By: Abby Boursiquot
Covid cases around the country have been rising and many question whether this jump back into the school season has given Covid-19 the perfect leeway to make an epic comeback. Half of the debate regarding the Covid spikes that began in the summer argues on how the country isn’t taking the virus seriously enough while others believe as time goes on, Covid symptoms will dial down especially since an upcoming fall campaign of vaccinations to combat the variant are underway. Although it may simply not be enough based on the backlash some school districts are getting from parents and can you blame them?
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/why-public-health-experts-are-concerned-about-ba-2-86-the-latest-covid-19-variant
Photo by: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
After being known as one of the greatest democratic countries in the world, the United States has slipped into lower rankings due to the country’s not-so-satisfactory reaction throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As possible new waves of the virus reappear, those who weren’t so happy with the last go-around look to see if the country can vindicate itself.
Viewing the other side of things, if procedures were to be put back into place as they were during the 2021-2022 school year, the likelihood of families following those guidelines is very slim. Requirements such as wearing masks and social distancing would only hold up for so long and considering the unresolved emotions that still linger from Covid’s last effects, we can’t expect everyone to follow suit. Nonetheless, there are students and teachers wearing masks again in some areas as well as taking the CDC-recommended precaution to stay home for five days if they test positive. School absence is another topic of discussion that brings student recovery to concern. It can be said that it all depends on the student and how well they can catch up and learn through virtual assistance but I think most students who had one year completely virtually, can agree when I say concentrating during those Zoom sessions was challenging. As the fall season extends, hopefully, fewer and fewer students come to face such displeasing measures.
https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/covid-numbers-rising-fauci-predicting-tsunami-hospitalizations-deaths/story?id=103056079
Photo by: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Former White House Chief Medical Advisor, Anthony Fauci, sat down with ABC News to discuss his thoughts as the infections rise. Fauci isn’t “predicting that this is going to be a tsunami of hospitalizations and deaths the way we saw a year or more ago”. While he said he isn’t alarmed by the uptick, “I’m certainly keeping an eye out”. The spread of the virus has also hit the White House as just a few days ago, First Lady, Jill Biden, had to head back to her and the president's home in Delaware until she tested negative. This was sure to be coming at a difficult time for the Bidens as the president’s son, Hunter Biden, is under indictment which has also led to the impeachment inquiry on President Biden.
As the President enters the fall primary season for the 2024 presidential race, some are taking to social media to say the upcoming election has a connection with the recent Covid-19 waves. The Associated Press News, more commonly known as The AP, quickly shut down the false claims that have people, particularly some right-wing conservatives, thinking spikes in Covid cases only occur around election seasons as “a tool to control the outcome {of the election}”. The AP debunked the rumor saying “Surges are due to increases in cases, which are related to human behavior” specifically behavior involving summer traveling and the gathering of students at school again, not whether you send a mail-in ballot compared to casting one in person. With that being said, as we settle into the new school year, we hope everyone stays safe and healthy and the Covid findings will dwindle as the season goes on.
Sources:
https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/covid-numbers-rising-fauci-predicting-tsunami-hospitalizations-deaths/story?id=103056079
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/09/12/health/return-to-school-coronavirus-wellness/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/09/07/dc-schools-covid-cases-masking/#
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2023/09/06/covid-hospitalizations-spike-with-new-variant-as-us-readies-vaccines.html
https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-covid-elections-spike-wave-064413082399
Comments