Rounding out the issue with a couple of updates on school data:
- CDC issues new estimates for the cost of keeping K-12 schools safe: It would take about $22 billion for all public schools in the country to safely reopen in the spring, according to the CDC. The state-by-state estimates incorporate face masks, desk shields, cleaning supplies, transportation, and more. But these estimates are “significantly lower” than other estimates calculated by education organizations, as the CDC failed to include additional costs for face masks, food service, and contact tracing, according to U.S. News & World Report.
- Rockefeller Foundation advocates for mass testing in schools: “Altogether, K-12 schools, their students, teachers and staff, will need approximately 300 million Covid-19 tests performed each month from February through June,” write the authors of a new Rockefeller report focused on safely controlling COVID-19 spread while vaccines are rolled out. The report provides detailed guidelines on testing and case studies from which readers can learn.
- The College COVID-19 Outbreak Watchlist goes on winter break: After 15 weeks of updating his watchlist of colleges with high COVID-19 case numbers, Benjy Renton is taking a couple of weeks off. (From this dashboard, anyway.) Many schools have also suspended their COVID-19 reporting, as few students are on campus.