COVID Continues

Another round of COVID, along with its variants are quickly spreading throughout school communities causing cases to begin to rise again. With this, families and students are becoming concerned for their health and wellbeing. While most precautions are being met here at Woodstock Highschool, it’s inevitable that cases will increase following the pattern of the virus. “We are in a better position now than in the beginning of the pandemic, we know more information about the virus, and how it’s transferred,” Nurse Rachel Eggum reports. Half way through the third school year of COVID, it’s become routine to count COVID cases, wear masks, and test regularly. We have completely shifted to a COVID ruled system, straying further away from what was normal. However, cases are more predictable, and we now know how to handle them. “We are able to keep kids in school, if you are identified as a close contact you have to get a negative rapid test result and then you could come back, last year you had to have a 14 day quarantine with a negative test,” Eggum says, comparing the differences in guidelines now to last school year. With the 14 day quarantine alongside the hybrid schedule last year, in person school full time is very important this year, and being able to determine the severity and contagiousness of positive cases helps maintain this schedule. While wearing masks has become a natural habit at this point, there are still those who fail to follow the guidelines, which imposes the known risk of transmission even with the schools above 80% vaccination rate. “I think it's just important for them to be aware that people have been affected by the virus in a pretty traumatic way, and if they're making a request to fix your mask, then don’t debate, just be aware of that,” Eggum says. The ongoing argument surrounding masks is prevalent at Woodstock, just as it is anywhere else. “More of the student body needs to wear masks appropriately,” Eggum says. Even as the majority of students mask up, it’s non uncommon to see them worn under the nose and mouth during class hours. Although our vaccination rate is high, it’s still very important to follow the correct guidelines to minimize the spread, as well as show consideration to those who feel more comfortable if we are all practicing safety precautions. It is especially important to keep this in mind as cases are rapidly coming back positive within the school. In the last 14 days, there have been 67 student cases and 21 in the past week. With only a 5 days quarantine for positive cases and close contacts without a booster, it’s very easy to become a close contact of a friend or classmate. In order to slow down the spread, we must work together as a school and community to protect ourselves and each other, which we will most likely achieve by following the current guidelines.