At-home COVID-19 antigen test kits were distributed to Chino Valley Unified students this week at the same time the California Department of Public Health issued updated guidelines for schools on face coverings, quarantining, cleaning, disinfecting and isolation.

The test kits were sent home with students but families were given a choice to opt out by signing a form given to students prior to the test kits going out.

Opt-out forms can be found on each school’s website.

The district has received 541 reports of students and 103 staff testing positive for the virus, according to the  numbers posted Thursday on the Chino Valley Unified COVID-19 dashboard.

Cal Aero Preserve Academy has 41 student cases, Ayala High has 35, Chino High has 26, Chino Hills High has 25 and Don Lugo High has 21. 

Other schools with at least 20 students are Butterfield Ranch and Cattle elementaries (22), Chaparral Elementary (24), Rhodes Elementary (21), Wickman Elementary (29), Briggs K-8 (25), Canyon Hills Junior High (27), and Townsend Junior High (20).

No school in the district has more than eight staff members positive with COVID-19, the dashboard shows.

Supt. Norm Enfield told frustrated parents during Thursday’s school board meeting at Don Lugo High that January was the most difficult month the district has faced as it relates to the pandemic. 

He said teachers, staff, employees, and administrators have been on the front line to make sure schools stay open despite absences. 

Parents supported a resolution proposed by school board member James Na to declare a state of emergency over a district-wide shortage of classroom teachers and staff. 

Chino Valley Unified is similar to other school districts in the state dealing with a shortage of substitute teachers, district spokeswoman Andi Johntson said.

“There have been challenges recruiting substitutes,” she said. “California Department of Public Health recently adopted the Centers for Disease Control isolation guidelines for K-12 schools and this adoption will hopefully assist with getting teachers back into the classroom.”

Supt. Enfield said parents should screen their children each morning for COVID-19 symptoms and students should stay home if sick.

Students who test positive, whether or not they are vaccinated, should stay home for at least five days and could end isolation if symptoms are gone after the fifth day, according to Department of Public Health guidelines. 

Parents should notify their school if a child receives a positive test.

Face coverings will continue to be worn by students and staff while indoors.

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Originally Appeared Here

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – The Corpus Christi – Nueces County Public Health District received notification of nine COVID-19 related deaths. The patients included 5 males and 4 females with ages ranging in their 20’s, 30’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s. and 90’s. Comorbidities included hypertension, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, hypothyroidism and heart disease.  Our condolences go out to their family and friends. Further information is not being released for privacy and confidentiality reasons.

All Nueces County residents must make every effort to stop the spread of COVID-19. Here are Public Health strategies we should all be following:

● Wear a mask when in public.

● Practice social distancing with everyone outside of your immediate household.

● Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

● Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

● Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

● Stay home when you are sick.

● Disinfect frequently touched surfaces at home and at work.

● Get vaccinated as soon as eligible.

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Originally Appeared Here

You must not just clean home but also disinfect, understand the difference.&nbsp | &nbspPhoto Credit:&nbspiStock Images

Key Highlights

• Since the COVID-causing virus is highly contagious and causes a range of illness, people are scared.

• Many have no clue how and how much to clean a recovered patient’s home.

• Here are guidelines from the experts on how to clean up the room of a recovered patient.

Like the US expert on contagious diseases, Dr Anthony Fauci has said, the Omicron variant of Covid will somehow infect everyone one day or the other. As the novel coronavirus continues to spread across the country – and the world – more people will become infected, and many of those will exhibit the symptoms of COVID-19. 

Thankfully, the majority of people who come down with the disease have mild to moderate symptoms. Doctors will guide as they have been guiding – on how a person can recuperate and recover at home.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has suggested that someone with symptoms should go into quarantine and use as few rooms as possible, to prevent spreading the virus to others in the household.

Erica Marie Hartmann, an assistant professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University who focuses on indoor microbiology told US News, “I’m really interested in the microbes that we find indoors in general, and in particular how our use of specific chemicals impacts their survival,” she says. 

• Hartman says that viruses are, in many respects, not even alive outside of their hosts. 
• Over time, the virus disintegrates a few hours or a day or so after falling on home objects. 
• The virus cannot replicate or grow on any object, in your home or elsewhere.
• To speed up this disintegration of the virus, approved disinfectant chemicals will also do the trick.
• Given below is a step-by-step guide on how to clean upa house after someone has recovered from COVID-19 in your family.

