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“Dr Redfield was referring to early evidence from an ongoing Brown University scan – as well as sighting reports the CDC has received from school districts across the country – which suggest Covid-19 is not spreading at high levels inside kindergarten to grade 12. schools during instruction, ”the CDC spokesperson said.
The tracker currently shows a daily rate of coronavirus cases of 17 per 100,000 students – well below a rate of 1%.
But that’s largely because students aren’t systematically tested, said Emily Oster, economics and public policy professor at Brown who launched the scorecard. No one therefore knows if they are actually infected.
“That’s the biggest problem with all of this reporting,” Oster told CNN. “We know that children can be asymptomatic.”
The website incorporates data that schools and school districts voluntarily publish, as well as data that some report directly to the site, but it is far from complete, Oster said. She said she was surprised Redfield referred to it when he said a growing body of research showed children were not infected at school.
“They’re totally bananas,” she says. “I think we’re doing the best job we can. It’s not my field. It’s crazy.”
The Trump administration’s position has long been that schools should maintain in-person learning when possible. Redfield is not alone – The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr Anthony Fauci, has also said on several occasions that he believes children have a place in school.
“Dr Redfield believes that school may be one of the safest places for kids in Kindergarten to Grade 12 during the Covid-19 pandemic, and that the risk of closing schools from kindergarten to Grade 12 outweighs the risks of keeping them open, ”a CDC spokesperson told CNN.
“In addition to helping advance education, K-12 schools provide nutrition, mental health, socialization, and other services and experiences that are essential for young people in our country.
Oster said she started the website out of personal interest. Her own children go to school in person and she believes it can be done safely. But there is currently no website to his knowledge that supports the argument that children are not infected in school.
“No one collects systematic data and it seems like a huge oversight,” she said.
So she started doing it – but she’s the first to say her data is incomplete.
“If we can get more participation from more states, it can help us understand these patterns and share information about what works and what doesn’t,” Oster said.
“It is clear to me that an organized and federally funded effort in this area would potentially be better. We need more resources on this issue.”
The CDC did not have an immediate comment on Oster’s reaction.
Redfield did not insist that all schools revert to immediate face-to-face teaching
“Dr Redfield encourages communities to make decisions about in-person learning based on levels of transmission in the community and also in school educational settings, which can be much lower than levels of transmission within a community. The CDC spokesperson said.
“Certain extracurricular activities could pose an increased risk of transmission, particularly if physical distance is not maintained and face masks are not worn. The CDC will also analyze data on school transmission and publish its results when available.
The tracker displays data on more than 8.9 million students, including 4 million in person. It shows a daily rate of coronavirus cases of 17 per 100,000 students from October 26 to November 8. Staff case rates are 27 per 100,000, according to the dashboard.
It relies heavily on data from Texas and New York.
The Covid-19 School Response Dashboard is supported by the Association of School Superintendents, the National Association of High School Principals and the National Association of Elementary School Principals. The software company Qualtrics manages the website and the data.
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