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More Philly-area school districts are planning virtual openings | Coronavirus Newsletter

Plus, COVID-19 has shut hundreds of the Philly region's small businesses, Yelp says

TL;DR: A growing number of school districts around Philadelphia are opting to begin the school year virtually — a shift that accelerated last week. The decisions have won support from parents worried about sending kids back, but frustrated others now in a child-care bind. In the Philadelphia region, at least 252 businesses have permanently closed between March 1 and July 10, according to Yelp.

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

What you need to know:

⛰️ Driven by COVID-19 and social media, Pennsylvania’s state parks have become so overcrowded on weekends that officials have taken the extraordinary step of asking people to go elsewhere.

😷 N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy threatened to shut down Shore bars after photographs this weekend showed packed lines of mask-less young people waiting to get into establishments in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

☎️ If you get a call from 215-218-XXXX, it’s probably a contact tracer. Philadelphia Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said about one-third of Philadelphians who have been contacted have not answered the calls.

📊 Many states — including Pennsylvania and New Jersey — are still struggling to report comprehensive race and ethnicity data for COVID-19 cases. Here’s why that’s a problem.

♻️ Trash and recycling collection in Philly will be delayed again this week. As a result, sanitation centers are getting overloaded.

🏈 The Philadelphia Public League suspended all high school sports competition until Jan. 1 in accordance with recommendations from Gov. Wolf.

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

Local coronavirus cases

📈 Coronavirus cases across the Philadelphia region 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.

A growing number of school districts around Philadelphia are opting to begin the school year virtually — a shift that accelerated last week. West Chester, Upper Darby, Lower Merion, Haverford and Colonial were among the districts that recently approved virtual openings, as did Central Bucks. The decisions have won support from parents worried about sending kids back, but frustrated others now in a child-care bind and fearing a return to the online learning woes of the spring. Read more here.

In the Philadelphia region, at least 252 businesses permanently closed between March 1 and July 10, according to Yelp. That tally is almost certainly an undercount, as it includes only businesses that reported their closures on Yelp, my colleagues Christian Hetrick and Sophie Burkholder write. And experts say more small businesses are expected to go under after weathering the first five months of the pandemic.

Helpful resources

  1. What are the first symptoms of the coronavirus?

  2. Hit the COVID-19 wall? Here are some ways to cope.

  3. Here are 8 principles of social distancing to help figure out what you can and can’t do.

  4. Want to plan a vacation? Here’s what the experts say on how to travel safely.

  5. Have another question? Our reporters have tracked down answers.

You got this: A musical break

For two weeks in July, 90 middle school and high school musicians and 27 faculty members at the All City Orchestra Summer Academy studied and practiced via Zoom alongside players from the highest reaches of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The program’s grand finale — a student performance of the “Farandole” movement from Bizet’s L’Arlesienne Suite — goes live on Facebook at 11 a.m. Tuesday. Read more here.

🎒 Cheyney University became one of the first colleges in the region to hold in-person classes on Monday.

🎨 Need something to do with the kids? Check out our updated list of Philly-area museums and attractions that have reopened.

⚽ The Philadelphia Union will resume playing games on Aug. 21.

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.

What we’re paying attention to

  1. Unless Americans use the dwindling weeks between now and the onset of “indoor weather” to tamp down transmission in the country, things could get much worse this winter, STAT reports.

  2. What happens when you sneeze on the subway? The New York Times has created an interactive graphic explaining how air moves through a subway car.

  3. Scientists know that vaccines can be less effective in obese adults than in the general population. And there is little reason to believe a COVID-19 vaccine will be any different, Kaiser Health News reports.

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