When someone is ill with COVID-19:

1. If possible, dedicate one bedroom and bathroom for the sick person to use and make sure everyone else uses others. 
2. Request/ensure that the sick person does not share the same space with others or does not touch anything and everything around the house.
3. While the person is sick, have them clean the rooms they use if they are well enough to do so. 
4. If the patient cannot clean the home on his or her own, caregivers should wait as long as possible to clean and disinfect the rooms.
5. Disinfect specifically the objects that the ill person touches or interacts with, Hartmann says. “So, for example, if someone is sick and staying in bed and only getting up to go to the bathroom, pay close attention to the nightstand, the bed linens, the bathroom door handle, the taps, the flush on the toilet,” she says.

The first thing to do after a person has recovered from COVID:

• The easiest way to secure a room after someone in your home has COVID-19 is to close it off for a week, says Colleen McLaughlin, an associate professor of epidemiology and chair of the population health sciences department at the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Albany, New York. 
• “If the room is not needed, just close the door for seven days,” she says. The virus will be inactive at that point. “The longer you wait, the safer it is to clean.”
• It is not practically possible for most households to keep a living space locked for so long. In that case, the US CDC’s recommendations for cleaning and disinfection of households with people suspected of having or confirmed to have COVID-19 are given below.

Clean Before Disinfecting: Know the difference
Once the disease runs its course, the room or rooms that the sick person used, along with the objects he or she came in contact with, need to be cleaned and disinfected. The coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2, may remain infective from hours up to several days on a variety of surfaces. So, first, clean up and then disinfect.

• Cleaning means removing germs, dirt and impurities from surfaces. It does not kill germs but reduces the number of them on surfaces.
• Disinfecting means using Environmental Protection Agency-registered chemicals to kill germs on surfaces. This is intended after cleaning, and it can further lower the risk of spreading infection.

Cleaning steps to follow:

1. Start every cleaning session with clean gloves and a face mask. 
2. Take any household detergent or soap and water for cleaning before disinfecting. 
3. “Soap and warm water work very well at destabilizing coronavirus,” McLaughlin says.
4. Soap and water destroy the fatty membrane that holds the virus.

Floors, windows, doors:

• Use a sanitiser rub on your gloves before you start disinfecting.
• Once clean, hard surfaces can be disinfected using EPA-approved products such as Lizol or Dettol surface cleaner.
• For a solution of 5% sodium hypochlorite, which is most household bleach, you want to leave it on the surface for 10 minutes before wiping it off.
• Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions, especially on how long you should leave the product on the surface before wiping it off. 
• Hartmann says “Don’t skip the wait step! Disinfection is not instantaneous. 
• If you’re not giving your disinfectant enough time to do its work, you’re not disinfecting.”

Get the carpets, rugs and drapes, washed separately.

• Linens, clothing and other soft items that go in the laundry can still be cleaned that way. 
• Do not shake dirty laundry; that could spread the active coronavirus through the air. 

With electronic devices, such as cellphones, tablets, touch screens, remote controls and keyboards,

1. First, remove visible dirt and other contaminants. 
2. Use alcohol-based wipes or sprays containing at least 70 per cent alcohol to wipe the home office equipment, TV, PC, cell phones.
3. Then follow the manufacturer’s instructions for all cleaning and disinfection products, the CDC advises. 
    

Disclaimer: Tips and suggestions mentioned in the article are for general information purpose only and should not be construed as professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor or a dietician before starting any fitness programme or making any changes to your diet.

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Originally Appeared Here

GREEN BAY, Wisc. — The top-seeded Green Bay Packers (13-4) will host the San Francisco 49ers (11-7) in an NFC divisional playoff game Saturday night.

The Packers home playoffs game is part of an estimated $15 million of economic impact the game will have on the Greater Green Bay region.

That estimate is due to the many, many visitors heading to the home of the Frozen Tundra.

But, before that gets underway, Brown County health officials are reminding Packers fans of some things to keep in mind.

