The Parent Press: Important Coronavirus Updates, April 18
I hope that you are taking time - time to move, breathe, see the good, and find some joy - for yourself each day. I know the news can be overwhelming right now and that it isn’t easy juggling back-to-back Zoom calls, Google hangouts, Microsoft teams, and such for your family and yourself. You may find you have less space and time than you used to, or you may think you have so much time that the days tick by unbearably slow. We are all working together to do our part. I appreciate all of you who have been sheltering in place for weeks now.
COVID-19 Cases in Georgia
As of Friday, April 10th, there are currently 17,432 cases in Georgia. Georgia DPH, the CDC, and the AJC are providing continuous updates on the number of cases and documenting cases by county. Out of the 17,432 cases currently, 1366 are from DeKalb County. DPH is updating their COVID-19 figures twice daily, at noon and 7 p.m. They have started adding demographic data, including race, when it is known. However, there are still thousands of cases where the race is unknown, and there appears to be a delay in DPH reporting cases and deaths at nursing homes.
We are proud that a letter we sent to Gov. Kemp and Dr. Toomey a week ago resulted in the state putting a new map on the DPH website that shows the rates of infection per capita instead of just by numerical totals, which was misleading because it would always look like metro Atlanta was the worst hit. (See map below.) The new map allows Georgians to see the parts of the state where the outbreak is the most overwhelming and my hope is that this more accurate depiction will further an appropriate behavioral response from Georgia citizens.
Remediation Plans for Schools Needed
his week I sent a letter to Superintendent Richard Woods of the Georgia Department of Education (DOE) about the need for a comprehensive plan for remediation to be put in place to combat learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I agree with Governor Kemp and Superintendent Woods that closing schools was the right decision, but I want to be sure that we put a state-wide plan in place sooner rather than later so that we don’t encounter an educational crisis after the public health one. DOE is working on improving virtual learning and I support those efforts entirely, but in-person remediation programs later this year and early next year will be needed to supplement virtual learning. We know that children from low-income families face unique challenges, which have been drastically intensified during this pandemic. Even in the most-equipped households who have adequate technology and parental supervision, there will still be important concepts that students will not fully master this school year.
I mentioned some ideas for remediation to DOE, including summer school, intensive in-person remediation when schools reopen, and returning to the previous grade level to master missed concepts. I have also offered to write a letter to representatives at the federal level to request additional money for K-12 students to assist with public school remediation.
I have plans to speak with Superintendent Woods early next week, and I welcome feedback from parents and teachers before then.
Additionally, here is an interesting article from a Georgia teacher in the AJC and information about Internet access from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.
DeKalb Schools Ending School Year Early
On Tuesday, April 14th, the DeKalb County School District announced its plan to finish the 2019-2020 school year early. Seniors will finish on May 8th with grades posted by May 15th, and Pre K-11th Grade will end four days early on May 15th with grades posted by May 20th.
The End of Year Guide for Students and Families 2019-2020 gives details on final grades, promotion/retention, summer learning opportunities, school year learning recovery opportunities, end-of-year activities, and FAQ’s.
Graduation ceremonies have been postponed to the week of June 22nd-27th. However, a final decision has not been made about whether those ceremonies will be done completely virtually or as a hybrid face-to-face ceremony for seniors and staff only that will be live streamed and broadcast on local TV.
On a related note, Ramona Tyson was named the Superintendent of the DeKalb County School District. She still plans to retire this coming summer, but is a recognition of her hard work, dedication and extra job responsibilities fulfilled during the pandemic.
Updates from the Governor’s Office
At his weekly press conference on Monday, Governor Kemp said the focus is on more testing and preparing for the hospital surge rather than reopening the economy. However, late Thursday his office sent this information to legislators:
“Today I was honored to join a call with President Trump, Vice President Pence, the Coronavirus Task Force, and our nation’s governors. Georgia will utilize the administration’s guidelines and collaborate with health and emergency management officials to develop a plan for safely returning to more routine operations. The Peach State will continue to prioritize our citizenry’s health and well-being. In the coming days, I will outline how Georgia will move forward. Many Georgians are ready to get back to work. The fundamentals of our economy remain strong, and I am confident that we will successfully rebound from this public health emergency.”
The Governor says his Economic Impact Committee is providing detailed feedback as they monitor the state’s business climate, revenue conditions, and health measures. I appreciate the work Gov. Kemp and his team have done, and I know many are feeling restless and anxious about the economy. However, I urge caution and hope our Governor will not feel undue pressure from fringe groups like those who protested in Ohio and Michigan as well as from President Trump. We need a lot more testing in place before we can reopen. The worst-case scenario would be new sustained outbreaks, ruining all of the work we have done in the past 5 weeks.
The Governor also reminded legislators that his order was not as strict as many others since most businesses (only 20 specific businesses types had to close) in the state never completely closed. The Georgia Department of Economic Development has some helpful information and resources for businesses during this time.
Nonetheless, as I have said before, please stay at home as much as possible and consolidate trips for “essential services” as much as possible. The CDC still recommends that people wear face masks when you have to be around others in public. In case you need a refresher, you can read more about the Governor’s order, guidance, and FAQ’s here.
As a reminder, the University System of Georgia will offer online classes for May and the summer semester. Additionally, K-12 public schools are closed for the rest of the school year, and we are still awaiting more details and guidance from the Governor’s Office and Superintendent Richard Woods.
