The virus continues to mutate quickly. Anyone tracking the news is familiar with the new UK strain that is moving around the globe and threatens to become the dominant strain in the US soon. Now, health. Health News Summaries. | Newser
Chesterfield Changes Course, Beginning In-Person Classes
Secondary students, like those who attend Clover Hill High School, may not head back to school buildings until February. But elementary students in Chesterfield County got the go-ahead to return to a five day in-person class schedule. (Photo: Ian Stewart/VPM News)
Prior to Tuesday’s school board meeting, Superintendent Merv Daugherty sent a letter to parents laying out a proposal to return elementary students to full time, in-person learning. He outlined how the next semester should look for the over 60,000 students if the board approves his request.
By a vote of 4 to 1, they did, with Dot Heffron being the lone hold out. Newly elected board Chair Ryan Harter says the board has followed the most recent and available information and relied on medical professionals to help guide their decisions.
In podcast, Dr. Ashish Jha talks vaccine lottery, mass vaccinations, Astra-Zeneca and more
PROVIDENCE – Given the fragmented and delayed rollouts of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown’s School of Public Health, has recommended that a lottery system be used to get more needles into more arms. He said he reached this conclusion after weeks of discussions with public-health experts around the U.S.
“As I heard story after story after story, I realized we were going to see a ton of gaming, it’s going to be less efficient and inequitable, and I think a lot of us felt like this is too complicated,” Jha, , said Tuesday during taping of the 12th episode of “COVID: What Comes Next,” the weekly Providence Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK podcast.
EXPLAINER: Why Rhode Island, the smallest state, has a big virus challenge
A passenger gets swabbed for COVID-19 at a testing site at the convention center in Providence, R.I, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. For a few days in December, the nation s smallest state of Rhode Island was one of the worst places on the planet when it came to new cases of COVID-19 per capita. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
In this Dec. 9, 2020, file photo, a health care worker carries a COVID-19 specimen from a motorist at a drive-thru testing site outside McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, R.I. For a few days in December, the nation s smallest state of Rhode Island was one of the worst places on the planet when it came to new cases of COVID-19 per capita. (AP Photo/David Goldman)