If you plan to watch the game in a community setting, the Brown County Health & Human Services said you should remember the following:

• Keep at least six feet away from others in parking lots, restaurants, patios, bars or other tailgating locations
• Bring hand sanitizer and supplies to clean and disinfect commonly touched surfaces
• Restroom facilities without running water (such as portable toilets) may not be stocked with hand hygiene products.
• Stay home if you are sick or experiencing any COVID-like symptoms

Brown County health officials say if you do choose to tailgate with people outside of your household, you should consider the following:

• Set up your tailgate at least six feet away from other parties
• Avoid sharing tailgating supplies (including food and drinks)
• Avoid sharing items such as serving utensils, multi-serving beverage containers, condiment bottles, etc.
• Practice good hand hygiene after touching surfaces such as doors, handles, ice machines, trash bins, payment stations, vending machines, etc.

Brown County health officials are also urging Packers fans to remember that even if you are outside, you should wear a mask if you are not eating or drinking.

Find more safe gathering tips here.

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Originally Appeared Here

Every day I count my blessings that I am privileged to have a child who is extremely healthy during a pandemic. 

Especially today as I got my first, of what is most likely going to be many, emails from someone in the school who has COVID-19 informing me that my daughter was in close contact with them. 

This was to be expected, although truthfully I held up hope that perhaps not her. At least not yet. But we were warned. Both Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang and Premier Tim Houston have repeatedly said since Dec. 27 that COVID-19 is everywhere. During this week’s COVID-19 briefing, Strang said flat out school safety can’t be equated to COVID-free and most definitely it’s in there. 

Read more

So exposures are going to be inevitable and three days in I’ve gotten my daughter’s first. Despite the dread inside, I still agree with the experts — school is the best place for my kid and many others, who don’t need it for food, heat and necessities. Unless she’s sick, she’ll keep going. 

For my daughter, going to school is important for her mental health.

When school moves online, my daughter slowly starts to change. When dance, soccer and activities are shut down, this change deepens and my normally upbeat girl becomes sullen, mopey and defeatist. The child who dances alone for hours practising choreography or improving becomes the girl who won’t get up out of bed.

Her motivation deteriorates. Days become an endless cycle of moving from sleep to laptop screen for school to cell phone screen for entertainment back to sleep. Sometimes it’s impossible to get her to the table for supper after I’ve finished working in the office all day, with little time to get her off a device.

“For my daughter, going to school is important for her mental health.” — Nicole Sullivan – SaltWire Network staff

 

Those nights I worry when I bring food to her while she’s zoned out on her phone. It’s not like her. The sadness is making its way in. She feels lost. Just lying around all day and night, screen in front of her face, avoiding the fact she was stressed and nervous. Feeling unconfident.

There are more moments of worry, fear of a cough or sniffle in her mother. No zest for life and an underlying worry she might spread an illness to someone else. 

She needs to get used to this new life with COVID-19 and I’m glad I don’t have the added worry of having to weigh her physical health as well.  

Not immunocompromised, my very active, almost 13-year-old has rarely been sick, only needing antibiotics maybe three times in her life. 

She doesn’t have underlying conditions like asthma, diabetes or epilepsy. Or heart issues, a blood clot history or phobias. 

I don’t have to worry about the higher likelihood of more serious symptoms from contracting COVID-19 and I know I am very privileged in that fact. 

We also don’t live with elders and don’t have older relatives living close by whom we visit regularly or take care of. Usually, the lack of family around for my daughter makes me sad but during a pandemic, it’s another blessing because I don’t have to worry about myself or my daughter bringing the SARS-CoV-2 virus home to them. 

The child who dances alone for hours practising choreography or improving becomes the girl who won’t get up out of bed.

There is a history of mental illness in our family. 

Yes, I’ve still got that mother’s worry that my kid has contracted COVID-19 and she’ll be one of the rare cases who get severe symptoms although vaccinated. Or one who develops injury from long-covid.

But, the risk of this is so low, considering the things I’ve seen happening to her mental health during school shutdowns it is still worth the risk to keep her mentally healthy. 

I have my faith in her vaccinations, public health guidelines and her (hopefully) always following them while in school. 

I have faith in her school administration for making sure cleaning and disinfecting are taking place as required, the ventilation is effective and hand hygiene is being enforced. 

I have faith in working from home, not going shopping and staying put, as recommended by public health, are the health protection measures needed to help limit the spread of COVID-19 enough that my girl can stay in school, businesses can stay open and more restrictions will be lifted. 