Watch “Slay the Dragon” about fighting gerrymandering at home:
https://www.slaythedragonfilm.com/watch-at-home/
GDOT's I-85/North Druid Hills Interchange Reconstruction Project:
GDOT’s PI 0016054 Concept Presentation:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dllRQISIvvf0dWONdkzPLLl5YuJEaDh5/view?usp=sharing
Georgia Primary Election/Ballot Boxes
On Wednesday, there was a unanimous vote from the State Election Board for Georgia voters to be able to drop their absentee ballots at drop boxes. This allows voters to turn in their absentee ballots without paying for postage or having to have human contact. Each county can decide whether to have these drop boxes. I will be advocating for the DeKalb Board of Elections to offer this in DeKalb County, and I hope you will join me by contacting them at Voterreg@dekalbcountyga.gov.
It is imperative that as many Georgians as possible have the opportunity to vote and to do so safely. I will keep you updated on the status of drop boxes in our county. Additionally, Fair Fight Georgia has some wonderful resources to learn more about absentee voting and how to check the status of your ballot.
Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) & Unemployment Insurance for 1099 Workers
According to the Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL), 1099 workers, including independent contractors and workers in the gig economy, are now eligible to apply for Pandemic Employment Assistance (PUA) through GDOL.
If you have previously filed a claim for unemployment insurance, you may follow up via customer.service@gdol.ga.gov or through my office at elena@elenaparent.com or 404-656-5109.
Other Coronavirus Task Force Updates:
Governor’s Office:
The Georgia Department of Corrections publishes a daily report of every single facility under its purview: http://www.gdc.ga.gov/content/cases.
The Georgia National Guard has been involved in training as well as sanitizing for both Corrections and the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) as they have in long-term care facilities.
DPH:
Data: DPH receives reports of notifiable diseases that laboratories and health care providers are obligated to report under Georgia code. However, DPH is almost entirely dependent on health care providers and laboratories to do so in a complete and timely way.
Testing: According to Dr. Toomey, in total tests done, the state ranks 15th as of Wednesday afternoon in total tests completed. Earlier this week, DPH announced that any symptomatic individual can get tested at one of the 35 Georgia Public Health Department supported sites across the state, which will dramatically increase the eligible number of individuals who can be tested. Healthcare workers and first responders will continue to be prioritized for testing regardless of their symptoms.
Contact Tracing: With increased testing capabilities, contact tracing will increase as well. DPH is working to ramp up the system’s capability to scale up contact tracing, including expanding the state and local epidemiology teams, and DPH is supposed to provide more updates on this in the coming days.
Nursing Facility Reporting: DPH reports information on long-term care facilities weekly, and there is a lag to this reporting and data so that DPH can verify the information being submitted with the facilities, labs, DCH, and other state partners. Because the information is posted once a week, you will see discrepancies. In the next 48 hours, DPH says you will begin to see this information reported daily which should eliminate any discrepancies that exist in media reporting and what the state report shows.
National Guard:
The Georgia National Guard currently has just over 2,640 Soldiers, Airmen, and State Defense Force personnel engaged in the COVID 19 Response. They are currently working on 30 mission assignments from Director Bryson and his team at GEMA. The current mission profiles include:
Infection Control Teams: They developed and deployed the first team to a nursing home in South Georgia on Tuesday, March 31st. As of yesterday, there are 60 teams (scaling to 72) and 1,152 personnel assigned to fight COVID-19 among our elderly and infirm, many of whom reside in one of Georgia’s 790 long term care facilities. They have provided infection control support to 312 of these facilities with 61 currently on the list.
Medical Support Teams: 20 teams and 198 personnel deployed to 20 hospitals. They are providing everything from Doctors, PA’s, Nurses, and general purpose forces to do anything from direct medical care to administrative support.
Hospital Entry Control Teams: There are 173 service members deployed to 6 hospitals to conduct patient arrival screening. The objective is to enable hospitals to put nurses and other professional caregivers back into direct patient care.
Food Bank Support: 161 service members supporting 8 food banks.
Fulton County School Lunch Delivery: 50 service members working to ensure school children in Fulton County receive their school lunches.
Hospital Capacity Review and Contingency Planning: Working to deliver a 200-bed alternate care facility inside the GWCC. This facility will be prepared to accept patients on April 19th. Additionally, there are four 20-22 patient temporary medical units set to be operational in Rome on April 25th, in Albany on April 28th, and in Macon and Gainesville on May 5th.
Support to Testing: The National Guard just began augmenting DPH’s COVID-19 sample collection effort in order to meet Governor Kemp’s directive to improve and expand access to Georgia’s testing.
Updates from City of Atlanta
Feeding Children: The Atlanta Department of Parks & Recreation has provided dinner at 19 recreation centers across Atlanta through the Centers of Hope Afterschool Program. They have served over 10,000 dinner meals over the last 4 weeks. They have also started the Summer Food Program two months ahead of schedule, which was approved by the state.
Feeding Seniors: Partner organizations are providing funding for food for approximately 1200 seniors in the community for approximately eight weeks.
Testing at DeKalb Board of Health
As testing in Georgia continues to increase, the DeKalb County Board of Health is now accepting testing appointments for all symptomatic individuals in addition to frontline workers. However, you must call first.
The DeKalb Board of Health COVID-19 Call Center, which provides information about risks, symptoms, prevention, testing and community resources, is open Monday-Friday 8:30 AM-5:00 PM and Saturday from 9:00 AM-1:00 PM.
The specific locations for DeKalb County’s two testing sites will only be disclosed once an individual has scheduled a testing appointment.
If you would like to apply for the DeKalb Medical Reserve Corps, call the DeKalb County Board of Health at 404-294-3700 or email dekalb.mrc@dph.ga.gov.
More information can be found at the following websites:
DeKalb: https://www.dekalbhealth.net/
Georgia: https://dph.georgia.gov/medical-reserve-corps-mrc
Federal: https://mrc.hhs.gov/HomePage
Stay safe, stay well, stay home.