VOL 1, ISSUE 4
23 August 2021The latest updates on COVID-19, testing, and vaccines curated for L2R school districts.
Back-to-School Checklist
Cases are once again surging as we prepare for return to full-time,
in-person learning.
It’s not exactly where we hoped to be right now, but it’s where we are. If we stay vigilant and maintain layers of safety strategies, L2R schools can be the model for safe and sustainable in-person learning this year. Your community depends on you. You can depend on us to prepare for another unprecedented school year.
Let us help you and your team tick all the boxes on your L2R Back-to-School Checklist:
Confirm that every school building is stocked with test kits
Make sure that at least one person at each building is trained to use these test kits
Fully transition to a shallow nasal swab for sample collection
Ship back old Curative testing kits & confirm receipt of new kits
Begin using new web-based reporting tool for BinaxNOW
Circulate revised parental consent forms for the upcoming year
Communicate testing strategies & safety priorities to the school community. Here’s a template to get you started.
Conduct a webinar to introduce these testing & safety strategies to staff & families. Here’s a template to get you started.
And of course…
Schedule school-based vaccination events for the fall & winter
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Guidance Synthesis
Masks, testing, and the rest
Masks, school-based testing, and other safety strategies are essential for sustainable, in-person learning this year until vaccinations, for all ages, reach high enough levels.
On August 18, 2021, Governor Inslee announced a vaccine requirement for all employees working in K-12 schools and higher education institutions in Washington State. All K-12 educators, school staff, coaches, bus drivers, school volunteers and others working in school facilities must be fully vaccinated by Monday, October 18th as a condition of employment. This means that employees must receive their second dose of the vaccine (for Pfizer and Moderna) or only dose (for Johnson & Johnson) no later than Monday, October 4th. Individuals are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their final dose.
Contact us to schedule a school-based vaccination event for your staff, employees, and students 12 and older.
“This virus is increasingly impacting young people, and those under the age of 12 still can’t get the vaccine. We won’t gamble with the health of our children, our educators and school staff, nor the health of the communities they serve.”
Below is a breakdown of updated guidance from the Washington State Department of Health (DOH):
Masks
- Universal indoor masking for all staff, students, and visitors is a requirement as of July 28, 2021.
- Passengers and drivers are required to wear a mask on school buses at all times.
- When outdoors, masks are not required, regardless of vaccination status.
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- L2R translation: If there’s a roof, everyone, including vaccinated people, must mask up.
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Distancing
- Maintain physical distancing of three feet or more, to the degree possible, with full attendance.
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- L2R translation: Set clear and firm distancing guidelines of at least three feet while indoors and trust your students and staff to adapt quickly to these requirements. Unfortunately, it is not time to relax this standard. To avoid outbreaks, we must continue to use all the strategies in the playbook to the best of our ability.
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Testing
- Schools must ensure access to timely diagnostic testing for students.
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- You are already doing this with L2R! Make sure inventories and systems at each school building are prepped for a return to full-time attendance.
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- Screening testing is recommended for any geographic areas with moderate to high levels of transmission.
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- L2R translation: The transmission map is currently bright red. All counties are experiencing moderate to high levels of transmission. Talk to your L2R Program Manager about adding or scaling a screening testing program in your district.
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Click here for a summary of guidance around masks and testing provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the Washington State Department of Health (DOH).
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DELTA RESEARCH
The Delta Variant
Learn about the latest research on the Delta variant with our curated list of podcasts, videos, and articles:
LISTEN
Back to School Amid the Delta Variant
The Daily Podcast from the New York Times
August 9, 2021 – 27 min
Vaccine Mandates Are Spreading Alongside Dangerous Delta Variant
Consider This from NPR
July 30, 2021 – 11:00 min
Anthony Fauci: Delta Variant Has ‘Exposed Our Vulnerability
The Journal from The Wall Street Journal
August 5, 2021 – 21:00 min
WATCH
Former acting CDC director on how delta variant affects children
Good Morning America
August 10,, 2021 – 2:58 min
Read
Fueled by Delta Variant, 500,000 Coronavirus Cases Now Tallied in Washington State
Seattle Times
August 11, 2021
Health Leaders Working to Slow Spread of Delta Variant in Washington State
KOMO News
August 5, 2021
6 answers to parents’ COVID-19 questions as kids return to school
Science News
August 11, 2021
What to Know About Breakthrough Infections and the Delta Variant
The New York Times
Augus 12, 2021
England reopened amid a delta surge, then cases fell. Are there lessons for the U.S.?
NBC News
August 4, 2021
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RESULTS FROM COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT RESEARCH
You speak. We listen.
Download our summary findings from the community engagement surveys and interviews we conducted with school communities in May and June 2021. Here’s a sneak peek of some interesting data:
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get vaxxed
School-based Vaccination Events
The first day of school is upon us, and the higher the vaccination rates in your area, the more likely your schools will be able to remain open this fall.
The more contagious delta variant accounts for >80% of all cases in the U.S.
>97% of people hospitalized for COVID-19 are unvaccinated
Reach out to us today to schedule a vaccination event for your school community.
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CASE STUDY
An interview with Davenport Superintendent Superhero
Jim Kowalkowski
Learn how Jim and his team are USING THE WHOLE TOOLBOX to keep their schools open during the pandemic.
“Right now, there’s a lot of doom and gloom. But if you look at testing from a new perspective, you can see it as giving hope and relief. In schools, we are messengers of hope. We always have been.”
The adventures of swab and jab: EPISODE 1
Another Hill To Climb
Swab and Jab thought their journey to New Normalcyville was almost over. And then the Delta Monster appeared…