I am blindly putting my faith in believing that we’re at the stage of the pandemic where some spread is okay like Strang has said because my daughter needs to go to school.

Both her physical and mental health depends on it. 

Nicole Sullivan is an immigration/diversity and education reporter for the Cape Breton Post. 

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Originally Appeared Here

Jan 21, 2022, 11:43amUpdated 3h ago

By: News 12 Staff

Millions of New Yorkers rely on the MTA every day. Whether a commuter takes the subway or the bus, changes were seen during their commute this winter.

MTA data shows weekday levels on subways in early December reached nearly 60% of the ridership before COVID, even recording a pandemic-era record of 3.44 million riders on Dec. 9.

However, the transit system was not immune to the Omicron variant. On Jan. 7, subway ridership dropped to 39% of its pre-pandemic levels. Yet with positive signs that the Omicron variant has passed its peak in New York City, that level is now back up to 50%.

“It’s moved down but in the last week it has dramatically started to come up again,” says MTA Acting Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber.

Before Omicron, Lieber says bus ridership was well in excess of 60% of its pre-pandemic levels. Yet buses were also impacted by Omicron, seeing their levels drop to 41% two weeks ago. However, the MTA remains optimistic these numbers will bounce back too.

“Ridership, like everything during Omicron, subsided a bit on buses but buses have been the workhorse of our system right through COVID,” Lieber says.

As ridership looks poised to increase once again, the MTA affirms their commitment to a clean and safe riding experience for all new Yorkers. MTA workers deep clean and disinfect all stations and vehicles. The MTA also says they are employing high tech strategies such as ultraviolet light and innovative air filters – all in the battle against Omicron or whatever COVID variant may come next.

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Originally Appeared Here

Back in the ‘80s – in between wearing teal windbreakers and listening to Duran Duran – tens of millions of kids were coming down with the chickenpox. Ask anybody who ever had varicella as a kid and they’ll all say the same thing: It sucked. You broke out in a rash, got a fever. It just wasn’t fun. But for as terrible as it was to contract it as a child, it was 10 times worse to get it as an adult. So, some enterprising parents came up with the idea to try to give it to their kids on purpose, you know, to save them worse pain down the road. Affectionately referred to as “pox parties,” the solution was to have a child with chickenpox host a sleepover with those who had never had it, thus spreading the love all around.

In theory it was a solid idea. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) strongly discouraged it for one obvious reason: You just never knew when it could become deadly. 

Today, we are starting to see somewhat of a similar phenomenon happening with Omicron. Or, at least, people are openly flirting with the idea of purposely getting Omicron so they can just get it over with.

“I have heard that, even from colleagues, so it’s not an uncommon sentiment,” said Danielle Scheurer, M.D., MUSC Health System chief quality officer, who oversees all things COVID for the hospital system. “But if we have learned nothing else from all these waves, it’s that we still don’t know how it will affect everybody. And I’m just not sure it’s worth taking the chance.”

With the ever-changing COVID landscape, we are periodically checking in with Scheurer to ask her the most pertinent questions that are hanging in the balance.

Q. What is MUSC Health doing for people who still have residual issues from COVID, the long-haulers as they are called?

A. We have a plan for starting up a long COVID clinic in the very near future. We’re just finalizing recruiting the providers who are going to run it. As for how it will be run, fortunately, there are plenty of blueprints out there, so we know how we want to approach it. For the most part, it will consist of symptom management and reassurance. For example, if you have a prolonged cough, we know how to ameliorate coughs, so we can treat that. Same with sleep afflictions. That said, some people may need a higher level of care – maybe they’re dealing with severe anxiety or depression – and in that case, we may need to refer them to a specialist so they can get the targeted care they need. 

Q. Why, for people who aren’t in the high-risk categories, is the idea of purposely getting Omicron a bad idea? 

A. First off, I’m not willing to take the risk that it will be mild and everything will be just fine. We still have those one-off cases where healthy young people get really sick from COVID, and we just don’t know why. Second is the risk to others. I personally live with my 78-year-old mother-in-law. I’m also more risk averse than other people because the fear of bringing it home to her is substantial. And all bets are off on long COVID. Sure, we think it’s less likely to happen with Omicron, but it’s still not zero.

