How Biden is empowering teachers unions on school reopenings — and what could trip them up
By Eleanor Mueller , Juan Perez Jr. 04/08/2021 12:58 PM EDT Teachers unions at the national and local levels are playing an outsize role in determining when, and how, schools bring students back into classrooms — but differences between them threaten to complicate President Joe Biden’s goal of having the majority of elementary students back […]
New friction felt over Planned Parenthood giving Covid shots
By Alice Miranda Ollstein 04/08/2021 05:00 AM EDT A new effort by Planned Parenthood to distribute Covid vaccines to underserved communities is reviving tensions with anti- abortion forces that have long protested the reproductive health group’s involvement in the pandemic response. Planned Parenthood is partnering with five states, including New York and California, to give […]
Trump aims to cover all Americans’ Covid shots
By Susannah Luthi , Rachel Roubein 10/28/2020 07:16 PM EDT The Trump administration on Wednesday released its plan for promising free Covid-19 vaccines for all Americans. What the plan would do: The sweeping plan aims to cover the uninsured, seniors and poor Americans, as well as people with employer-sponsored or other private coverage. But the interim final […]
L.A. launches rapid Covid-19 testing effort that could help first responders, schools
By Victoria Colliver 10/27/2020 07:46 PM EDT Los Angeles city and county officials on Tuesday unveiled a rapid Covid-19 testing pilot project aimed at helping first responders and schoolchildren limit coronavirus spread. The pilot will be conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California in conjunction with the city and county. It will make […]
CTA says too soon to reopen schools, California big city mayors say otherwise
By Mackenzie Mays 10/15/2020 09:08 PM EDT SACRAMENTO — The California Teachers Association on Thursday reiterated its belief that schools should remain closed despite more counties being allowed to reopen campuses — and just as big city mayors called on Gov. Gavin Newsom and state schools chief Tony Thurmond to bring students back across the […]
Which states had the best pandemic response?
By Tucker Doherty , Victoria Guida , Bianca Quilantan , Gabrielle Wanneh 10/13/2020 08:47 PM EDT Updated: 10/15/2020 04:08 PM EDT Vermont locked itself down early and reopened gradually. Washington state paid workers who couldn’t do their jobs while quarantined. And Louisiana zeroed in on students who were most at-risk of falling behind and prioritized […]
Millions of workers face jobless benefits cliff with lifeline set to expire
By Eleanor Mueller , Rebecca Rainey 10/14/2020 08:40 PM EDT WASHINGTON — A failure by Congress to enact a new economic relief package would prolong the pain of the coronavirus crisis for many Americans, but those without jobs face a special threat — millions could run out of unemployment benefits altogether by the end of […]
CDC says coronavirus is airborne, but weakens language from earlier warning
By Brianna Ehley 10/05/2020 02:51 PM EDT The CDC on Monday confirmed that the coronavirus is airborne and may be able to infect people who are more than six feet apart, especially indoors with poor ventilation. The agency first said last month that the virus spreads mainly through “aerosols, produced when an infected person coughs, […]
California raises bar for county reopening by adding ‘equity’ requirement
By POLITICO California Staff 09/30/2020 08:58 PM EDT The state Department of Public Health is adding a new “equity metric” that counties must meet to advance to a less restrictive coronavirus tier, officials announced Wednesday afternoon. Under the new rule, larger counties must now show that their most disadvantaged neighborhoods also have declining infection numbers in […]
House approves stopgap spending measure to avert shutdown
By Sarah Ferris , Caitlin Emma , Heather Caygle09/22/2020 11:38 AM EDT Updated: 09/22/2020 09:01 PM EDT The House on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to extend federal funding through Dec. 11, while punting the threat of a government shutdown until after the presidential election. The bipartisan vote comes hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven […]
