Ómicron teaches tough lessons as US schools return from vacation

Many schools in the United States that would normally welcome students into their classrooms on Monday are pushing back their entry dates, struggling to assess students and teachers, and preparing, as a last resort, to return to remote learning, due to the record number. of cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus in the country.

In Washington, DC, all staff and 51,000 public school students are required to upload a negative COVID-19 test result to the district’s website before attending classes Wednesday. Tests taken before Tuesday will not be accepted. Parents can take the rapid tests at their school or use their own.

Similar efforts are underway in California, which has pledged to provide free home test kits to its 6 million public school students from kindergarten to high school.

“There is a lot of COVID out there (…) it’s going to be a difficult start“Said Michelle Smith McDonald, director of communications and public affairs for the Alameda County Office of Education.

New cases of COVID-19 have hit record levels of 400,000 infections a day on average due to the extremely communicable nature of the omicron variant.

Health experts predict that even more people will test positive after end-of-the-year holiday gatherings, leading to millions of people in self-quarantine and isolation in the coming weeks.

Schools from Massachusetts to Michigan to Washington state delayed classes for a few days and asked students and staff to use that time to get tested for COVID-19.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has said closing schools in the state should be just a last resort. But school administrators are concerned about having enough teachers and staff.

“There will likely be individual school closings, either due to an outbreak or lack of staff“McDonald said.

According to updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the state has shortened its quarantine period for those exposed to someone with COVID or testing positive for COVID to five days from 10.

Scientists and health experts are concerned that the policy does not distinguish between vaccinated and unvaccinated people, who recover from the virus at different rates. It also does not require tests to confirm that a person is no longer infectious before the end of their quarantine.

California has recommended that people test negative for COVID before coming out of isolation.

Other states like Illinois https://twitter.com/ISBEnews They have not adopted the new CDC guidelines.