With the Omicron variant of the coronavirus driving a major increase in COVID-19 cases, schools across the country are once again scrambling to create policies that balance safety against the widespread desire for in-person instruction.
There’s disagreement, though, over what is the best strategy for keeping schools open. The more cautious emphasize the importance of mitigation protocols like testing, masking, quarantine and contact tracing. Others say the threat of Omicron is so low that schools should abandon most or all of those tactics and move past pandemic protocols.
Critics of this view say it grossly underestimates the dangers of the virus right now, with more thanas of late this week and hospitals once again overwhelmed by a flood of new COVID patients. They also point to the practical reality that schools can’t function if too many staff members get sick, even if their infections aren’t life-threatening.
“[Learning loss is] a valid worry. But it’s hard to escape the corollary. If some teachers get sick as a result of an in-person teaching mandate, so be it. Meanwhile, a privileged swathe of white-collar America has been working from home since March 2020, and every COVID-19 surge and variant pushes back our office return date.
“It is no longer the spring of 2020. At this point, developing a severe case of the virus is essentially a choice because Covid vaccines are widely available and very effective.” — Michael R.
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