Kids and Covid 19: Might be a tough year

The Kids and Covid 19, just days into the new school year, thousands of kids are under quarantine in public school districts after being exposed to Covid-19.  The highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus makes up about 90% of new infections among kids, according to experts.

Some data for the past weeks:

 full story here

While parents and school officials battle over back-to-school safety measures, schools are overwhelmed with the task of keeping kids safe while attending class in person.

• Over 10,000 students in Florida school district isolated or quarantined a week into school year. The district has reported more than 1,800 confirmed Covid-19 cases. Hillsborough is the seventh-largest school district in the U.S., with more than 213,000 students. As of Wednesday, 10,384 students and 338 staffers are isolated or under quarantine, the district told ABC News. Full story here
• Nearly 1,000 students and staff in Nashville, Tennessee, were in quarantine or isolation.
• New Orleans School District saw 299 active Covid-19 cases and more than 3,000 students and staff in quarantine, according to district data. (The Nola PS Covid-19 Case Tracker provides the number of active and cumulative positive cases of Covid-19 by school site, total number of currently quarantined students and staff, and the number of positive cases of Covid-19 reported over time for the district and by school site. Check on it’s website here
• Ware County in Georgia closed all its public schools after an increase in cases.
• 20,000 students are quarantining across Mississippi.
• Schools in Texas counties shut down because of ashortage of staff members.

Should kids wear masks in school?

Full Story here

While some states have banned schools from requiring masks for students, experts say the practice will keep kids safer. Children under 12 are still not eligible for vaccines against Covid-19. And just in time for back-to-school season, the highly contagious delta variant is causing pediatric cases of the coronavirus to skyrocket.

The good news is experts agree on how to keep kids and teachers safer at in-person school. Adults and older children should be vaccinated, and everyone should wear masks. But many schools aren’t requiring them – and many states say they can’t, even if administrators and parents want to.

Most states have lifted mask mandates in schools but allow local districts to impose them as they see fit. Twelve states have imposed mask mandates in schools, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico – a group that has grown in the past week.  Click here to check on your State.

Wearing a mask provides instantaneous protection. It can guard a person from infection even in environments where not everyone is masked, such as schools without mask mandates. 

Should everyone wear masks?

CDC new mask recommendation here

Delta’s threat: CDC reveals data on why masks are important for the vaccinated and unvaccinated.

• Updated information for fully vaccinated people given new evidence on the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant currently circulating in the United States.
• Added a recommendation for fully vaccinated people to wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission.
• Added information that fully vaccinated people might choose to wear a mask regardless of the level of transmission, particularly if they are immunocompromised or at increased risk for severe disease from Covid-19, or if they have someone in their household who is immunocompromised, at increased risk of severe disease or not fully vaccinated.
• Added a recommendation for fully vaccinated people who have come into close contact with someone with suspected or confirmed Covid-19 to be tested 3-5 days after exposure, and to wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days or until they receive a negative test result.
• CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to schools, regardless of vaccination status.

In Hillsborough County Public Schools in Florida announced that nearly 6,000 students and staff members were out because of quarantine, necessitating an emergency board meeting to discuss how to prevent further spread, including putting mandatory masking on the table. 

In Kentucky, Lee County Public Schools Superintendent Sarah Wasson announced schools would temporarily close at the beginning of this week.   “This will be a tough year, and we don’t want to have to shut down this early, but if we can determine who is positive now, we believe we can stay in school longer,” Wasson said.