Today’s top pics: Belgium Europe Summit and more
Top photos of the day as selected by the Associated Press.
APTOPIX Belgium Europe Summit
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Ireland's Prime Minister Micheal Martin makes a statement on arrival for an EU summit in Brussels, Monday, July 20, 2020. Leaders from 27 European Union nations go into a fourth day of meetings on Monday to assess an overall budget and recovery package spread over seven years. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, Pool)
APTOPIX Cuba Virus Outbreak
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Wearing a protective face mask amid the spread of the new coronavirus, a chef rides his electric bicycle past a hotel under construction in Havana, Cuba, Monday, July 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
APTOPIX Britain Cricket England West Indies
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England's Ollie Pope, center, dives to take the catch to dismiss West Indies' Kemar Roach, left, during the last day of the second cricket Test match between England and West Indies at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, Monday, July 20, 2020. (Michael Steele/Pool via AP)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico
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Arrows signal the entry and exit, to help with social distancing amid the spread of COVID-19 at the Cathedral where a National Guard soldier stands guard in Mexico City, Monday, July 20, 2020. The Catholic church began a gradual reopening of its churches one week ago in the capital, and on Monday started celebrating Mass again. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Israel Daily Life
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Alex Olshansky wears a protective face mask to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus while playing drums in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, July 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
APTOPIX Britain Soccer Premier League
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Sheffield United's David McGoldrick, left, and Everton's Michael Keane go up for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Sheffield United and Everton at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England, Monday, July 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Peter Powell, Pool)
APTOPIX Ex-Assembly Speaker
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Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver leaves U.S. District Court after he was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison in the corruption case that drove him from power, Monday, July 20, 2020, in the Manhattan borough of New York. U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni insisted that Silver come to court in person to hear his punishment, rather than appear remotely because of concerns about exposure to the coronavirus. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
APTOPIX Belgium Europe Summit
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, speaks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, center, and European Council President Charles Michel, left, during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Monday, July 20, 2020. Weary European Union leaders are expressing cautious optimism that a deal is in sight on their fourth day of wrangling over an unprecedented budget and coronavirus recovery fund. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, Pool)
APTOPIX Germany Daily Life
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Sunflowers stand in a field in Frankfurt, Germany, after the sun set on Monday, July 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Guatemala
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A health worker's plastic mask becomes fogged as she waits for the opening of a new care center for COVID-19 patients on the outskirts of Guatemala City, Monday, July 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
APTOPIX Italy Soccer Serie A
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Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Juventus and Lazio at the Allianz stadium in Turin, Italy, Monday, July 20, 2020. (Marco Alpozzi/LaPresse via AP)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Brazil
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Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, who tested positive for COVID-19, wearing a protective face mask attends a Brazilian flag retreat ceremony outside the Alvorada Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, July 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Argentina
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A man jogs during a government-ordered lockdown to curb the spread of the new coronavirus in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Monday, July 20, 2020. Fitness lovers hit the streets and parks of the Argentine capital on Monday night after the city government authorized people to exercise outdoors as part of a roadmap for rolling back on Covid-19 curbing quarantine restrictions. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak South Korea
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Workers wearing protective gears spray disinfectant as a precaution against a new coronavirus at a theater in Sejong Center in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 21, 2020. South Korea’s new virus cases have bounced back Tuesday, a day after it reported its smallest daily jump in local COVID-19 transmissions in two months. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
APTOPIX Belgium Europe Summit
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, left, and European Council President Charles Michel address a media conference at an EU summit in Brussels, Tuesday, July 21, 2020. Weary European Union leaders finally clinched an unprecedented budget and coronavirus recovery fund early Tuesday, finding unity after four days and as many nights of fighting and wrangling over money and power in one of their longest summits ever. (Stephanie Lecocq, Pool Photo via AP)
APTOPIX Germany Daily Life
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A tourist poses on the railing of the "Eiserner Steg" bridge which is decorated with love locks in Frankfurt, Germany, early Tuesday, July 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
APTOPIX Ukraine Switzerland
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The honor guard soldiers wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus march during a welcome ceremony the occasion of Swiss Federal president Simonetta Sommaruga's visit in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, July. 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
APTOPIX Germany Synagogue Attack
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Accused Stephan Balliet sits in the courtroom of the regional court at the beginning of the trial in Magdeburg, Germany, Tuesday, July 21, 2020. Balliet is charged with 13 crimes including murder and attempted murder, for a Yom Kippur attack on a synagogue on Oct. 9 in the eastern German city of Halle, that is considered one of the worst anti-Semitic assaults in the country's post-war history. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)
APTOPIX Pakistan Polio
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A health worker gives a polio vaccine to a child in Lahore, Pakistan, Tuesday, July 21, 2020. Pakistan resumed vaccinations against polio, months after the drive against this crippling children's disease was halted because the novel coronavirus had overwhelmed the country's health system. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
APTOPIX Belgium Europe Summit
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, speaks with French President Emmanuel Macron, center, during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Monday, July 20, 2020. Weary European Union leaders are expressing cautious optimism that a deal is in sight on their fourth day of wrangling over an unprecedented budget and coronavirus recovery fund. (John Thys, Pool Photo via AP)
Pressure builds on Arizona governor to base school reopening on COVID-19 data
UpdatedPressure is building on Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to scrap the idea of setting a firm date for students to return to classrooms.
