Below is the pasted text from this morning’s (8/4) briefing written by Sanam Yar.

“A small fraction of students in the South and Midwest have returned to classrooms, and the coronavirus is already disrupting plans. In one Indiana school district, the superintendent sent out a note Saturday thanking students and parents for ‘a great first two days of school!’ He also said several staff members had tested positive — and the high school was swiftly closed.

‘I’ve been in the business over 40 years — I have never experienced anything like this,’ said Lee Childress, a superintendent in Mississippi whose district has seen three students test positive since last week. ‘It’s kind of like drinking out of a fire hose because it’s happening so fast.’

A cautionary tale from Israel: The government rushed students back into the classroom in May, confident that the country had moved past the pandemic. Outbreaks ultimately closed more than 240 schools and led to the quarantine of more than 22,520 teachers and students.”

Edit 1: Israel coverage Edit 2: punctuation