July 19, 2020
A large new study from South Korea found that children young than 10 transmit to others much less than adults do but the risk is not zero. And those between the ages of 10 – 19 can spread the virus at least as well as adults do. The findings suggest that as schools reopen, communities will see clusters of infection take root that include children of all ages, several experts cautioned. The new study looked at a very large population of 5,706 people who were first to report symptoms in their households and then traced to 59,073 contacts — all household contacts were tested as well as symptomatic contacts outside the households. Children under 10 were roughly half as likely as adults to spread the virus to others which may be because children generally exhale less air and therefore less virus. Experts said schools will need to prepare for infections to pop up. Aside from implementing physical distancing, hand hygiene, and masks, schools should also decide when and how to test students and staff, when and how long to require people to quarantine, and when to decide to close and reopen schools
More than 3,722,200 people in the US have been infected with the coronavirus, and at least 139,955 have died. The country, logging a 7-day average of 65,790 cases a day, has more confirmed cases per capita than any other major industrial nation, and cases are rising in 40 states across the country
The Federal Reserve formally expanded its Main Street Funding program to include nonprofit organizations and eased some of its initially indicated terms to allow smaller entities to participate, including changing the minimum employee provision for nonprofits to 10 from 50. The Covid-19 pandemic is weighing on the nonprofit sector as contributions and revenues suffer, with organizations on average having laid off or furloughed 18% of their workers. Nonprofit organizations employ 12.5 million Americans or about 8% of the workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and some 22,000 nonprofits may fail during the crisis, according to an industry research group
Pew Research surveyors found that 3% of Americans said that they had changed their residence because of the coronavirus, and 6% said someone else had moved into their home. About 22% of respondents had either moved because of the pandemic or knew someone who did. Family was a major factor — most of those who
relocated said they moved in with relatives. The survey also found that young people were disproportionately mobile — about 9% of adults 18 – 29 said they had moved because of the outbreak. Anecdotal evidence includes: campus shutdowns have pushed many college students back to family homes; school closings have forced parents to seek relatives for help with child care; some people have made their vacation homes into primary residences; others facing job losses and evictions are struggling to find shelter
About 1.69 million school-aged students are home-schooled in the US, according to the last report done in 2016, however, home school organizations are seeing a surge of interest from parents because of the coronavirus crisis. Advocates of full-time homeschooling say it bears little resemblance to the online schooling that many of experiencing now. The parent, not a teacher, becomes the educator and parents must comply with the rules of the school district where they live. It doesn’t mean the parent becomes an expert in every subject and you can lean on online resources to help. Also, students are not tied to classroom deadlines and parents assist with schoolwork on their own terms and schedules. Experts recommend considering how your children learn best, what setting will give them the best possible education, how home schooling would affect the family dynamic, how it would fit around your work, and if the family can embrace a philosophy of all-day education
A growing number of polls find so many people saying they would not get a coronavirus vaccine that its potential to shut down the pandemic could be in jeopardy. Distrust of it is particularly pronounced in the African-American communities which have been disproportionately devastated by the virus. But even many
staunch supporters of immunization say they are wary of this vaccine. Mistrust of vaccines has been on the rise in the US in recent years fanned by a handful of celebrities, however, anti-vaccine groups are attracting a new type of clientele. A poll in May by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that only about half of Americans said they would be willing to get a coronavirus vaccine. 1 in 5 said they would refuse, and 31% were uncertain. A poll in late June by researchers at the University of Miami found that 22% of white and Latino respondents and 42% of Black respondents said they agreed with this statement: “The coronavirus is being used to force a dangerous and unnecessary vaccine on America.” Over all, the worry that is consistently invoked by those hesitant about the vaccine is haste since a safe and effective process for a vaccine typically takes a decade and experts recommend that community concerns should be addressed early in the process
Covid-19 has dramatically eroded demand for apparel and merchants are desperate to avoid accumulating hardto-sell items so will be offering a decreasing array of inventory and focusing on basics which usually accounts for about 70% and has ticked up to 80 – 90% of the mix of products
LA County just reported the worst week for new Covid-19 transmissions and for the fourth consecutive day, more than 2,100 people hospitalized. Public health officials said they were particularly concerned that adults younger than 40 are being hospitalized at the highest rate yet. Today’s count was an additional 2,848 cases and 11 deaths. Totals are now 155,887 cases and 4,095 deaths. City Breakouts (Cases/Deaths): City of LA 63,723/1,927; Long Beach 6,445/158; Carson 1,012/36; El Segundo 87/0; Hawthorne 1,119/28; Hermosa Beach 134/2; Inglewood 1,586/71; Lawndale 373/8; Lomita 149/7; Manhattan Beach 225/4; PV Estates 63/2; Rancho PV 195/12; Redondo Beach 345/9; Rolling Hills 4/0; Rolling Hills Estates 30/2; Torrance 858/53
Compiled by Charlene Nishimura
Media Sources: Los Angeles Times; New York Times; Washington Post; Wall Street Journal; Forbes Magazine; Business Insider; USA Today; CBS News; CNN; KTLA; OZY; ABC World News Tonight; Spectrum News 1; The Hill.com; WebMD; AP, Politico, Newsweek, Reuters, televised briefings from the White House, Governor Newsom, LA County Health Department, Mayor Garcetti; City of Torrance press releases; Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce press releases
