Covid Updates: 40% Of Hospital Ventilators In Use, & Climbing

How many cases are there in private and parochial schools? Have Bond's contact tracers linked any outbreaks to schools, either private or the charter schools which are full or partial in-person? Ko has told us that kids aren't very good spreaders, so why close schools that are actually functioning? Foote has 11 buildings on 18 acres, and a faculty/student ratio of 7:1, so there is lots of opportunity for safe learning. Just because NHPS cannot get its act together is not a reason for others to give up.

Why does the city report infection rates at 10 - 14 per 100,000 residents - and the state reports daily infection rates as a percent - a number by the way that is only 2.5%. There's also a big difference in 10 and 14 - which is it?

Hi Noteworthy, that is a good question with a lot going on behind the answer.

First, the low numbers like 2.4% and 6.1% are not "infection rate," though some people use that term carelessly. They are the test positivity rate: the percentage of tests given that come back positive. That number tells the state if they are testing enough, and if the case counts are trustworthy (a high test positivity rate would mean there are probably many more cases than are getting counted). The state can drive that number downward with more testing. Besides, just think about it -- if the infection rate really were 2% per day, the virus would blow through the entire population in 50 days!

The larger numbers -- 10 and 14 per day per 100,000 -- come closer to representing the real rate of infection in each community. That is how many new cases there were, re-scaled so that big cities with a lot of cases can be fairly compared to small towns with few. That number jumps around a lot. To smooth it out, they usually use a 7 or 14 day average. The old method was 7 days, but the state is changing to 14. That explains the difference between the 10 and 14 numbers. When cases are rising, including the extra week tends to lower the average because things were slightly better back then. Add the wrinkle that the state reports its 14-day average 5 days late and removes cases in nursing homes, prisons and assisted living facilities.

Understanding all of these nuances shows why "follow the science! trust the data!" can be a problematic slogan if taken naively. Data can be slipperier than you think, and not everything that looks like science actually is.

1644, the verbs in the Health Department's advisory are "evaluate" and "consider". This is prudent. I suspect the infection rate at Foote is very low and there is no need for it to go online. But other private and parochial schools are operating under very different circumstances in terms of space, staffing ratios, and other resources. It is appropriate that they weigh the benefits of in-class instruction with the risks of infection spread, in light of their own circumstances.

Kevin: Come on. Listen between the lines. She is a public official, part politician, trying to publicly shame the schools while maintaining a plausible deniability which you are falling for. If she really wanted to be helpful, why not just phone the principals and headmasters to review their schools' cases? Achievement First's plan calls for everything public health officials call for to slow the spread. Is there evidence that they are not executing? Is there evidence that the measures are not sufficient? Note, England, which, like Europe, has new case rates far worse than ours, is entering a near total shutdown, but schools are being kept open.

My daughter is an art teacher at a private school and just got word they are shutting down for 2 weeks because some adult employee doesn't get...WEAR A MASK AND WASH YOUR HANDS!!!!
Why on earth is this so hard? Why on earth can't we comply? How stupid can we be? As the saying goes though.....i have to stop saying that ppl are taking it as a challenge!!! Idiots!

Yale has less than 50 ventilators?

How many were occupied in April?

How many are occupied in a normal flu season?