On the menu today: Something about the transition into the new year brought a new wave of irresponsibility to those with duties in serving and protecting the public. Chicago’s public-school teachers — who have had access to vaccines and boosters for months, and who face a milder version of the virus than earlier in the pandemic — declare they’re not willing to go into classrooms; the CDC updates its guidance to the recently infected, resulting in a complicated mess that will leave lots of Americans stuck in their homes for six to eleven days; and the Virginia Department of Transportation shrugs its shoulders and declares it couldn’t have handled the colossal I-95 mess any better than it did. We’re in the very best of hands, America.
Chicago Teachers to Kids’ Education: Drop Dead
As I discussed with Hugh Hewitt this morning, a handful of Democrats are belatedly realizing that the teachers’ unions are abandoning their duties, failing our kids, and enraging parents. David Axelrod warned that:
The Chicago Teachers Union is about to vote to walk out rather than return to classrooms amid Omicron surge. I hope every teacher reads this column [from David Leonhardt of the New York Times]. What our kids have suffered through, long absences from classrooms, already has had a devastating impact.
The teachers’ union did not listen:
Classes are canceled in Chicago Public Schools Wednesday after the teachers union voted to refuse to show up for in-person work.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot blasted the Chicago Teachers Union late Tuesday for the work action, which the union said was endorsed by 73% of its members. CTU said it took the step out of concerns about inadequate COVID-19 protections and intends to continue to teach remotely, though it remains unclear if that will happen starting Thursday.
Lightfoot also warned teachers who don’t show up Wednesday will be placed on no-pay status — a move that would likely escalate the dispute.
“I have to tell you, it feels like ‘Groundhog Day,’ that we are here again,” Lightfoot said in reference to past strife with the CTU, including the 2019 teachers strike and then several rounds of thwarted school reopening attempts last year. She also accused union leaders of “politicizing the pandemic.”
“There is no basis in the data, the science or common sense for us to shut an entire system down when we can surgically do this at a school level,” Lightfoot said.
Does the Chicago Teachers Union realize how extreme you have to be to make Lori Lightfoot sound like the voice of reason? Do Chicago teachers realize how spectacularly irresponsible you have to be to get conservatives cheering, “Go get ’em, Mayor Lightfoot”?
The CDC: You Know, Maybe You Should Just Stay Home until the Super Bowl
Good news, Americans, the CDC has clarified what you should do if you have Covid-19. A lot of people need this guidance, because a bit more than 885,000 new cases were reported on Tuesday on the New York Times chart. (For what it’s worth, the CDC site shows “only” 828,000 new cases reported Monday.) According to Worldometers, we’ve got more than 15 million active cases today.
If you test positive for Covid-19, you should isolate for five days — and the CDC says to start counting the day after your first symptoms or positive test, so it’s really six days. If you test positive or develop symptoms on Monday, then Tuesday is day one. The CDC believes that the day you test positive or start to have symptoms is “day zero.” (I wonder if the entrance floor at CDC headquarters is the “ground floor” and the one above that is called the “first floor.”)
Then, after five days, the CDC states that, “If an individual has access to a test and wants to test” — an acknowledgement that tests are still pretty darn hard to find in a lot of places* — the person can test. But, the CDC adds, you should only test if certain symptoms have gone away: “Collect the test sample only if you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and your other symptoms have improved (loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation).” If you still have symptoms after five days, the CDC wants your isolation to continue.
If you can find a test, and test positive again, you should isolate for another five days. Also, the CDC clarified that you can continue to test positive for weeks, even after your system has beaten the virus . . . which raises the question of whether those subsequent positives are indicating lingering contagiousness or not, and whether we’re going to reach a boy-who-cried-wolf effect in subsequent positive tests.
Also, if you’re around someone who tests positive for Covid-19 — most of those 800,000-per-day new cases have families, obviously — the CDC says you should “stay home and away from other people for at least 5 days (day 0 through day 5) after your last contact with a person who has COVID-19. The date of your exposure is considered day 0.”
In addition, if somebody is sick with Covid-19, the CDC wants them wearing masks inside their own houses and avoiding their family members: “Wear a well-fitting mask when around others at home, if possible.” “If possible, stay away from people you live with.” This is not going to work for single parents or those taking care of an elderly relative.
The CDC continues, “People in isolation should stay in a specific ‘sick room’ or area and use a separate bathroom if available. Everyone who has presumed or confirmed COVID-19 should stay home and isolate from other people for at least 5 full days (day 0 is the first day of symptoms or the date of the day of the positive viral test for asymptomatic persons). They should wear a mask when around others at home and in public for an additional 5 days.”
