The start of school in California and the U.S. is getting closer, however parents and the community at large have raised concerns about health measures against COVID-19.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) held a press conference to clarify community questions and concerns about the return to school in this part of the country.
Currently, more than 15,000 people in California are infected daily with the SARS-COV-2 virus, however, CDPH's Dr. Sohil Sud noted that for the 2022-2023 school year, there are more methods and tools that will reduce the impact on the health of students and school community members, while commenting that the state's schools can manage the disease in a sustainable and safe manner.
Brooks Allen, executive director of the State Board of Education, commented that work has been done to make the return to school safe for students, teachers, workers and the school community.
One of the recommendations that health and education authorities have emphasized is the application of inoculation to school-aged children to protect them, teachers, workers and the school community from suffering complications in case of infection, as hospitalization rates of pediatric patients are currently still high.
Yurina Melara, multiethnic press secretary for VaccinateAll58In addition, he noted that more than 50 percent of school-aged children have received at least the first dose of inoculation against COVID-19.
Likewise, they point out the importance that in the event that children present symptoms of the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, they should stay at home and inform those who have been in contact with them to avoid the spread of the virus.
Although there is no mandate regarding the use of masks or the application of the vaccine, health authorities recommend that both children and adults receive the inoculation, in addition to the use of masks in public places.
To date, 9.7 million home tests have been delivered to all school districts, but half a million are still en route. In addition, officials have coordinated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to deliver 6 million tests between April and June.
The experts recommended that since we are currently facing one of the most transmissible variants of the virus, these tests should be used before the return to school in order to identify possible positive cases of the disease and prevent the spread of the virus.
Sul also commented that home tests do identify the BA5 variant of Omicron.
Officials also noted that in order to protect the school community, school workers who are not fully vaccinated should be tested once a week.
Should parents be concerned about monkeypox?
In relation to monkeypox, Dr. Sohil Su commented that although it is a very important issue, it is less transmissible than the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as the transmission patterns are very different since they require physical contact, however he pointed out the importance of attending to the LGBTQ+ community as it has been one of the most affected.
"We need to roundly condemn homophobia in schools and everywhere," Sul said, as negative sentiments have affected communities due to the origins and transmission patterns of diseases such as monkeypox and COVID-19.
To learn more about California's back-to-school measures visit https://schools.covid19.ca.gov/
For more information about the COVID-19 vaccine, please visit https://covid19.ca.gov/es/vaccines/
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