Biden Reinstates COVID-19 Travel Restrictions Lifted by Trump; Chicago Teachers Defy School District After Voting to Teach From Home, and other C-Virus Updates

President Biden reinstates COVID-19 travel restrictions lifted by Trump, imposes South Africa ban:

President Joe Biden on Monday reinstated travel restrictions to combat coronavirus infections, via a presidential proclamation.

The restrictions, which were in place for most of 2020, apply to non-U.S. citizens who have been in Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom and much of Europe. Then-President Donald Trump rescinded the restrictions days before the end of his term. Biden's proclamation added South Africa to the restricted list, effective Jan. 30, in light of the new contagious coronavirus variant first seen there.

"With the pandemic worsening and more contagious variants spreading, this isn't the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a briefing Monday. --->READ MORE HERE

Chicago teachers defy school district after voting to teach from home:

The Chicago Teachers Union said Sunday that its members voted to defy an order to return to the classroom over concerns about COVID-19, setting up a showdown with district officials who have said that refusing to return when ordered would amount to an illegal strike.

Chicago Public Schools, which is the nation’s third-largest district, wanted roughly 10,000 kindergarten through eighth grade teachers and other staffers to return to school Monday to get ready to welcome back roughly 70,000 students for part-time in-school classes starting Feb. 1. No return date has been set for high school students.

The teachers union, though, opposes the plan over concern for the health of its members and called on them to continue teaching from home in defiance of the district’s plan. The union said the district’s safety plan falls short and that before teachers can return safely to schools, vaccinations would have to be more widespread and different metrics to measure infections would need to be in place. --->READ MORE HERE

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