Q. What percentage, roughly, of our cases are Omicron? What percentage of our admitted COVID patients are unvaccinated?

A. As of our most recent data, we were at 97%, but it’s rising fast. When it comes to the percentage of patients who are hospitalized and unvaccinated, it’s about 72%.  We’re definitely seeing more breakthrough cases with Omicron. Unfortunately, it makes some people think, “What’s the point of getting vaccinated?” But even the ones who are vaccinated and unlucky enough to get hospitalized because of COVID, they’re not as sick because of it. 

Q. How long do you think it will be before there is only Omicron? 

A. Delta will be gone very soon. I’m talking days. Honestly, because some of the data lags a little bit, we might even be there now. 

Q. How easy is it to get tested with MUSC Health, and how quickly can people expect results?

A. We’re in better shape than we were a couple of weeks ago. Our two collection sites are walk-up only, so you don’t need an appointment, and you shouldn’t have to wait long, if at all. As for speed, right now our average turnaround time for results is about 12 hours for a PCR test. 

Q. Are at-home tests helpful or reliable?

A. All of the tests you do at home are antigen tests. Meaning they don’t detect the molecular structure of COVID, so they’re not as sensitive. So on the one hand, they might miss it in the early stages, but on the other hand, a positive is very helpful. If it sees it, it’s probably there. It’s hard to get a positive if you don’t have the virus. But let’s say your at-home test is negative, and you have enduring symptoms for a day or more, it’s probably a good idea to follow up with a more sensitive test from one of our sites. 

Q. Where do we stand on disinfecting surfaces? Is that something that is still done or needs to be done?

A. There’s not really good evidence that COVID hangs out on surfaces for a long time. So these places that do deep cleans all the time, it’s probably unnecessary. But wiping down your desk after somebody who is COVID-positive was around, that’s probably a good idea. As far as routine daily or weekly deep cleans, they might make people feel better, but I’m not really sure they’re doing much risk reduction. 

Q. What kind of mask should I be wearing? Does the answer vary depending on the situation/environment?

A. The CDC just came out with some updated mask guidance. But here’s the bottom line: Any mask is better than no mask. It really boils down to what you can tolerate. If it’s just a cloth mask, wear a cloth mask but surgical masks are more effective than cloth masks and KN-95 masks are more effective than surgical masks. Of course, N-95s are still the gold standard, but that’s when they are fitted properly. For most people, KN-95 masks are a great option because they have very effective filters but also are pretty comfortable and do not require fit testing. They’re cheaper, easier to find and for the average person, do just as good a job. Where N-95s become stronger is when they are fit tested. 

Q. What exactly do you mean by “fit tested”?

A. There are a few different ways to fit test a mask. Usually we do a method where we have someone who knows what they’re doing to fit it to the team member’s face. Then we put the person in a chamber – it kind of looks like a giant bubble – and we spray a sucrose mist into the air, and if they can taste it or smell it, it’s not a good fit. It’s not completely objective, sure, but it’s a pretty solid method, all things considered. All of our front-line care team members have been fit tested for N-95s. 

Q. At what point should somebody who is positive go to the hospital?

A. Certainly, if you are experiencing significant shortness of breath. If you have the luxury of knowing your blood oxygen level, anything less than about 90%, you need to be seen. Chest pain, near fainting, passing out: all the usual “somebody needs to see me” signs apply for COVID. 

Q. How rare is MIS-C, and are there any commonalities in the kids who contract it?

A. MIS-C is a rare condition; it occurs in 316 children per 1 million infections. Of the ones who end up with it, most of them have comorbid conditions like asthma and/or obesity, and most are unvaccinated. But MIS-C is also super unsettling because we get zingers with it too. Sometimes we have a patient that doesn’t fit any of the at-risk criteria, and they get ill, and it’s so confusing. So while it’s unlikely your child will get MIS-C – no one can guarantee it’s not going to happen, even without risk factors. The best protection remains vaccination. 

Q. Can you foresee a future where we aren’t wearing masks and things are relatively normal?

A. I say this all the time, but it’s all about the variants. They will predict our future. But as for returning to “normal,” I’d say we’re nearly there now as far as learning how to co-exist with COVID. Most of us are back to work. Most schools are doing in-person learning. It doesn’t really feel like we are closed up or locked down. People are starting to travel and see their families. I feel like we are finding a decent balance. 

