Covid-19 coronavirus: Agency says pandemic basics have to be followed or it will get worse

Cadet candidate Daphne Karahalios, of Chicago, has her temperature taken as she arrives at the US Military Academy in West Point, New York. Photo / AP

The resurgence of the coronavirus in the United States ignited fierce debate about whether to reopen schools, as global health officials warned that the pandemic will intensify unless more countries adopt comprehensive plans to combat it.

"If the basics aren't followed, there is only one way this pandemic is going to go," said the director of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. "It's going to get worse and worse and worse."

Debate over the risks the virus poses, and how best to fight it, were spotlighted in Florida after it shattered the record among US states for the largest single-day increase, with more than 15,000 newly confirmed cases.

Officials and health experts in hard-hit Miami pushed back against pressure, both from Governor Ron DeSantis and US President Donald Trump, to bring students back to classrooms next month.

If I can wear an N95 and face shield all day at work at #26weekspregnant taking care of you and your loved ones, you can wear one out in public. #WearADamnMask pic.twitter.com/glNiA51uOS

— Sheena Gupta, MD, MBA (@sheenagupta) July 12, 2020

"We just absolutely cannot risk the health of children, their well-being and safety, or any of our colleagues," said Karla Hernandez-Mats, president of the United Teachers of Dade union and a middle school teacher herself.

"We're probably going to have to go to a full shutdown mode. I can't see the schools reopening except with the 100 per cent virtual model."

Parents have until Thursday to notify the Miami-Dade school district of their decision whether they will send their kids to school this northern autumn or have them study online from home.

"Children can get get the virus in their bodies and get contaminated just like anybody else," said Florida International University epidemiologist Dr Aileen Marty, who has been advising the Miami school district on its reopening plans.

Breaking: Los Angeles and San Diego school districts will be remote-only in the fall. California’s 2 largest public school districts said instruction will be remote-only in the fall, citing concerns that surging coronavirus infections pose too dire a risk for students & teachers. pic.twitter.com/E6DTBeb2RF

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) July 13, 2020

DeSantis has argued that children have not proven to be vectors for the disease and that if retailers like Walmart can be reopened safely, then schools should be able to as well.

But he made those arguments with a notable caveat, saying that each county should make it own decision on reopening in consultation with local health officials.

The debate is hardly limited to Florida.

In Detroit, where summer school classes for hundreds of students opened today, protesters blocked a school bus yard with tree branches.

"When I visited schools this morning I knew we were doing the right thing for children," schools Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said, in a post on Twitter.

"Covid is not going away. Many of our children need face-to-face, direct engagement," he said.

There's no need any longer to try and explain divergence of the case and fatality curves.
There is a need for explaining why there's no adequate response, unacceptable testing capacity and turnaround times, lack of PPE, #stayhome in key states, and a surrender #SARSCoV2 strategy pic.twitter.com/sUlRFiIb4A

— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) July 13, 2020

But lawyer Shanta Driver said she planned to file a lawsuit to stop the in-person instruction.

"I'm not going back until this pandemic is defeated. There is not a safe way to return to school while this virus is spreading uncontained," said teacher Benjamin Royal.

Officials in California's two largest school districts, Los Angeles and San Diego, announced that students will stick to online learning from home when school resumes next month, rather than return to classrooms.

The districts cited research about school safety experiences from around the world, along with state and local health guidance.

"One fact is clear: Those countries that have managed to safely reopen schools have done so with declining infection rates and on-demand testing available. California has neither," the districts said in a joint statement.

Los Angeles, the second largest school district in the US, has about 730,000 students and San Diego serves about 135,000 students.

2/3 of Americans live in states with a high rates of new infections, test-positive %, and hospitalizations.

As the proverb says, the best time to take action to reduce spread in your community is 3 weeks ago. The second best time is today.

— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@ASlavitt) July 13, 2020

In North Carolina, which reported its highest one-day number of cases and hospitalisations, Governor Roy Cooper has asked school districts to prepare three re-opening plans that include options for in-person and fully remote learning. His decision is expected later this week.

But teacher Becky Maxam, whose husband is considered high-risk for the virus because of a genetic heart condition, said she doesn't plan to return if her Charlotte middle school reopens.

"I'm not going back if we're opening up. I can't risk my family," Maxam said. "I think we should be virtual until we find a vaccine or cases go down much more than what they are."

Media briefing on #COVID19 with @DrTedros https://t.co/cgP04Szx3k

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) July 13, 2020

The debate over what to do about schools came as a pair of WHO experts were in China for a mission to trace the origin of the pandemic.

The virus was first detected in central China's city of Wuhan late last year. Beijing had been reluctant to allow a probe but relented after scores of countries called on the WHO to conduct a thorough investigation.

China has argued that the virus might have originated outside of China and has angrily denied allegations that it covered up the scale of the outbreak as infections first began to spread.

Also today, the United Nations warned that the pandemic could cause 130 million more people worldwide to go hungry this year.

"Biden & Obama stopped their testing ... I'm sure you don't want to report it" - Trump absurdly tries to blame Obama for problems w/ testing for Covid-19, which didn't exist until nearly 3 years after he left office. He then falsely suggests the 1918 flu pandemic started in 1917. pic.twitter.com/uXu4NT3sxt

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 13, 2020

UN officials estimate there were about 690 million people in 2019 who went hungry worldwide, with the majority in Asia and Africa.

"While it is too soon to assess the full impact of the lockdowns and other containment measures," the agency said that, at a minimum, another 83 million would go hungry as a result of the pandemic.

The WHO's Tedros said the consequences would be worst for the world's most vulnerable populations. But he noted that the most recent surge in cases had come in the Americas. The United States and Brazil alone account for more than a third of all global deaths from the disease.

"I really do think we could control this, and it's the human element that is so critical. It should be an effort of our country. We should be pulling together when we're in a crisis, and we're definitely not doing it," said University of Florida epidemiologist Cindy Prins.

California, Oregon roll back reopenings as more schools decide to begin year with remote instruction https://t.co/1qm03yjyW0

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 13, 2020

In Japan, more than 30 Marines tested positive at the Futenma US air station on Okinawa, where infections among American service members have rapidly risen to more than 90 since last week. Okinawa is home to more than half of about 50,000 American troops based in Japan.

In other parts of the world, the number of infections has been rising dramatically in India, South Africa and Brazil, whose virus-denying president has tested positive.

India, which has the most confirmed virus cases after the US and Brazil, reported a record daily surge of 28,701 new cases reported in the past 24 hours. Authorities in several cities are reinstating strict lockdowns after attempting to loosen things up to revive an ailing economy.

In South Africa, which accounts for over 40 per cent of all the reported coronavirus cases in Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa reimposed a ban on alcohol sales and a night-time curfew to reduce the number of people needing emergency treatment so hospitals have more beds to treat Covid-19 patients.

- AP