The latest on the coronavirus pandemic

Public schools in Boston will start the year remotely on Sept. 21 with a phased in approach to returning students to the classroom, Mayor Marty Walsh said Friday. 

The mayor also explained why the city made the decision to start the school year remotely.

“We feel this is the best approach to educate our children. It created a staggered approach for students to return to the classroom in a safe and careful way. It’s the best way to tackle the opportunity gaps in our city,” Walsh said.

As of yesterday, Boston had 31 new cases of Covid-19 for a total of 15,018 cases.

It’s both easier and more difficult the fight the coronavirus pandemic than it was to battle the 1918 influenza pandemic, World Health Organization officials said Friday.

“We have a disadvantage — globalization, closeness, connectedness — but an advantage of better technology.” 

The 1918 flu pandemic took just under two years to pass, Tedros said. He said he hopes to finish this pandemic in “less than two years.”

After that, the H1N1 strain that killed tens of millions of people joined the regular, seasonal mix of influenza viruses. 

“It took three waves to infect most of the susceptible individuals, then settled down probably into a seasonal pattern,” Dr. Mike Ryan, WHO executive director of Health Emergencies Program. “Very often” a pandemic virus will settle into a seasonal pattern over time, he said. 

“But this virus is not displaying a similar wave-like pattern,” Ryan said

Instead of passing in waves that offer respites, coronavirus can be suppressed with strict measures but rebounds quickly, Ryan said. “Clearly, when the disease is not under control, it jumps straight back up,” he said. 

But the 1918 flu passed and so will this pandemic, he said.

“Human beings are resilient. We are a resilient species and we will get through this,” Ryan said.

The World Health Organization and UNICEF will be issuing guidance on the use of masks in children, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO infectious disease epidemiologist, said during a Friday briefing. 

Van Kerkhove said the guidance will be broken up by age range. The guidance will be for decision makers and educators “about when and where masks can be used.” 

Dr. Mike Ryan, WHO executive director of Health Emergencies Program, said “masks are a great tool” especially in the context of schools. But he warns they should not take the place of other public health measures.  

Ryan said getting kids back to school is a “complex equation,” and wearing masks is just one part of it. 

“In fact it would decrease the benefits of masks if people closed physical distance, don’t wash their hands," Ryan added.

Van Kerkhove said the guidance should be issued in the coming days, if not sooner.

The Southeastern Conference has announced expanded Covid-19 protocols for fall athletics, adding new cardiac evaluations and a third weekly test during weeks of competition. 

Initially, the SEC had mandated a cardiac evaluation following isolation for those athletes who tested positive. Now, the conference’s task force is expanding cardiac evaluation by requiring a troponin level, electrocardiogram, echocardiogram and a medical evaluation by a physician before an athlete can return to activity.

In addition, the SEC – at the recommendation of its medical guidance task force – will implement a third weekly rapid diagnostic test for athletes competing in sports with a high risk of close contact. 

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey release a statement:

The 14 members of the SEC have committed to honoring the scholarship of any student-athlete who opts out of playing in the fall of 2020 due to Covid-19 concerns.

Major League Baseball has announced two additional New York Mets games have been postponed due to Covid-19 concerns.

The team’s weekend home set versus the New York Yankees is off — which means four Mets games in total have now been postponed.

With two members of the Mets organization testing positive for coronavirus, the league says it wants to allow more time for additional testing and contact tracing before the team takes the field again. 

Meanwhile, Major League Baseball has released its latest Covid-19 testing figures from the past week, revealing 0.05% samples are new positives — an increase of .02% from the previous week.

The report, announced in conjunction with the players union, does not indicate which players tested positive.

Seven of the 12,485 samples were new positives: three players and four staff members.  

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organization (WHO) director-general, said Friday that "no country can just ride" out the coronavirus pandemic without a vaccine.

Tedros said he hopes a Covid-19 vaccine is available as soon as possible, adding it will be a “vital tool,” but there is no guarantee there will even be one. 

"And even if we do have a vaccine, it won't end the pandemic on its own. We must all learn to control and manage this virus using the tools we have now,” he said. 

Tedros said daily routines must be adjusted to keep everyone safe. This includes wearing masks and practicing good hand hygiene.  

Several countries are seeing an uptick in cases, Tedros said. 

“These countries are a cautionary tale for those that are now seeing a downward trend in cases. Progress does not mean victory," he said.

An ensemble forecast published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now projects nearly 195,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States by Sept. 12.

The new projections, published Friday, forecast 194,778 deaths by Sept. 12, with a possible range of 187,373 to 204,684 deaths.

“State- and territory-level ensemble forecasts predict that the number of reported new deaths per week will likely increase over the next four weeks in Minnesota and may decrease in 13 jurisdictions. Those with the greatest likelihood of a decrease over the next four weeks include Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, and South Carolina,” the CDC says on its forecasting website.

Unlike some individual models, the CDC’s ensemble forecast only offers projections about a month into the future. The previous ensemble forecast, published Aug. 13, projected roughly 189,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States by Sept. 5.

At least 174,255 people have already died from Covid-19 in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The Dallas Independent School District will start the academic year with full remote learning when students return to school on Sept. 8, Superintendent Michael Hinojosa announced.

Public schools in Dallas will be remote through at least Oct. 6.

“All of the medical professionals were unanimous in their recommendation that there should be no in-person learning on Sept. 8,” Hinojosa said, referring to the recommendation he received from county health officials that led him to make his decision.

With the decision from Dallas public schools announced, 64 of the 101 largest school districts in the US will be starting the school year remotely.

Boston Public Schools is the only school district of the 101 largest school districts that still has not made a final decision about its reopening. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said the reopening of school is postponed until Sept. 21 and the options on the table are all remote or hybrid.

You can watch the announcement in the video below:

As the US surpasses 174,000 deaths due to coronavirus, Vice President Mike Pence said, “We mourn with those who mourn.”

The US is now averaging 1,000 coronavirus deaths a day. When CNN's John Berman asked Pence about the death toll, he said:

Despite seeing significant surges in cases and deaths all across the country through the year so far, the Vice President emphasized that President Trump’s decision in January to suspend all travel from China has bought time for the US to work on a vaccine.

Since January, the US has recorded over 5 million cases.

Pence went on to criticize the Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for his critique of President Trump.

“While we grieve with those who lost loved one, had we not stood up the response as Joe Biden wanted us to do, we would have lost hundreds of thousands of more Americans.”

Watch: