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.
Playboy released its fourth quarter and full year 2021 results, reporting an annual revenue of $247 million, up 67 percent year-over-year. The venerable lifestyle and entertainment brand had a whirlwind of a year — going public for a second time, completing three acquisitions, and growing its workforce to more than 1,100 employees, all while dealing with ongoing supply chain issues and other COVID-related challenges. CEO Ben Kohn joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the long pivot away from its legacy print product to digital. "It gives us a truly competitive advantage, especially when you think of this world we live in today with the changes to iOS last year, what you saw happen with Facebook, the lack of performance marketing," he said. "We now have an organic audience in partnership with our creators that we can market other products and services to as well."
It has now been two days since Major League Baseball moved to cancel opening day games for the upcoming season. The announcement from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred came during the league's ongoing work stoppage, just the ninth in MLB history. Owners voted unanimously on December 2, 2021 to enact a lockout after the collective bargaining agreement between the league and players expired. On March 1, 2022, following over a week of daily negotiations between the two sides, and three months of on and off negotiations, the league officially canceled the first two series of the regular season. Gabe Lacques, MLB reporter and baseball editor for USA Today Sports, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Music-focused NFT platform Pianity raising $6.5 million in a seed funding round. Pianity has developed a marketplace that allows musicians to sell their tracks as limited edition NFTs. Since its launch last year, the company says it has already sold 11,000 NFTs and artists have earned over $1.1 million from NFT sales. Kevin Primicerio, co-founder and CEO of Pianity, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Russia seizes a major Ukraine nuclear power plant, students protest Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, and it's official: nobody really expects Pop-Tarts to have real strawberries. Here is all the news you Need2Know for Friday, March 4, 2022.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported that an estimated one million people have fled from Ukraine since Russia invaded. Christopher Boian, senior communications officer at UNHCR, joined Cheddar News to report on the current refugee crisis and what the world might expect if conditions continue to worsen. "We have planning figures that forecast as many as four million people could be forced to flee Ukraine," he said. "But that very much depends on how the conflict underway in that country at the moment unfolds in the days and possibly weeks ahead."
Christian Blauvelt, executive managing editor at IndieWire, joins Cheddar News to discuss the growing number of studios pulling content from Russia over Ukraine invasion.
Caroline Hickman, lecturer at University of Bath and psychosocial researcher on climate change, joins Cheddar News to discuss climate change's impact on mental health.
Alexandre Mongeon, the CEO and co-founder of Vision Marine Technologies, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss the latest innovations in the e-boating industry, and how fully electric motors and boats will play a role in the fight against the climate crisis.
