Omicron Is Coming. How Can Schools Prepare?

The fall semester has mostly they have found their rhythm, at a minimum in terms of pandemics.

Many of the schools were open fully in person at the beginning in the school year, and remain in that manner, with only a few closings, quarantines and other disruptions sprinkled throughout.

It’s not meant to diminish the continuing difficulties in the face of shortages of teachers, occasionally COVID-19-related outbreaks, or the escalating anxiety and mental health issues. However, in general schools across the U.S. have been able to offer consistent personal learning for a number of months now.

It’s not surprising that educators and school administrators are considering how a new COVID-19 variation could affect this development. With an increase in infections can schools be expected to remain open?

Enter Omicron
Due to the constantly high incidences that are associated with those with the Delta variant, in conjunction with the start of the flu season, and the tendency for people to shift their activities indoors when temperatures fall, the coming couple of months are likely to be a problem for schools, according to the Dr. Sara Bode, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on School Health and the medical advisor for Columbus City Schools in Ohio. The introduction to the Omicron variant just adds to the problem.

“Schools are going to have a harder time this winter season than they did in the fall, with navigating all of that,” Bode says. Bode. “It may mean some school districts need to do some remote learning in the interim.”

An online survey, that was conducted by company that specializes in education, Clever who shared the results with EdSurge it found a broad acceptance by teachers and administrators to return to remote education in the event that the health situation gets worse in the near future. From 1,500 participants most of whom are employed in public schools 88% of school administrators as well as 81 percent teachers agreed that schools could benefit from virtual learning when they need to react to changes in the epidemic.

There’s no evidence of schools being in the state at the moment, or that they’ll be in the near future. Initial research indicate that the disease is spreading faster than Delta but could result in less severe illnesses, though researchers aren’t yet confirming the findings.

As with other variations, the number of cases could increase dramatically when they are in the United States experiences community spread of Omicron. Bode anticipates the possibility of an “additional wave or surge.”

This is the scenario that many school administrators are preparing for. If the staff is sick and a plethora of students have positive test results How will they continue to conduct in-person classes?

“It’s reasonable to be cautious about that — we don’t know enough yet about [Omicron’s] transmissibility, infection rate or the vaccination’s power against it,” she declares. “What we do know is there is another variant, and it is in the United States.”

Julie McMorris, the communications coordinator for Englewood Schools, a tiny district of schools that is situated near Denver She says she as well as her colleagues are confident that the mitigation strategies they’ve implemented this year will be effective, even in the face of Omicron that has been confirmed within her county.

“We’re all just kind of waiting for more information, since we don’t know a lot yet,” McMorris states. “But we’re cautiously optimistic, because we know we have a lot of good protocols in place already.”

Since the start of this academic year Englewood requires universally masks for everyone of all ages and every vaccination status. The school also conducts weekly tests for students who participate at “high-risk” activities, such as sports or other clubs, along with students who choose to participate in testing, and with employees who are not vaccinated. (McMorris estimates that 80–90 percent of staff are vaccination-free.)

Despite the difficulties that the Delta version during the summer and through the autumn, Englewood has been able to provide students with a school experience this year that is more stable and top-quality than previous semesters that were plagued by the pandemic, McMorris says.

“The school year has actually gone pretty smoothly,” she says, noting Colorado’s state law states that Colorado does not require classes or students to be in quarantine in the event of the “outbreak” has occurred — generally defined as five or more linked instances. Since the beginning of August, there has just one outbreak in Englewood’s nine locations. It was a classroom in first grade where students were sent home after two weeks.

As with Englewood, Bode says, “A number of schools have been able to start on their own this year and continue to do so, even after taking all the necessary measures in place. … The schools have been able to keep up their game and efficiently completing the syllabus and keeping the kids in a safe environment.”

The Best Defense Is Still a Good Offense
Although it’s not clear the exact nature of what Omicron is going to look like when it’s more widely used across the U.S., she’s certain that our tried-and-true defenses — masking, social distancing and routine testing as well as vaccinations will continue to be vital.

“Vaccination is the key here,” Bode insists. “It’s the No. one factor that determines how we’ll get through winter with the best chance of sustaining an in-person education throughout the year.”

In the moment, she regards that vaccination for kids aged 5–11 as essential for making sure that schools are open. The age group that is eligible for the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine about one month ago. within the initial two weeks of the eligibility period, 2.6 million kids across the nation which is about 10% of children in this age group, received their first dose.

“There has to be a significant effort in every community to get that number — of children ages 5–11 vaccinated — up,” Bode states. She also pointed out that schools-based vaccination clinics could be beneficial in helping to teach families and children about how important, effectiveness and security in the use of vaccines.

Englewood Schools held five vaccine clinics in schools during November, and plans to host at least five more in the coming month. The clinics are open to anyone over the age of 5 is eligible for the first dose, or an additional shot. The district also collaborates with the local health department to inform people about the importance of vaccinations and vaccinations, such as holding some Q&A sessions for students from high schools at the school during school hours and also by hosting an immunisation clinic during one of the football games.

Other states are considering regulations to increase the number of vaccinations. California is the latest state in the country to require vaccinations for all students and personnel, likely by July 2022. Los Angeles is asking all students to be vaccinated before January, but with large swathes of delays. Additionally, New York City will put in place its own requirements for students who participate in certain extracurricular activities by the end of this month.

The main reason why vaccination of children is necessary, Bode says, is it goes far in making sure that schools are open for live learning.

“We know kids have had a toll in the pandemic from things beyond COVID: academic loss, isolation,” she adds. “Vaccination is one way to get back to normal, routine life, which is essential for social-emotional success and academic success.”

McMorris stressed this point and said she’s witnessed in person the impact of the pandemic to the Englewood students.

“Like many other school districts, we’ve seen many more social, emotional and mental health issues in our students this year, probably because of all the disruption that’s been happening and the weight of the pandemic on students and their families,” she adds. “Being able to have them in school every day and provide social and emotional support and educational support is vital for our students and families.”

McMorris states that she is fortunate as her school district has taken COVID seriously It has also placed a lot of emphasis on the well-being of students and their learning.

“We want our students to have consistent, face-to-face learning opportunities every single day,” she says.

McMorris states: “We’ve seen a lot of success in ensuring that we’re not causing outbreaks and keeping everyone safe. I believe that’s placed us in a great place to manage this latest variant. We’re hoping the measures we’ve already put in place will assist us in continuing in halting the spreading.”

In other districts for other districts, Dr. Bode suggests relying on safety and health guidelines which have been proven effective.

“If we put mitigation measures into place with masking and distancing and vaccination, kids can be in school and it can be safe,” she adds. “We must keep doing that and adhere to the guidelines. With every change we must continue to keep track of it. With Omicron We must monitor the information.”