**Have a question you’d like answered? Email it to [email protected] with the subject line “Vaccine Q.”

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Originally Appeared Here

Despite more government help, area residents still have virus concerns.

Americans can now apply for free at-home testing kits.

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

On Tuesday, the federal government opened a website, www.COVIDtest.gov, that allows people to order up to four free COVID-19 home tests. The tests will be mailed to their homes in seven to 12 days.

The Biden administration will make them available for free next week as well as 400 million N95 masks. Free, non-surgical N95 face masks will be sent to distribution sites nationwide as part of efforts to fight the surging omicron COVID-19 variant.

Ethan Johnson, assistant director of Community Health Services for the Florida Department of Health in Volusia County, says that the recent local surge appears to be declining.

“Hospital admissions and cases rose last week, but they appear to be plateauing. The increase is not nearly at the rate as the previous two weeks. ED [Emergency Departments] and urgent care visits have declined. Most models predict that we either experienced the peak in cases last week or this week,” explained Ethan Johnson.

Florida Department of Health also reported increases in positivity cases in Volusia for the second consecutive week.

Volusia had 7,432 new positive cases, about a 30 percent increase from Jan. 7-13.

A spike from the recent cold weather and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend was not expected.

“It’s unlikely those will impact the case numbers given how highly infectious the omicron variant is and the significant number of cases that have been present in our community. Simply put, the virus is running out of individuals to infect,” commented Johnson.

Health care agencies will continue outreach, education, testing and vaccinations to curb the virus including communities and populations hit the hardest.

“As the surge comes to an end, this will free up resources for DOH-Volusia to be more available for community vaccination and outreach events,” said Johnson.

“We’ve been engaged in this work since the beginning of the pandemic and will continue to be. Additionally, we continue to provide vaccines to homebound individuals,’’ he added.

A parent’s concern

Meanwhile, cases also have risen at Volusia County public schools. Positive cases cited as of Jan. 14 were 843 students and 239 employees. 

The Volusia County School District did not respond for comment as of the Times’ deadline.

Area residents with school-aged children weighed in on the current state of the pandemic and their concerns.

Alvin Fields talked about home tests with his family in mind. He has children in elementary, middle and high school.

“I think the home tests are good. It eliminates long waits and waiting for appointments to get tested. You just have to follow the rules, guidelines and procedures to do it properly,” Fields told the Daytona Times.

Fields also has noticed empty shelves at retail and grocery stores like Dollar General Dollar and Walmart.

“A lot of the stuff we need to disinfect and clean is often out of stock. If we don’t have it, how can we clean and keep the virus numbers down,” he asked.

“Stores are running out of supplies; less workers are there, and they are closing because I think they need to do full cleaning. I think they often lack the supplies.”

More virus challenges

Viola Xavier, who has kids in high school, shared her thoughts.

Xavier told the Times, “I am not as concerned about my kids in school. They are older. They know how to wear mask, social distance and sanitize.”

She also deals with the virus daily as owner of Beautiful Beginnings Child Care Center at 348 S. Keech St., which cares for 37 children.

She said, “However, as a childcare provider, it’s harder keeping the younger kids to keep their masks on, social distancing and practice cleanliness.” “Vaccinated people are getting it. We have closed several times due to someone having the virus. It makes business hard. It’s hard on the kids and families too.”

Others are concerned with people getting vaccinated.

“My concern is that a lot of people don’t want to get vaccinated and won’t get vaccinated. We should all have the vaccination,” responded Eric Montgomery.

“I think vaccinations are the best way to contain the virus and get us as close to normal as possible.”

Others just want to see the virus get under control.

“When are they going to get this under wrap?” 

asked Rod Anderson.

“It seems that they keep coming up with different variants and keeping America scared every other month. Me and my family are vaccinated. Thank- fully, none of us have gotten the virus. We’re being safe. We’ve been blessed,’’ he added.

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Originally Appeared Here

BACOLOD CITY – All offices under the City of Silay in Negros Occidental have been placed under a five-day zoning containment starting Wednesday for various measures to curb the transmission of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

In Special Executive Order 2022-01-01, Mayor Mark Golez said the temporary lockdown will give way for the extensive contact tracing as well as disinfection and sanitation of the city government buildings, offices, and annexes.

“There is a need to strategically contain possible transmissions in the offices of the Silay City Government and at the same time efficiently minimize hampering vital functions and services, most especially in this time of crisis,” he added.

