Monday, 38 counties are above this threshold: Adams, Armstrong, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Bradford, Bucks, Butler, Cambria, Carbon, Center, Clarion, Crawford, Dauphin, Delaware, Elk, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Indiana, Jefferson, Juniata, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Mercer, Mifflin, Montgomery, Northampton, Northumberland, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, Tioga, Union, Venango, Wyoming. That was about a dozen over a week ago.
The Wolf administration said the state’s education and health departments will discuss with local officials the implications of the levels of transmission of the coronavirus.
Still, many school districts in those counties may choose to continue classroom instruction, regardless of the state’s opinion, Mark DiRocco, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators said Monday.
DiRocco noted that districts have the option of knowing the transmission rate in their specific zip code, which may be lower than the county rate. In that case, they might conclude that it is safe to continue teaching in the classroom, he said.
Additionally, if a district or school has low cases among its staff and students, it could conclude that there are additional steps to be taken to prevent COVID-19 without eliminating classroom learning. Or schools can cease classroom instruction at one or more specific schools for about a week, or for a longer period like Thanksgiving during the Christmas holidays, he said.
“That doesn’t mean the district should shut down. But they must weigh the recommendation of the Department of Health, talk to their lawyer, talk to their school board, and then make the decision that is in the best interests of the students and staff, ”said DiRocco. “I think you’re going to see a variety of approaches.”
Official state guidelines to schools indicate that such decisions “require great consideration of local factors, including the size of the school entity, the size of the class, the resources of the school, the proportion of students. staff and students with special needs and underlying health issues, and the ability to accommodate. distance learning with equal access for all students. “
As of Monday, 1,735 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 in Pennsylvania, up from 500 from the previous week and more than 1,000 since early September.
In addition, 52 of the state’s 67 counties have a positive test rate of more than 5%, which means COVID-19 is spreading at an alarming rate. This is 12 more counties than a week ago.
New Jersey announced new restrictions on bars and restaurants on Monday. Levine was asked if Pennsylvania has any new restrictions, or might consider a return to state-imposed spring shutdowns in the red and yellow phase.
She responded that Pennsylvania’s strategy to control COVID-19 centers on containing and mitigating the spread and waiting for a vaccine to prevent it.
“We already have mitigation orders in place. A universal masking order is in place. There are restrictions in terms of indoor capacity for restaurants and on large gatherings both indoors and outdoors, ”she said. “We will continue to enforce and apply them.”
Levine said hospitals in Pennsylvania are not overwhelmed by patients with COVID-19, although some small rural hospitals in the north-central state are “challenged” by the increase in cases.
She said there was an increase in cases in long-term care facilities, but “nothing we saw in the spring.”
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