US coronavirus: More students go back to school as Covid-19 cases rise among children and at colleges
Most of the biggest districts reopening Tuesday are starting the school year online only. But some will have students in classrooms — subjecting students and teachers to an experiment that has had mixed results so far.
More than 476,000 children have infected with coronavirus as of August 27, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. In the last two weeks of the study, the number of child cases jumped by 70,330.
Waiting for outcomes from Labor Day weekend
One big factor that could impact how rampantly Covid-19 spreads this fall is the outcomes from Labor Day weekend celebrations.
“In general I thought crowds were down this summer, until we hit Labor Day weekend,” Lefebver said. “As far as walking along the avenue, walking along the beach, being in the ocean, we’re quite on top of each other this weekend.”
Vaccine makers’ pledge could quash Trump’s claim
“This seems to be more of a political stunt than a public health gain. And we need to focus on the science … and let science drive the process.”
The pledge comes after US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn told the Financial Times that the FDA could consider emergency use authorization or approval for a Covid-19 vaccine before critical Phase 3 trials are complete.
The nine companies promised they would “Only submit for approval or emergency use authorization after demonstrating safety and efficacy through a Phase 3 clinical study that is designed and conducted to meet requirements of expert regulatory authorities such as FDA.”
Many health experts have said a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine might not be publicly available until 2021.
What to do before a vaccine
Doctors worry that as the weather cools down, more Americans might start socializing indoors — where coronavirus can spread more easily.
The problem is not everyone is heeding that message, IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray said.
“We’re seeing a rollercoaster in the United States,” Murray said.
“It appears that people are wearing masks and socially distancing more frequently as infections increase, then after a while as infections drop, people let their guard down and stop taking these measures to protect themselves and others — which, of course, leads to more infections. And the potentially deadly cycle starts over again.”
The effectiveness of face masks is obvious in countries that have lower rates of Covid-19 deaths than the US does, said Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine at George Washington University.
CNN’s Annie Grayer, Jacqueline Howard, Naomi Thomas, Lauren Mascarenhas, Jamie Gumbrecht and Maggie Fox contributed to this report.