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Coronavirus case surges force school closures

13 August 2021
Dan Ackermann

Several counties across the U.S. have temporarily suspended school because of a surge in coronavirus cases among students and faculty early in the academic year.

Why it matters: Richard Besser, former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told NBC this week he believes more schools will close due to COVID-19 than last year because the Delta variant spreads with greater ease than other versions of the virus.

  • "I think this fall is going to be really challenging for schools," Besser said. "I expect that it’s going to jump around different classrooms, and schools will be forced to shut down more than they did in fact last year."

Counties and schools that have canceled classes:

  • Burke County, Georgia, announced Friday that schools would be canceled for two weeks after more than 40 new cases were recorded among students in the district.
  • Ware County, Georgia, said it would cancel classes for two weeks "due to a sharp increase in the number of active positive COVID cases reported among students and staff members" after just over a week in session.
  • Schools in Georgia's Macon, Taliaferro, Glascock and Talbot counties shut down for two weeks or transitioned to virtual learning.
  • Stone High School in Wiggins, Mississippi, said this week it would transition to virtual classes for two weeks because of new virus cases, though the school did not disclose the exten of the outbreak, according to WLOX, an ABC/CBS-affiliated television station.
  • South Hancock Elementary School in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, said this week it would close for two weeks after six full days of school because eight students had tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Sun Herald.

The big picture: It is so far unclear whether the Delta variant causes a more serious illness in children and teens than other versions of the virus, though more adolescents are being admitted to hospitals because of COVID.

  • The Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve coronavirus vaccines for children under age 12.
  • Major pediatrician organizations have called on the FDA to act faster to authorize vaccines for young children.

Go deeper:Nearly 500 students in Palm Beach County, Florida,

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.