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As Labor Day weekend ended, states across America reported a total of less than 25,000 new cases of the coronavirus, marking the smallest total in three months, while deaths from COVID-19 dropped to the lowest level since 20 July, according to the Wall Street Journal analysis of Johns Hopkins University research.
Yet, COVID Fear and Hysteria persists. The spike in outbreaks at some colleges has led administrators to close down classes again, returning to online learning.
On the public school level, some schools across the U.S. have begun to welcome back students amid coronavirus pandemonium, and many kids are facing the stark reality of what an in-person class looks like in the age of the virus.
With a picture speaking a thousand words, the Wall Street Journal ran three photos on its front page this week that showed the first day of public school classes across the U.S.
One picture showed masked five-year-old twins embracing in Augusta, GA, while another showed a girl in kindergarten in Rossmoor, CA. The girl is strolling along in a pink princess dress next to her father. You wouldn’t look twice except for the clear face shield she’s wearing.
The third image showed what appeared to be a school administrator covered with a shield and a mask taking the temperature of a kindergartener outside a school in Brattleboro, VT.
The reopening of schools in the U.S. has been a hot-button issue in Washington. President Trump has insisted Democrats and teachers’ unions are dragging their feet to reopen schools in order to slow the economic recovery from the COVID outbreak.
These unions have said Trump cares little about the health of its members as long as it means a victory for him over Joe Biden in November.
But some schools in the U.S. have opened their doors, including Riverside Elementary School in Elmira, NY.
The Star-Gazette reported that all students and parents wore some kind of facial covering on the first day of classes. Before any student could enter the building, they had to have their temperature checked by a staff member.
“We have hand sanitizer and sinks in every room. We have protocol for students to use soap and water every time they transition or every time they leave the classroom and come back, just to make sure we’re extra careful with things,” said Heather Donovan, the school’s principal.
The report mentioned the school district is going to try out a hybrid model, where children attend in-person classes twice a week and partake in remote learning the other three days. There will be no classes on Wednesdays in order for custodians to thoroughly clean the building.
TRENDPOST: Despite the panic and closing down of colleges, high schools, and elementary schools, no substantial data is being offered to justify the actions.
The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) reported on 18 August: “Though schools that have opened in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Indiana, have had significant outbreaks, no data are being collected about how reopening has led to outbreaks, quarantine protocols, and number of cases.”
Nine states are reportedly collecting data but not making it public. According to an NBC News poll, 15 states said they would “collect data and make it public and seven were still deciding, and the rest did not provide a comment.”
TRENDPOST: Under the New ABnormal, working parents must stay home as millions of children are being forced to learn online from home. The economic stress on parents in the world of the New ABnormal will prove costly.
Furthermore, the added mental stress being imposed on children, who are, by the data, not victims of the virus, will instill them with fear while sapping their creativity.