So when it comes to back to school,
I'm sure parents out there you
thought everything was going
to be back to normal by now,
but we've just got new guidance from
the Texas Education Agency that EA
now says schools won't have to inform
parents of positive cases this year.
They also won't have to contact trace,
and if a school does contact trace,
parents can still choose to send your
kiddo to school if they have been in close
contact with someone who tested positive.
OK, I want to bring in Doctor Mark Casanova,
Baylor, Scott and White Health.
Look, I've talked to a lot of parents,
but I want to hear from you a physician.
What are your thoughts around this?
Was both a physician and a parent.
I find these recommendations
disconcerting on multiple levels.
We have an increasing number of
children hospitalized in North Texas
from COVID-19 will likely break 2000
individuals hospitalized in North Texas.
At least adults or largest population
of eligible unvaccinated individuals
at this time or in the age range
of parents of children who can't
be vaccinated if they're under 12.
Tracking and tracing and informing
potential contacts of exposure
to an infectious disease is the
most fundamental blocking and
tackling of public health measures.
Children under 12 can't be
vaccinated as of yet.
School districts are not allowed
to implement masking for the
safety of their children.
So in total these are very concerning.
Recommendations like you know it.
In some ways,
it's as though we take the notification
of parents in a classroom that one
of the kiddos has head lice more
seriously and more concerning right now.
Then we're taking a very
serious infectious disease.
Yeah,
one parent tweeted me
the exact same thing.
Hey, we get notified if a kid in our
classroom has head lice, not COVID-19.
This makes no sense to me and you kind
of alluded to this doctor Casanova, but.
Explain the benefit of contact
tracing of letting parents know.
Hey, the kid who sits next to your kid
in this classroom in your elementary
school just tested positive for COVID-19.
Well, absolutely that gives the parents
of their child, our beloved children.
The ability to closely monitor their child.
And no, are they developing any symptoms?
Maybe that child has underlying asthma.
Maybe they have underlying
medical conditions.
Maybe use their parents.
Have some serious underlying
medical conditions. These are.
This is essential information for us
to know when we're dealing with an
infectious disease in a worldwide pandemic.
None of this is new,
and there's ample precedent.
Whether it's head lice.
For measles,
for informing our children and
their parents that they are
in potential harms way.
Yeah, I think that's especially
important at this point as we know
whether you're unvaccinated or
vaccinated in terms of transmission.
Doctor Mark Casanova.
Thanks so much for your time
this morning. Thank you.
639 here's a look at some of the top
stories surrounding COVID-19 this Friday
morning is a Fort Worth doctor is calling
the current state of the pandemic.
A surge amongst the unvaccinated.
Some of those are going to survive and
get off the ventilator, but not all.
That was Doctor John Burke of Texas
Health Harris Methodist Hospital,
who says most COVID-19 patients on
ventilators are not vaccinated.
Yesterday, hospitalizations in North
Texas surpassed last summer's peak,
and you've been hearing about the
possibility of a COVID booster shot.
Well, a source tells ABC News that
the FDA is expected to recommend
the booster for immunocompromised
Americans in the coming weeks.
That booster shots for the general
population may not be part of the
FDA's initial priority authorization,
and we have just learned that
United Airlines will require.
All US based employees to be COVID
vaccinated and to upload proof of
that vaccination to a company website.
By this fall it is the first major
US airline to make this vaccination
mandatory for all of its workers
and those will look at some of our
COVID stories this Friday morning.