Thousands of students are in quarantine and schools are closed

Just days into the new school year, thousands of children are being quarantined in public school districts across the United States after being exposed to COVID-19. Cases and hospitalizations among children are on the rise, with the highly contagious delta type of coronavirus making up about 90% of new infections among children, according to experts. Children under the age of 12 are currently ineligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, making schools a potentially hazardous environment, while parents and school officials across the country wrestle over COVID-to-school safety measures, schools are overwhelmed with the task of keeping children safe While attending class in person. Last week: A week of school mask-mandating chaos: Names called, meetings canceled, pleas from students Should kids wear masks at school?: These states banned mandates despite pleas from experts in Texas This week, four school districts where concealment is Optionally temporarily closed due to the COVID outbreak on campus. The closures come as principals in other parts of the state continue to defy anti-mask mandate orders and ask students to disguise themselves. The district in Gorman, Texas, was supposed to start school this week but decided to postpone for a week because there were too many active cases among students and staff. “This decision was not made lightly or swiftly, and was made with the best interests of all students, staff and parents in mind,” said Gorman’s supervisor, Mike Winter. Temporarily closed after the first week of classes due to too many employees outside of COVID. Another district, Iran’s Sheffield Independent School District in West Texas, closed Monday for two weeks so students and staff can quarantine. Board meeting to discuss how to prevent further spread, including mandatory mask-making on the table. Nearly 1,400 students and staff have reported positive COVID tests since school began August 10, according to district data. The district has more than 200,000 students. Mississippi epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said Tuesday that about 20,000 students are being quarantined statewide due to exposure to COVID. This amounts to 4.5% of the state’s public school students. “These disruptions … will continue for a while,” Byers said. Last week, McKayla Robinson, a 13-year-old eighth grader, became the fifth child in Mississippi to die of COVID since the start of the pandemic. The Raleigh girl died one day after being diagnosed with the Corona virus.Smith County School Principal, Nick Hellman, said her mother kept her house last Thursday because she was not feeling well, and she died on Saturday, she attended Raleigh High School, which has been in session since 6 August, Smith County school district reports 104 new coronavirus cases and 659 quarantines, and about 750 students and 40 staff are quarantined in New Albany Floyd Consolidated County. School Corp. In Indiana after she tested positive or had contact with someone who tested positive for the virus. Most of the employees in quarantine in that area are assistants, according to manager Brad Snyder. The shortage has caused the area to miss two or three bus lanes per day. Also in Indiana, Scott County Schools District closed school and moved to online classes beginning August 11 “due to the high rate of positive cases and the extremely high rate of students in quarantine.” In-person learning is scheduled to resume on August 23. In Kentucky, Lee County Public Schools Director Sarah Wasson announced that schools will be temporarily closed early this week. “This is going to be a tough year and we don’t want to have to close this early, but if we can identify who’s positive now, we think we can stay in school longer,” Wasson said. The Louisville Courier Journal, The Associated Press