By Vincent Ng
On Friday last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(C.D.C) released a statement that urged schools to fully reopen in the upcoming school year. This was due to the fact that many families had many problems keeping their children at home to study.
The C.D.C also stated that schools should use the data from their local district to determine if they should tighten or relax disease prevention methods such as masking or social distancing. They also recommended that unvaccinated students and staff members should keep wearing masks due to the fact that the deadly delta variant is spreading and children under 12 are still not eligible for the vaccine.
“For the first time, I really think they hit it on the nose,” said Dr. Benjamin P. Linas, an infectious disease specialist at Boston University. “I think it’s science-based and right on the mark.” While some people thought this was a great decision, others hoped to have more guidelines. Jennifer B. Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University, wished that the C.D.C would give more specific guidelines.
It's not only doctors who love this decision but parents also do. Meredith Dodson had organized a group of parents last year to fight for the city to reopen schools. She is extremely happy to hear that schools are finally going to be opened. “This is a huge step in the right direction,” Ms. Dodson said. Other parents are still reluctant to send their kids back. This group of families is mostly made up of asian, black and latino families
The main concern seems to be the new delta variant of Covid, doctors are still not sure if the current vaccine works against it and how dangerous it is. Due to the lack of information parents are nervous about kids going back to school. However, Captain Sauber-Schatz said the prevention strategies that had worked for Covid-19 all along also worked for the Delta variant, so for now the C.D.C. was “keeping a close eye on it.”
Social distancing is also being studied to see the effect on teachers and students. So far experts have confirmed that three feet between students is enough but students and teachers should still maintain 6 feet.