There is increasing consensus among some education and health officials that Arizona would be better served by spelling out the conditions under which in-school instruction could be considered safe — or at least less risky. That means establishing metrics to consider rates of coronavirus infection and spread and how fast schools can get test results.
All this comes against the backdrop of the governor having set an “aspirational” statewide date for in-classroom learning of Aug. 17.
Ducey is expected to provide his latest projections for restarting in-person instruction at a press conference Thursday.
Daniel Scarpinato, the governor’s chief of staff, said his boss is working with education officials and shares their goal of safely reopening schools “at the appropriate time.” And he indicated that Ducey was not necessarily opposed to some sort of metrics as well as providing flexibility to school districts.
But he said the issue needs to be kept in perspective.
“Schools are, if there is an essential service, they are the most essential service,” Scarpinato said. “We need to be thinking about how we best educate students and provide structured learning environments during a pandemic, which is not ending any time soon.”
That includes online learning “and how to do it right,” he said. But Scarpinato said there also need to be “options for students who have no place else to go, whose parents work, who may have special needs.”
The latest push for metrics comes from Arizona schools chief Kathy Hoffman.
“School leaders should be empowered to work with local public-health officials to examine data and determine when it’s safe to reopen for in-person learning, rather than relying solely on dates,” she said in a new memo. And Hoffman has some specific ideas of what should be measured.
For example, she wants a downward trajectory of confirmed new cases of COVID-19. Hoffman also wants the positivity rates for testing — the percentage of tests for the virus that show an active case — to go down.
And Hoffman said schools need not just widespread testing but “timely results.”
“I want students back in our classrooms because that’s the best place for learning and growing,” she wrote. “However, we cannot ask schools to make decisions that will impact their teachers’ and students’ health and safety without first providing them with the necessary public-health data and funding to make safe decisions.”
That funding reference relates to a separate call for the state to provide the same dollars on a per-student basis for all children, whether districts decide to provide full-time classroom instruction, full-time at home, or some sort of hybrid.
Current law sets aid as low as 85% in some of these cases. And with average aid at about $5,300 a year, that can reduce state funding by close to $800 a year for each remotely taught student.
Multiply that by the number of students being taught at home, full or part time, and it means a real hit to affected districts. Hoffman said that’s not acceptable.
“Distance-learning costs to schools are high,” she said. “Many public schools already have invested considerably in technology, online learning platforms, and other tools needed during distance learning.
“Students need access to services that support their well-being and academic success across multiple scenarios and conditions during a pandemic.”
And if nothing else, Hoffman said schools districts need the kind of “flexibility and budget stability” from a set state-aid figure.
On the issue of metrics, Hoffman’s aides declined to say what specific figures of declining rates or testing she believes would show that the virus is finally under control.
But that was not a problem for Sheila Harrison-Williams, executive director of the Arizona School Boards Association.
In her own letter to Ducey, she said that schools should not reopen for in-class instruction until the number of COVID cases has been on a downward trend for at least 28 days. Ditto, she said, on the rate of positive tests.
And Harrison-Williams said that those positivity rates need to be no greater than 15% for 14 consecutive days — and that the median time for test results should be no more than three days.
Even Will Humble, the former state health director, has some specific benchmarks.
Most significant, he said, would be having 80% of contact tracing completed within 96 hours of sample collection. He, too, wants a “consistent” reduction in new COVID-19 cases in the community.
Humble said that setting these metrics and doing so in a public way has a bonus effect.
“It gives the community something to work for together,” he said, taking the steps necessary to meet the goals and get kids back in the classroom.
There are signs that the infection rate is decreasing — at least on a statewide basis.
