Todja Kyles- Staff Writer
Covid forced schools to go back and forth on the red and hybrid plan. However, the elementary schools are taking one for the team and trying to get all of the students in the building starting Thursday the 7th. The kids will have masks required and, with luck, a social distanced classroom. With such a large group, it can be very difficult to spread out the kids. When Sylvania went hybrid, it was fairly easy to divide the kids up, but now that everyone’s back in elementary, we don’t know what their plans are.
Back when Sylvania was on hybrid, contact tracing was one of the biggest reasons we were able to be in the building. Contact tracing is detection if you encounter someone with covid that would cause you to self quarantine for 2 weeks. It helps decrease the amount of cases since people are being sent home to be safe. As stated by the CDC, contact tracing helps slow the spread of Covid. If you have to self quarantine, it is recommended to get a test even if you aren’t noticing symptoms. Some are asymptomatic to Covid, which means they have no symptoms while having the virus, So it is important to be cautious around everyone. Now that all elementary is back, that chose not to do contact tracing since the kids are wearing a mask. I believe that this would increase the Covid cases because without tracking who’s been by who, the virus spreads fast, and silently.
Germs are everywhere when it comes to kids. Janitors are already working hard to keep the classroom clean from desks, floors, and rugs. Now with all the kids back, they have to extra clean because yes, Covid does last on surfaces. It dies on hard surfaces within hours to days which makes it hard to stay away from since the kids are in school for 7 hours. Different strains of this virus last longer than others. For example, one strain of Covid can last on paper for a few minutes, while another 5 days. This makes it incredibly hard for the kids to not get injected since they are always touching their face. It only takes the touch of an infected desk, to your mouth, eyes, or face to get, and spread the virus.
However there are things that can be done to slow the spread of Covid in Sylvania schools. Desks are being wiped constantly, dividers at lunch, a small number of students at each table, masks, social distancing. It is being said that by March, middle schools and high schools should be green. Lets wish all of these precautions will decrease the number of cases, which will make green by March. Hopefully the elementary kids are having a great time and stay safe!
Southview Catalyst 