![]() ![]() ![]() For many students, schools are the primary providers of nutrition and access to physical and mental health services. In addition to academics (no small task), schools have already been burdened with helping children overcome the obstacles created by capitalism and a fraying, insufficient social safety net. ![]() School leaders have enough on their plates without also having to moonlight as public health experts. It is both unfair, and bad public health policy, to place these decisions on school officials. Why schools need public health leadership North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services does not place any additional requirements on schools or make stricter recommendations. Open windows and outdoor classrooms are only recommended when the school is having an outbreak or when the COVID-19 Community Level is high. The CDC recommends that schools “optimize ventilation” but provides no mandatory standards. Students who are exposed to positive cases are no longer expected to quarantine. Students who test positive are supposed to isolate for just five days and wear a mask for another five days. ![]() They only recommend diagnostic testing of students or staff with symptoms or who have been exposed to people with confirmed cases. The CDC no longer recommends screening testing. The guidelines state that such students should wear a mask at medium and high COVID-19 Community Levels, but there’s no requirement to mask placed on their non-immunocompromised classmates. Students with immunocompromised family members are largely on their own. The CDC only recommends universal masking when the COVID-19 Community Levels are high. The measures have been roundly criticized by public health experts, mostly for putting the focus on minimizing hospital bed shortages instead of focusing on limiting COVID transmission, and relying on lagging indicators that only raise alarms after community spread is already at dangerously high levels. These measures were unveiled by the CDC in in February after corporations complained about worker shortages during the Omicron wave. The CDC’s recommendations for schools vary based on a measure called “COVID-19 Community Levels.” COVID-19 Community Levels ranks counties based largely on ICU bed availability. In general, the updated CDC guidance for schools this year consists of loose recommendations rather than mandates. Guidelines have been loosened for this school year despite continued community spread and increasingly grim news about the long-term impacts of COVID infections. These actions will, in turn, protect the continuation of in-person learning that’s critical for boosting academic outcomes.įederal and state health agencies continue to adopt a lasses faire approach more focused on the short-term health of the economy rather than the long-term health of its citizens. Luckily, we now know what steps schools should be taking to protect students and staff from COVID infection. Once again, it’s our school leaders who are being asked to serve the role of our community’s leading public health practitioners. This critical challenge is heightened by lack of strong guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and state agencies. Photo: Getty imagesĪs students returned to school across North Carolina this week, school leaders are facing a daunting challenge: how to academically support students knocked off track by the pandemic while still navigating an ongoing COVID pandemic that puts student and staff health in jeopardy. The author says North Carolina officials should not let down their guard in protecting public school students from COVID-19. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |