The Big Ten conference will not play sports this fall—including football—due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"The mental and physical health and welfare of our student-athletes has been at the center of every decision we have made regarding the ability to proceed forward," said Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren in a press statement. "As time progressed and after hours of discussion with our Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee, it became abundantly clear that there was too much uncertainty regarding potential medical risks to allow our student-athletes to compete this fall."
The Big Ten consists of 14 of the nation's largest research universities spanning from New Jersey to Nebraska. It's the oldest Division I collegiate conference in the country.
The announcement comes one day after President Donald Trump urged colleges and universities to play fall sports. "Play college football!" the President tweeted yesterday.
Trump maintains children 'essentially' immune to COVID-19
Also yesterday, Trump said at a White House briefing that children were "essentially" immune to the coronavirus and said schools must open for in-person instruction in the fall.
"I think for the most part, [kids] don't get very sick, they don't catch it very easily, and ... they don't transfer it to other people, or certainly not very easily," Trump said.
Trump's statement followed news from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association that almost 100,000 US children have been infected with the virus in recent weeks. In Florida, one of the hardest hit states this summer, infections in kids have risen by 137%, from 6,797 cases in children on Jul 9 to 39,735 on Aug 9.
More and more American families are hesitant about sending kids back to the classroom. According to a new Axios/Ipsos poll, 73% of Americans are concerned about schools in their community reopening too soon, and 67% see sending their children to school as a large or moderate risk.
The nation's biggest school district, New York City, is still planning on starting the school year with a hybrid learning plan that sees kids in the classroom at least 2 days per week. Mayor Bill de Blasio yesterday said about 74% of students and 85% of teachers will be returning to classrooms in 4 weeks, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The virus is well controlled in New York. "We're different and we're ready. We are the only major urban school district in America planning for in-person classes this fall," de Blasio said.
Nursing homes tightening restrictions again
Across the country, nursing homes are once again warning of rising infections. Nursing homes were the first sites of massive outbreaks and deaths in the US beginning in February but reported a steady drop-off of cases until June.
A new report from the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), however, said cases are rising across the country in tandem with wider community infection rates.
"As we feared and have been warning government leaders over the past couple months, the spike in COVID cases in the general population across the U.S. has led to increased cases in nursing homes," Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the AHCA/NCAL, told CNN.
In Minnesota, the Department of Health issued new recommendations to nursing homes in the state, suggesting facilities only allow outside visitors after considering community infection rates.
The recommendations suggest facilities should keep in place limits on visits if there is an "elevated risk" of COVID-19 transmission in the community—defined as having 10 or more cases of the virus per 10,000 residents over a 14-day period.