Data from the Department of Health Services shows the state hit a peak of 5,411 new confirmed cases on June 29. But state health officials caution that delays in getting data mean that the numbers for the past seven to 10 days are subject to change.
Positivity is a different story. Over the past week, nearly 1 out of every 4 tests confirmed infection, compared with just 8.5% nationally.
Christine Severance, a family medical physician in Phoenix, said even that national rate is too high to ensure safe operation of schools. She said the original guidelines from both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization set a target of less than 5% positivity.
Severance, who is coordinating efforts with Save Our Schools Arizona, said that’s only part of the equation. What’s also needed, she said, is both adequate testing and prompt results.
“What we’re seeing right now is a lag time in test results of almost two weeks,” Severance said. “That’s just too much because people feel they can’t miss work while they wait for those two weeks to pass to find out if they’re positive or negative.”
Photos: July Motormarch 2.0 for Safe Schools in Tucson
Motormarch 2.0 for Safe Schools
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Ryer Dixon helps get her family car decorated as a few hundred get their vehicles in the proper protest spirit for the Tucson Motormarch 2.0, staging at Hi Corbett Field, Tucson, Ariz., July 22, 2020. The protestors were advocating for a delay in the opening of in-school classes in light of Arizona's rocketing COVID19 numbers. The motorcade took a circuitous route through southwest Tucson ending at Sentinel Peak.
Motormarch 2.0 for Safe Schools
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Tucson High School biology teacher Marea Jenness writes her protest message in her car's windows as a few hundred get their vehicles decorated for the Tucson Motormarch 2.0 while staging at Hi Corbett Field, Tucson, Ariz., July 22, 2020. The march was organized to protest the opening of in-school classes in light of Arizona's rocketing COVID19 numbers.
Motormarch 2.0 for Safe Schools
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Cholla High School teacher Jose Federico waves as he counts the vehicles heading down from Sentinel Peak as a few hundred protestors wrap up the Tucson Motormarch 2.0 while staging at Hi Corbett Field, Tucson, Ariz., July 22, 2020. Heading out organizers counted 170 vehicles, Federico totaled up 148 heading off the mountain.
Motormarch 2.0 for Safe Schools
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Jaye Harden climbs up on the trunk to get the best possible angle for writing on the rear window as a few hundred protestors get their vehicles decorated for the Tucson Motormarch 2.0 staging at Hi Corbett Field, Tucson, Ariz., July 22, 2020.
Motor March for Safe Schools
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Andrea Ayala, a teacher at Pueblo High School, advocated for keeping campuses closed during a July 15 Motor March for Safe Schools in Tucson, Ariz.
Motor March for Safe Schools
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One of about 100 cars filled with Tucson Unified School District educators and supporters participate in a Motor March for Safe Schools in downtown Tucson on July 15, 2020.
Motor March for Safe Schools
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About 100 cars filled with Tucson Unified School District educators and supporters participate in a Motor March for Safe Schools on July 15, 2020 in Tucson, Ariz.
Motor March for Safe Schools
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Lysa Nabours, a teacher and secretary at Tucson Education Association, checks out her decoration on a car before the start of the March for Safe Schools on July 15, 2020 in Tucson, Ariz.
Motor March for Safe Schools
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About 100 cars filled with Tucson Unified School District educators and supporters participate in a Motor March for Safe Schools on July 15, 2020 in Tucson, Ariz.
Motor March for Safe Schools
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About 100 cars filled with Tucson Unified School District educators and supporters participate in a Motor March for Safe Schools on July 15, 2020 in Tucson, Ariz.
Motor March for Safe Schools
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Tucson Unified School District educators and supporters participate in a Motor March for Safe Schools on July 15, 2020 in Tucson, Ariz. About 100 cars and a few cyclists showed up for the event that was part of a statewide initiative to make political leaders aware of their concerns about opening schools for in-person instruction during a rise in COVID-19 cases.
Motor March for Safe Schools
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Ryan Kuchta, 13, middle, is joined by his parents, Mark and Sonya, as they show their support for educators during the Motor March for Safe Schools event on July 15, 2020 in downtown Tucson.
Motor March for Safe Schools
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About 100 cars filled with Tucson Unified School District educators and supporters participate in a Motor March for Safe Schools on July 15, 2020 in Tucson, Ariz.
As featured on
Also on this day in 2020 weary European Union leaders finally clinched an unprecedented budget and coronavirus recovery fund, finding unity after four days and as many nights of fighting and wrangling over money and power in one of their longest summits ever. See more top news photos as selected by the Associated Press.
