Thumbs up, thumbs down

Thumbs up to educators across the state who made their best efforts to reopen public schools as safely as possible. This meant an incredible amount of preparation, such as separating desks 6 feet apart and marking hallways for one-way traffic, and teachers learning to juggle in-class teaching with remote learning. Students, too, had to adjust by wearing masks and following guidelines. Districts are responding in tailored ways to the inevitable cases of coronavirus, and some are going with all-remote lessons. But amid the uncertainty, we can all appreciate the determination involved — by teachers, administrators, food service workers, bus drivers and janitorial staff — to get the new school year off to as positive a start as possible in a pandemic.

Thumbs down to the long delay in hearings for unemployment benefits at the state Department of Labor. About one of every 50 people who apply for benefits because of job loss are queued for a hearing, which can take about 10 weeks, more than triple the wait time before the pandemic. The sheer volume of applications is one factor, and so is a 40-year-old computer system that likely won’t be updated until mid-2022. The department has hired eight more staff to handle the hearings, but it seems more could be done to shorten the process so the unemployed can receive much-needed benefits.

Thumbs up to a reported drop in vaping usage among American teenagers, according to a survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts point to two possible reasons: a reaction to vaping-related deaths and illnesses, and efforts to discourage the trend such as flavor bans and age limits. The shift from 5.4 million minors vaping to 3.6 million is significant, regardless of the reason. Still, more can be done, including getting flavored and disposable e-cigarettes off of the market.

Thumbs down to potentially serious infections caused by bacteria in Long Island Sound. Since July, five cases of Vibrio vulnificus infections have been reported to the state Department of Public Health, All five cases reported exposure to salt or brackish water during activities such as swimming, crabbing and boating, and all five had pre-existing wounds or sustained new wounds during activities that led to the infections. The bacteria, once inside the body, can infect the bloodstream. Between 2010 and 2019, only seven cases were reported in Connecticut, making this summer a dramatically different story.