Teachers voice fears about back-to-school plans | Coronavirus Newsletter

TL;DR: Educators are voicing fears about their leaders’ ability to keep them safe if any in-person instruction happens this fall. In some cases, teachers are making contingency plans that include taking leaves of absence or even retiring. In the Philadelphia area, some employers are tentatively planning to bring workers back, while others are asking: Do employees even need to return to the office?

— Kelly O’Shea (@kelloshea, health@inquirer.com)

🏋️ Gyms in Philadelphia were allowed to reopen Monday under strict social distancing rules. All customers are required to wear masks.

💉 Scientists at Oxford University say their coronavirus vaccine has been shown in an early trial to prompt an immune response in hundreds of people who got the shot.

🤒 The CDC’s updated guidelines say people who have tested positive for the virus may stop home isolation after 10 days, as long as 24 hours have passed since their last fever and symptoms have improved.

🩸 How many have really been infected with coronavirus? My colleague Tom Avril pricked his finger as part of a national study to help find out.

👨‍⚕️ Anthony Fauci told cancer doctors at a Philly conference that there is “no end in sight” to coronavirus.

♻️ Philadelphia residents should put their trash out a day later than usual this week as the city catches up on collecting garbage, the Streets Department said.

📰 What’s going on in your county? We organized recent coverage of the coronavirus pandemic by local counties mentioned in the stories to make it easier for you to find the info you care about.

📈The coronavirus has swept across the Philadelphia region and cases continue to mount. The Inquirer and Spotlight PA are compiling geographic data on tests conducted, cases confirmed, and deaths caused by the virus. Track the spread here.

School leaders are crafting ways to reopen their buildings after a nearly six-month hiatus and amid a pandemic with no end in sight. But around the region and across the country, educators are voicing fears about their leaders’ ability to keep them safe if any in-person instruction happens, my colleagues Kristen Graham and Maddie Hanna write. In some cases, teachers are making contingency plans that include taking leaves of absence or even retiring. Read more here.

As cases have begun to stabilize in parts of the United States, some employers are tentatively planning to bring workers back by fall, and some are finding creative ways to rearrange them, my colleagues Katie Park and Jacob Adelman report. A few others, however, are asking: Do employees even need to come back to the office? One local company, Bryn Mawr Trust, has decided that about 40% of its 635 employees will permanently work from home. Read more here.

Petals Please, a Chester County nonprofit, rescues and repurposes beautiful blooms from weddings, funerals, corporate events, and other occasions. Since 2018, volunteers have created and delivered about 8,000 floral gifts to lonely recipients in nursing homes or hospice care, my colleague Kevin Riordan writes. When the pandemic disrupted flower donations, volunteers shifted to making paper floral arrangements.

🏠 Working from home — a privilege previously off-limits to millions of American workers — has started to include clerical and administrative workers in industries that once shied from telework.

🍺 Philly breweries have looked to PPP loans to stem losses in on-premise sales at bars, restaurants, and taprooms.

👪 Need somewhere new to take the kids? Three great spots for family outings reopen this week.

Have a social distancing tip or question to share? Let us know at health@inquirer.com and your input might be featured in a future edition of this newsletter.

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