The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges to the nation's K-12 education system. The rush to slow the spread of the virus led to closures of schools across the country, with little time to ensure continuity of instruction or to create a framework for deciding when and how to reopen schools. States, districts, and schools are now grappling with the complex and high-stakes questions of whether to reopen school buildings and how to operate them safely if they do reopen. These decisions need to be informed by the most up-to-date evidence about the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19; about the impacts of school closures on students and families; and about the complexities of operating school buildings as the pandemic persists.

Reopening K-12 Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Prioritizing Health, Equity, and Communities provides guidance on the reopening and operation of elementary and secondary schools for the 2020-2021 school year. The recommendations of this report are designed to help districts and schools successfully navigate the complex decisions around reopening school buildings, keeping them open, and operating them safely.

By Emily M. Farris, Mirya R. Holman

Background: During the COVID-19 crisis, sheriffs across the country vocally refused to implement mask mandates.

Objectives: In this note, we argue that resistance to mask mandates emerged out of successful efforts to recruit sheriffs into right-wing extremism (RWE) and its foundations in white supremacy, nativism, and anti-government extremism.

Methods: We draw on upon historical analysis and a national survey of sheriffs

Results: We show how RWE movements recruited sheriffs and that a substantial share of sheriffs adopted RWE attitudes. We argue that this radicalization of county sheriffs primes them to resist a core component of federalism: mandates by supra governments. We identify a relationship between sheriffs. RWE attitudes and their resistance to enforcing COVID-19 mask mandates.

Conclusion: Our work demonstrates the importance of considering the implications of violent extremism in the United States, particularly as it aligns with local law enforcement.

Social Science Quarterly, Volume104, Issue2 March 2023, Pages 59-68

Edited by Nissa Finney, James Nazroo, Laia Bécares, Dharmi Kapadia and Natalie Shlomo

This book illustrates life through the COVID-19 pandemic for ethnic minorities in Britain. Drawing from the Evidence for Equality National Survey (EVENS), the book presents new evidence of ethnic inequalities and sheds new light on underlying racisms, opening them up to debate as crucial social concerns. Written by leading international experts in the field, this is a must-read for anyone interested in contemporary ethnic inequalities and racism from academics and policy makers to voluntary and community sector organisations.

Bristol, UK: Policy Press. 2023, 234pg

By Cara Ebert, Janina Isabel Steinert:

We study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on domestic violence against women in Germany in 2020. The analysis draws on three data sources: (1) longitudinal administrative data on the volume of help requests to helplines, shelters and counselling services, (2) cross-sectional survey data collected during the first wave of the pandemic, and (3) a qualitative online survey with counsellors and domestic violence experts. The number of violence-related requests at helplines increased significantly by 29% with the first physical distancing measures, whereas ambulatory care services such as shelters experienced a 19% increase in help requests only after physical distancing restrictions were lifted. Our results indicate that individuals substituted help services away from ambulatory care towards helplines. We do not observe exacerbated violence in states with greater mobility reductions, lower daycare capacity for childcare or higher COVID-19 infection numbers. Our findings highlight the importance of providing easily accessible online counselling offers for survivors of violence and governmental financial relief packages.

IZA DP No. 16793 Bonn, Germany: IZA – Institute of Labor Economics, 2024. 47p.

By Santiago M. Perez-Vincent, Ernesto Schargrodsk, and Mauricio García Mejía

This paper studies the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown on criminal activity in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. We find a large, significant, robust, and immediate decline in crime following quarantine restrictions. We observe the effect on property crime reported to official agencies, police arrests, and crime reported in victimization surveys, but not in homicides. The decrease in criminal activity was greater in business and transportation areas, but still large in commercial and residential areas (including informal settlements). After the sharp and immediate fall, crime recovered but, as of November 2020, it did not reach its initial levels. The arrest data additionally allow us to measure the distance from the detainees address to the crime location. Crime became more local as mobility was restricted.

Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank, 2021. 63p.