But in the community and on social media, parents are frequently talking about the spike in cases, and schools are taking action.Several Montgomery County schools have reintroduced mask-wearing requirements for certain classes. With the outbreak. This week, right-wing politicians and media members stormed Rosemary Hills Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland, and ordered kindergarteners to wear face coverings for several days. Senator Josh Hawley (Republican, Missouri) said:never againon X, formerly known as Twitter, following the news. (Following the online backlash, schools have set up indoor break times and increased security.)
This year marks the beginning of a new chapter for many school districts. It will be the first full school year since President Biden repealed the health order in May. Schools are now primarily monitoring clusters and influxes of cases, rather than focusing on tracking and reporting individual cases as in previous school years.
Xiaoyan Song, chief infection control officer at the National Children’s Hospital, said the increase in cases was likely due to travel and students returning to school in August. The surge, she said, is consistent with what has been seen at this time in the past few years.
“Labor Day weekend always feels like a tie,” Song said. “So we’re seeing a spike, but I think because of all the social factors more than just the virus, you know, we’re going to need a few more weeks to see where this trend is going.”
So far, school officials say the number of known cases is still low compared to the surge experienced after the winter and spring breaks of the 2022-23 school year.
Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, the state’s largest school district with more than 180,000 students, reported 14 outbreaks (three or more infected people in a group) from August 18 to September 4. ) was reported. Malt said in an email that the district has reported the outbreak to the county health department, school spokeswoman Julie said in an email.
According to School Health Services Director Robin Wolin, public schools in the city of Alexandria, which has about 16,000 students, have seen only two clusters this year, one among staff before the start of classes. One case is said to be a small cluster within an elementary school.
Wallin said the Alexandria City School System has implemented coronavirus protocols this year that include mitigation for other communicable diseases, such as the flu. School districts are monitoring the incidence of absenteeism in conjunction with cases tracked by school nurses. She said the absentee rate has yet to spike.
“Many of our schools are experiencing isolated cases, but we’re just trying to treat it like any other infectious disease,” Wallin said.
Frank Bellavia, a spokesman for nearby Arlington County, said the district is not tracking cases this year because it has had only five days of classes, but it is monitoring the influx of cases and is seeing outbreaks. It said it will notify you as soon as it is confirmed. The same is true for other infectious diseases.
Loudoun County Public Schools, Virginia, did not respond to questions.
Educators in Virginia said teachers across the state are closely monitoring absenteeism rates. The educator, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized by the district to speak to the media, said more students and teachers are wearing masks in the classroom again. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that students stay home for five days if they test positive, making the loss of classroom time a top concern for students.
“It becomes a question of equity. What kind of support is available to learners at home and outside of school? The range is very wide,” the educator said. “It’s important. Five days of learning is very hard to recover from, especially if it’s back-to-back.”
Washington, D.C. Public Schools has not begun analyzing infection trends since the start of the new school year last week, but so far it has not seen an increase in cases, a school system spokesperson said.
For the week of August 21st, The school system reported one known positive case. at Watkins Elementary School. Before the 2022-23 school year ended, the school system reported 71 cases among students and staff during May. From June 1 to June 23, 16 cases were confirmed in the school district.The website the school district is using to update families about the spread of the coronavirus shows most Guidance not updated From the 2022-23 academic year.
In Maryland, Montgomery County Public Schools, the state’s largest school district with about 160,000 students, reported Wednesday that 9 of its 211 schools had outbreaks since Sept. 1.
Montgomery County Public Schools Medical Officer Patricia Kapnan said the increase in cases was expected because there is always a “virus epidemic” in the summer.
“I started the school year with what looked like a slight increase in cases over the summer,” Kapunan said.
Last school year, the Montgomery school system reached its peak around Sept. 20, with 20 schools affected in one week. Kapnan said there was a further “sustained increase” in the number of cases between Thanksgiving and around mid-February. The wave peaked in late January, when 25 schools were simultaneously dealing with the outbreak during that period.
At Burning Tree Elementary School and Rosemary Hills Elementary School in Montgomery County, principals sent a note home Tuesday to parents informing them of the outbreak and the mask requirement. Masks will be required in kindergarten classes at Rosemary Hills until Monday after four cases were confirmed in the classroom, Kapunan said. The decision quickly drew backlash from conservative parents and commentators on social media, some of whom did not send their children to the school.
Lindsey Smith, director of the Montgomery County branch of Moms for Liberty, said she received emails and social media messages from more than 100 parents opposing the mask mandate after Rosemary Hills’ letter circulated online. It said it received comments. She said some parents accused the school system of mandating mask-wearing as part of a political move, adding, “Parents are done with it.”
Public health officials say masks are one of the most effective ways to curb the spread of respiratory disease. Kapunan said the children were in kindergarten, so none of them were enrolled in school when universal mask-wearing was mandated. “And, you know, one of the things we have to consider is that masks are not effective unless children can wear them safely and effectively,” she added.
Kapunan said the school system does not require masks to be worn in classrooms with preschool students or students with disabilities. This is because these learners often do not wear masks safely and consistently. The district relies on other mitigation strategies such as physical distancing.
“We’re asking them to do their best, and we’re doing things like washing our hands in our sleeves and coughing into our sleeves,” Kapunan said.
Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland (approximately 131,000 students) has had 121 cases since school staff returned on Aug. 21, but the school remains open for now. School spokeswoman Megan Gebrselassie said the virus had not had an impact.School system not updated Post-May 15th Coronavirus Report Dashboard.
Song said parents and educators must continue to rely on proven mitigation strategies like vaccinations, masks and hand washing to protect against the coronavirus and other illnesses as the new school year continues. He said that there is.
“Please calm down. We know this virus has been circulating for three years, and we don’t know when it will end,” Song said. “So we need to stick to smart, well-functioning strategies.”