On January 17, two employees tested positive for Covid-19 while several employees of various offices, along with their household members, have also shown symptoms.

Golez said during the lockdown period, the City Health Office, together with the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and Covid-19 Task Force, will do extensive contact tracing of all affected persons and disinfecting of affected areas.

The mayor also prohibited the entry of any person to the affected areas except for city government employees, including job order workers, who will form part of the skeleton workforce.

“All officials, employees and workers affected (by the temporary lockdown) are required to undergo strict home quarantine measures for the same period mentioned and to exercise minimum health and safety standards to prevent further transmission of Covid-19,” Golez said.

He added that the work-from-home or on-call skeleton force will facilitate urgent and critical transactions only to ensure unhampered delivery of public service.

The latest available data posted by the Silay City Covid-19 Task Force showed there are 81 active cases in the city as of 3 p.m. of January 17. (PNA)

 

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Originally Appeared Here

On Jan. 12, Santa Fe Public Schools announced all schools would be going remote this week due to an increase of COVID-19 cases following the surge of the omicron variant, but many were skeptical of how long the timeline would be. It sure felt like déjà vu!

It felt like a similar scene to 2020, when students were told their spring break would be extended by a week as COVID-19 cases skyrocketed. Students remained online for the next year and a half. Now the district is officially heading back to in-person learning Monday, which I appreciate. But I still think sending students home caused more harm than good, and could have been prevented a week after the winter break, as I’m sure some students have already fallen behind in their classes.

Many students did not succeed with the online format, as cheating increased and motivation declined. I can say this with such certainty because I, too, fell victim to the extensive effects of online school. I finished my freshman year of high school in 2020 as an A-plus student ready to succeed in the year that followed, but my mentality quickly changed to “as long as I pass” as remote school began to drag on for what felt like an eternity. Sitting in front of a computer for hours on end truly felt more draining with each passing day.

I’m sure thousands of students across the country can relate to me. Attendance seemed to decrease significantly, participation plummeted and the number of students dropping out also likely grew. A look at my official transcripts shows my class size at Santa Fe High dropped from 425 students last year to 375 this year, and I’m not sure all those students transferred. It was easy to fall behind in online school when no one is there to remind you to stay focused.

As much as I would like to say that I’ve only struggled academically through the pandemic, my mental health took a hit, too. It was hard enough not being able to attend school in person, which is my biggest social outlet, but for months I was also stuck at home with little opportunity to leave, as my parents feared I would contract the virus, or worse, spread it to other higher-risk family members.

I fell into feelings of isolation and sadness that led me to also feeling physically tired: I had a harder time waking up in the morning; I had muscle aches; and I felt I could fall asleep at any given moment. It was really hard finding motivation to do many of the tasks I had to complete throughout the day.

I was not the only one who struggled mentally as depression rates increased throughout the country. According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute, the percentage of adolescents who screened positive for depression went from 5 percent pre-pandemic to 6.2 percent. Suicide risk increased by a point also, to 7.1 percent. The increases may seem small, but they translate to thousands of kids.

Quarantine was not a happy period for students and educators all over the world, which is why it was so frustrating that the district decided to return to online school. It was like we got in a time machine and traveled back to 2020. It was absolutely infuriating from a student’s perspective, and Santa Fe Public Schools could have easily found better preventive measures against the spread of the virus long before the decision to return online had to be made.

The district could have closed schools for a week directly after winter break, a time when many families traveled for the holidays. This solution would have allowed students to quarantine for the five-day period recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, allowing students to no longer be contagious and possibly also allowing students who were sick to show symptoms and make the decision to stay home.

Another solution could have included a hybrid model, where students attended school in person four days a week and remained online Wednesdays, allowing janitorial staff the opportunity to disinfect and clean the school.

I understand the decision to close schools wasn’t based solely on the rising coronavirus cases. It was the lack of teachers to staff classes and a shortage of other necessary individuals such as janitorial, kitchen and transportation staff, according to the district. However, I believe a quick decision was made without considering the repercussions on students.

All week I feared similar effects to those of the previous two school years would occur once again at a similar rate, if not at a higher measure if schools continued in the online format. We can hope 2022 will be the last year that school districts are forced to make a decision about taking school remote.

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Originally Appeared Here