Weekly COVID-19 deaths have been on the rise since June, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID Data Tracker.
Rising COVID-19 cases seem to be having little affect on schools this year as they appear to be sticking to previous plans to mitigate the spread of the virus. K-12 schools in the U.S. have chosen to treat COVID-19 like RSV or the flu, at the recommendation of health organizations like the CDC.
The CDC now classifies COVID-19 as just another respiratory illness, and as a result, many schools have dropped their previous COVID-19 precautions like masking or enforcing social distancing.
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) previously had policies requiring students and faculty to stay out of school longer if they contract COVID-19 and to wear masks for some time when they return to classrooms.
But this summer, LAUSD said that due to high vaccination rates it would begin treating COVID-19 like RSV. The district added that those who tested positive for the virus and were symptomatic would need to stay home and would not be allowed to return to classrooms until symptoms improved and or they had gone 24 hours without a fever.
Health experts told The Hill that school communities should protect themselves from the virus by receiving an updated COVID-19 vaccine, which the Food and Drug Administration approved last week.
Apart from getting vaccinated, school staff and parents should routinely test themselves and children for the virus, according to Jodie Guest, senior vice chair of epidemiology at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.
“If your kid comes home and is not feeling well and showing signs that might be COVID, might be something else, going ahead with at-home testing is an important way to stop spread in your family and to stop spread in schools,” she said.
