After most of the country's school districts were forced into virtual learning in the spring as a result of the growing coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Nathaniel Beers, president of the HSC Health Care System, told Cheddar it is necessary for students to return to class in-person this coming fall.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, for which Beers also serves as a member of the council of health, made the recommendation. Beers said the impact of children missing in-person interaction could be more damaging than actually contracting COVID-19.
"The impact on lack of access to adequate nutrition, lack of access to social and emotional supports, mental and behavioral supports, special education supports all impact the community of kids in different ways and families in different ways," he added.
While many businesses consider staggered or modified schedules for its adult workers, Beers said children should be in school "as much as possible" and "as many children as possible should be in school for in-school instruction," and warned keeping kids at home will exacerbate existing disparities in communities.
"That, however, is going to look very different in different communities based on the disease burden that they have, based on the resources that they have, to ensure that staff and students, and families, can all be protected if schools are going to be open," Dr. Beers noted.
Despite the recommendation, officials are still deciding how to hold school, considering health experts are still learning about the impacts of COVID-19. Beers said that while he was initially not convinced that in-person schooling was the way to go, he has changed his mind as more research indicates children, as a group, appear to be among those least impacted by the virus.
"The data has been increasing over the past six months," he said. "Children are less likely to get the disease. They are less likely to spread the disease to others. Children are less likely to give it to other kids and other adults and they are less likely to have complications from the disease."
As some states move forward with steps to reopen, according to Beers, the primary focus should be on schools rather than other operations more likely to inflate the number of confirmed cases, as in Florida and Texas.
"There was really a lack of comprehensive guidance that was helping schools think about what are the critical pieces that they need to undertake in order to ensure that kids can return to school and that schools can be prepared to safely have staff in buildings as well," he said.
While the school year is still weeks away for many students, parents considering playdates or summer camp for their children today should know "outdoor is better than indoor" and making smart decisions about potential health impacts should be the primary concern before letting children interact with others, Beers said.
"The longer you are inside in poor ventilation, the higher likelihood you are to create an exposure that will put you at higher risk for getting the virus," he added.
The crypto industry is still reeling from Terra's recent crash. The company's blockchain was temporarily halted earlier this month after the collapse of its cryptocurrency Luna (LUNA) and its stablecoin TerraUSD (UST), which led to almost $45 billion being wiped from the tokens' market caps within a week. Now, many are left wondering what Terra's struggles mean for the broader crypto market. Reeve Collins, CEO of the NFT platform BLOCKv, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell from Davos 2022 to discuss.
China's largest ride-hailing company will no longer be listed on the world's largest stock exchange. Didi shareholders voted on Monday to delist from the New York Stock Exchange, less than a year after launching a $4.4 billion IPO with the most significant U.S. share offering by a Chinese company since Alibaba debuted in 2014. Since going public in June of last year, around $70 billion has been wiped from Didi's market value and shares of the company have dropped nearly 90%. Now, Didi is expected to begin preparations to list in Hong Kong. Kevin T. Carter, founder and Chief Investment Officer of EMQQ Global, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
This episode of On The Job presented by ADP: Cheddar takes a deep dive into how offices in Silicon Valley are handling return-to-office policies with Jesse Levinson, Cofounder and CTO of Zoox; Bob Lockett, Chief Diversity & Talent Officer at ADP breaks down the importance of flexibility at work and how to approach compensation in order to improve retention; Pamela Rucker, CIO Advisor and Instructor for Harvard Professional Development, explains how A.I. can play a role in sustainability efforts and what business leaders need to know about ESG.
Jeremy Kim and Wootak Kim, content creators and the stars of the ‘Under the Influence’ podcast and YouTube series, joined Cheddar News to talk about using their platform to help other Asian American creators. "When we were kind of like coming up with the show idea, there's like so many other people that we really respect or look up to or that interesting stories that will never get the chance to be seen by anybody else," said Jeremy Kim. "And so that's the kind of the platform that we wanted to create."
Chantel Powell, Co-Founder and CEO of Play Pits, joins Cheddar News to discuss how she's grown her business from making it in her very own home to being sold on the shelves in Target stores across the nation, and break down how her business remained resilient throughout the pandemic.
Coming off of their face masks endeavor, Jill Zarin of "The Real Housewives of New York City," and her daughter Ally Shapiro, CMO of JIll & Ally, join Cheddar News to discuss their latest product: crystal manifestation candles. "We have tigers eye, we have amethyst, we have lapis, and alone those could be almost the price of the candle," said Zarin. "We were really able to do it in an affordable way, and if you don't know how to manifest or what that even means, we do it for you on the candle." Zarin also dished on the new season of "Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip."