Even if you’re asymptomatic, the CDC advice is the same: “If you test positive for COVID-19 and never develop symptoms, isolate for at least 5 days. Day 0 is the day of your positive viral test (based on the date you were tested) and day 1 is the first full day after the specimen was collected for your positive test. You can leave isolation after 5 full days. You should continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public until day 10 (day 6 through day 10).” But if you’re asymptomatic at first, and then develop symptoms, the CDC wants you to reset your five-day clock to zero and start counting from then.
Simple, huh?
This is a formula that will keep millions of Americans in isolation over the next few weeks.
*I want to thank the Authenticity Woods CVS and Walgreens locations who put signs on the front door indicating whether they had tests in stock, making my drive around the area hunting for tests easier. I also want to take a moment to mock the cashier who was convinced I was married to the woman in front of me and we were scheming to get more than the four tests allowed, on the grounds that we entered the store around the same time. Zounds! You’ve caught me, sir, I am indeed the heinous Professor Moriarty of Covid-test rationing, and you’ve uncovered my treacherous scheme! Well played, Sherlock!
Apparently, Virginia Drivers Ask Too Much
Much like the Pentagon decided no one involved in that drone strike that killed seven children in Afghanistan deserved any punishment, the Virginia Department of Transportation has already concluded there’s not much it could have done better, after 48 solid miles of stuck vehicles stood immobilized on I-95 for more than 24 hours after a winter storm:
A spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Transportation offered an apology Tuesday to the countless people stranded overnight on Interstate 95 during Monday’s snowstorm. But officials involved in the emergency response insisted there was little they could have done differently to prevent the crisis on a heavily-travelled, 40-mile stretch of highway in Northern Virginia.
Got that? They’ve already determined that the massive mess, with people stuck in their cars for more than a day, was the best possible outcome.
The timeline of the worsening problem doesn’t really offer much reassurance, though: “Tractor-trailers began jackknifing about 8:30 a.m. Monday, state police said, causing motorists to lose control and other trucks to jackknife to avoid collisions.”
The snow stopped in the early afternoon, between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Problems continued to stack up throughout the afternoon and into the early evening. The first tweet or public comment from Governor Ralph Northam came at 8:17 a.m. Tuesday morning.
The governor never called out the National Guard, and the state says that’s because the Guard wasn’t ready:
The officials on the call said the Virginia National Guard wasn’t mobilized to help with the response because it can take 12 to 24 hours to call up civilian members and it was unclear the Guard could have made it to the area in time to assist. But they could not offer a comprehensive answer on why the Guard wasn’t mobilized well in advance to be able to respond if needed. Curtis Brown, the state’s coordinator of emergency management, said the snowfalls predicted didn’t meet the state’s general rules for pre-emptive emergency declarations for winter storms because light to moderate snow can usually be handled with existing resources.
Wait, the Virginia National Guard can’t mobilize for twelve to 24 hours? What would it do in an emergency where time was of the essence?
Gov. Ralph Northam’s office said the governor “is in close communication with state and local emergency management, and relies on their on-the-ground assessment of potential and evolving situations.”
“Prior to the storm, there was no indication that the National Guard’s capacity, personnel, or equipment would be necessary to handle its impacts,” Northam spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky said in an email. “While the governor routinely grants requests to deploy the Guard, he received no recommendation to activate them prior to the storm.”
And at no point on Monday, as the situation on I-95 grew worse and worse, it never crossed his mind? No one realized that there were a lot of hungry, thirsty, and cold people stuck in their cars, unable to move?
Does this seem like a governor who’s about a week away from leaving office, and who perhaps has already mentally checked out?
ADDENDA: President Biden, December 21: “The federal government will purchase one half billion — that’s not million; billion with a ‘B’ — additional at-home rapid tests, with deliveries starting in January.”
Jen Psaki, yesterday: “The RFP — the Request for Proposal — that has been sent out to industry allows us to best understand logistics, timing, and manufacturing considerations. So, where we are now is that the RFP has been closed as of today and we are currently evaluating the responses to it, which means we are finalizing the contracts.”
On Monday, I wrote that, “You can’t help but wonder if some school administrators will attempt to placate the teachers’ unions by pulling the trigger on snow days at the slightest justification.” Here in Fairfax County, the snow stopped falling around 2 p.m. Monday; today, we’re on our on our third straight snow day. Snow is likely tomorrow, too, so the weather may enable the county to cancel a week of school and contend it’s all because of snow and icy roads, not because of Omicron concerns.