Coronavirus Watch: 'Test to stay' helps keep kids in school, CDC says
With a potential surge in COVID-19 cases in the coming weeks, the Biden administration on Friday pressed its new strategy to reduce the time unvaccinated children miss in school after a virus exposure.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the "test to stay" strategy would increase testing of children and their close contacts after an exposure.
The new guideline says unvaccinated children can remain in school after an exposure under certain circumstances, including undergoing multiple tests. For children to remain in school, two negative tests within a week after the exposure are required.
It's Friday, and this is Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news to know:
- CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday she expects the emerging omicron variant to become the dominant strain in the United States, similar to other countries.
- Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine trial in children ages 2-5 suggests the vaccine is safe but not effective enough to prevent infection with COVID-19, and the companies have decided to add a third dose to their trial.
- President Joe Biden's administration filed an emergency application in the Supreme Court on Thursday in an attempt to reinstate a vaccine mandate for health care workers at hospitals that receive federal money.
- A study by Oregon researchers finds that people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 who have a breakthrough infection end up with what the authors call "super immunity."
Today's numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 50.5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 803,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Global totals: More than 273 million cases and 5.3 million deaths. More than 203 million Americans — 61% of the population — are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
— Ryan Miller, Paste BN Breaking News Reporter, @RyanW_Miller