assist hospitals where needed. we re tracking all of these developments from coast to coast. a school district seem to be doming up with their own solutions on whether to return to the classroom now that chicago teachers union is now being sued. what are you hearing? reporter: all these school districts try to figure out how to be in person safely. here in atlanta the governor is slashing those guidelines saying even if you have covid-19, you test positive, a teacher can come in the classroom and teach as long as they are asymptommatic and wear a mask. he s leaving the guidelines up to each school district to decide how they will move forward. the school district is requiring mandatory testing, twice week for teachers and it s up to students and their parents to decide if they will be tested. there are bigger issues in city of chicago as we see yet another round, a contentious battle. the mayor says she wants in person learning. she says it s best for the kids safety. that
record set almost a year ago of 142,000 hospitalizations. even more concerning, child hospitalizations are hitting new records as the omicron variant spreads. cnn s polo sandoval is watching all of this unfold for us. so, polo, what is the latest? reporter: fred, it s clear that federal health authorities are urging those who have not yet boosted after they have completed their initial series to get boosted as soon as they can. that s one of the reasons why the fda and cdc has amended that emergency use authorization that s been standing for some time, basically shortening that period of time from the initial vaccine series up to to that moment when they have to get the booster. now at five months versus the original six. so that s certainly something that they hope will lead to an increase in vaccination numbers and, of course, number of people being boosted because when you look at the number of hospitalizations, certainly continues to increase and the results have been
Class, 35 kids in a class, and not enough teachers to support them. we also do not have enough mental health professionals to support our kids in our schools or in our communities and that s something that also needs to ramp up tremendously. you wrote a letter to house speaker nancy pelosi and senate majority leader chuck schumer asking for additional funding for the health and well-being of children during the pandemic. is this the area that you re talking about, you re looking for more funding for like mental health, obviously tests having test kits available. there aren t enough for everyone who wants them and needs them right now. is this part of what your letter is trying to promote, funding for those things? absolutely. this country had a mental health crisis prior to the pandemic and it s only gotten worse since. we see an increase in suicide ideation, we see an increase in self-harm, we see an increase in emergency room visits and an increase in violence in our
The civil war and more people double the amount of people killed here during world war ii. so the build back better, the country that we are trying to get back to and redesign, has to look completely different. we need new learning spaces, we need more schools, more teachers, more mental health supports. we need mutual aid networks of education in our communities, through our community centers, mutual aid networks of mental health as well. so, yes, we need to we re in the process and we need to begin the process of rebuilding our country and that s why passing the build back better act is also so important, because there are resources there to deal with the issue of violence reduction, climate, housing and mental health, all are critical toward us building back the way we need to build back stronger. all right. congressman jamal bowman, thanks so much for being with us again. appreciate it. thank you. all right. coming up, a former senate
Neuriva. think bigger. soon former senate majority leader harry reid will be remembered today by those who loved him and knew him best. president joe biden, first lady jill biden and former president barack obama are just a few of the prominent politicians who will be in nevada to pay their respects to the late democratic leader. cnn s jeff zeleny is joining us right now from las vegas. jeff, what are we expecting from today s memorial service? reporter: good morning, fredricka. there will be just a string of dignitaries, as you said,