Dr. Janette Nesheiwat: COVID and our kids - under no circumstances should we close schools this year

Our children need to be in environments conducive for learning, growth, and cognitive development. They require social interaction and social engagement. Their mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing depend on being in school. It's nourishment for their brains.

Even with clear guidance from the CDC, requirements to follow that guidance vary state by state:

Other states, like Arkansas, Arizona, and Oklahoma, will continue to encourage students and school staff to wear masks and get vaccinated but won't require it. Florida is leaving it up to parents. 

 The new, more infectious delta variant of the virus is causing a massive surge in new infections across the country. New cases are up 500% as of Aug 6, 2021. 

I am currently seeing more breakthrough infections in my patients who have been vaccinated. Fortunately their symptoms are mild. 

So, how can parents and communities prepare children and schools for a new semester, whatever the fall may bring? The best thing is to put a health safety action plan in place now. It's really easy and begins with assessing your community's situation:

*Get the vaccine if you are eligible. It is one of the best defenses against the new delta variant comprising 93% of new cases in the United States.

*Check the prevalence of COVID in your community. Is it low or high? What is the vaccination rate?

*Do you have a strategic plan to project the students and staff who are most at risk?

*Are you ensuring that everyone is wearing their mask?

*Are you addressing issues with the ventilation and filtration systems?

*Are desks sufficiently spaced apart?

*If prevalence in the community is high, will you use hybrid schedules?

*Promote vaccination

*Consistently and correctly use masks

*Practice physical distancing

*Use screening tests to identify cases

*Implement improved ventilation and air filtering

*Practice handwashing and respiratory etiquette

*Have your children stay home when they are sick and get them tested

*If you are school staff, likewise, stay home and get tested if you are sick

*Implement contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine

*Practice routine cleaning and disinfection 

We should continue wearing masks even though we are all tired of it.  The CDC recommends wearing a mask if you're not vaccinated-doing so will protect others and yourself. The schools and the teachers--all of us--can't tell who is vaccinated from who is not.

The science, data, and facts show us that these strategies work. We have the ability to create tailored health safety protocols and put them in place before the fall semester starts.

Implementing the CDC guidance through concrete health safety plans will make sure we achieve our country's top priority: getting our students back at their desks in our classrooms. 

We'll be ready to go in the fall if we continue to educate, vaccinate, and mask up.

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