The American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) reported Monday that the second week of August saw more than 121,000 child Covid-19 cases confirmed, the highest number since the peak at the end of January. All told, more than 4.4 million children have tested positive.
And the number of children hospitalized hit a record high this week, exceeding 1,900 for the first time in the pandemic, with pediatric hospitalizations accounting for 2.4% of all U.S. Covid-19 hospitalizations.
Some 10,000 students in Florida’s Hillsborough County school district are now in quarantine after over 1,000 students were confirmed positive for SARS-CoV-2 this week, as the entire state has moved to resume full in-person learning in schools. The school district’s Covid-19 dashboard reports a total surpassing 2,000 cases among teachers, staff, and students.
This is the third-largest school district in Florida, and slightly over 5% of students and employees have either tested positive for Covid-19, or are currently quarantined following possible exposure.
There is understandable eagerness — on the part of kids, parents, and the broader community — to get kids back to school to learn and socialize in person. But will it be done safely? For example, are the kinds of ventilation measures required to make classrooms safer — ventilation upgrades that could reduce sickness for years into the future — being taken? Has vaccine production been ramped up to protect the entire world?
