Expert advice: Going back to school safely with COVID

Aug 13, 2021 at 08:51 AM CDT

Shannon Longworth

back to school covid

School districts across the country are holding last minute special sessions to make sure they have the best practices in place to keep everyone as safe as possible as classes get underway. Medical experts cut through the posturing.

Shannon Longworth

Shannon Longworth was an investigative reporter and anchor for Straight Arrow News from 2021 to 2023. She started her career on California’s central coast, then made her way back home working in the sprawling suburbs of New York City

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CLASSES ARE UNDERWAY, AND WITH THEM,

A LESSON IN COVID SAFETY.

SOME POLITICIANS AND SCHOOL OFFICIALS ARE BATTLING OVER PRECAUTIONS.

SO WE’RE GOING TO CUT THROUGH ALL THE POSTURING TO GIVE YOU THE FACTS YOU NEED TO PREPARE YOUR FAMILY.

WHY? BECAUSE THE DELTA VARIANT IS *10 TIMES* MORE CONTAGIOUS

THAN THE ORIGINAL STRAIN OF COVID-19.

AND AN OUTBREAK AT A SCHOOL COULD LEAD TO A COMMUNITY-WIDE SCARE.

LET’S GET THIS STRAIGHT WITH THE A-B-CS OF BACK-TO-SCHOOL WITH COVID:

A IS FOR ASKING QUESTIONS. WE’LL REVIEW A FEW OF THOSE WITH OUR MEDICAL CONSULTANT.

B IS FOR BEST PRACTICES. WHAT IS THE SCHOOL DOING TO KEEP YOUR KID AND YOUR FAMILY SAFE?

AND, C IS FOR CASES. IS THE SCHOOL OR DISTRICT TRACKING THEM?

LET’S TAKE THESE ONE AT A TIME.

A – ASK QUESTIONS:

-FIND OUT THE SCHOOL’S CURRENT PLAN. ASK ABOUT MASKS, VACCINES AND SOCIAL DISTANCING.

DR, KOHLI SAYS SCHOOLS NEED TO TAKE MORE PRECAUTIONS THIS YEAR SINCE MOST KIDS WILL BE BACK IN THE CLASSROOM INSTEAD OF VIRTUALLY LEARNING FROM HOME.

PLUS, NO KIDS UNDER 12 ARE VACCINATED,

FEW TEENAGERS ARE, AND THE DELTA VARIANT IS SPREADING AMONG ADOLESCENTS.

[SOT DR. KOHLI 5:54]

“I would certainly talk to your pediatrician ahead of time, express your concerns, really understand the risk benefit, and then also educate your child, I think that’s a really important piece of it, because our teenagers are young adults, and they want to be very much involved in the decision.”

OTHER QUESTIONS TO ASK:

ARE THERE CHOICES AVAILABLE?

LIKE, CAN MY STUDENT HAVE THE OPTION TO CONTINUE VIRTUAL LEARNING?

AND HOW IS THE SCHOOL NOTIFYING STUDENTS AND PARENTS OF THE LATEST COVID NEWS?

NEXT IS B–FOR BEST PRACTICES.

DR. KOHLI SAYS SCHOOLS CAN TAKE CERTAIN MEASURES TO SLOW THE SPREAD.

[SOT DR KOHLI 2:03]

“there’s three ways to put the brakes on this virus. One is the vaccine. One is the mask. And one is the other mitigation measures, I like to call it such as social distancing, washing your hands, cleaning surfaces, you know, keeping distance amongst people, limiting capacity. So I would encourage parents and kids to ask about all three of those”

C – IS FOR CASES.

WHO’S TRACKING THEM AND AND MAKING DECISIONS? ESPECIALLY WHEN MANY SCHOOL DO NOT HAVE FULL-TIME NURSES.

ALSO – WILL THE SCHOOL HAVE CONTACT TRACING AND QUARANTINE PROTOCOL?

[SOT DR KOHLI 4:29]

“I do think that contact tracing, surveillance, testing, meaning testing people, even when they’re asymptomatic, including the vaccinated kids at school, all of that is going to be really important as we head into the, into the school year this year, because we want to make sure we keep an eye on what the virus is doing in our school before it sneaks up on us and creates an outbreak.”

AND FINALLY, YOU MAY NEED TO CONSIDER YOUR OWN FAMILY.

[SOT DR. KOHLI 3:08]

“the thing you don’t want to do is to just do whatever you feel like, because that’s going to be hard on your child, it’ll be hard on you, ”

DO YOU HAVE A PLAN IN PLACE IN CASE SOMEONE IN YOUR FAMILY GETS SICK?

LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS.

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