3,200-Plus Schools Closed for Omicron Despite Low Risk; Returning Students Greeted With Closing Schools, and other C-Virus related stories

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3,200-Plus Schools Closed for Omicron Despite Low Risk:

Over 3,200 schools will be closed or condemned to remote learning this week as officials fear the low-risk omicron variant of the coronavirus.

School districts across the country are grappling with how to move forward with coronavirus protocols as it appears clear that new variants will continue to come and virtual learning and mask mandates are extremely detrimental to the education, social development, and mental health of children.

Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said that he believes “very firmly and very passionately” that “students belong in the classroom and that we can do it safely,” and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci told ABC News that increased vaccination rates and testing make it “safe enough to get those kids back to school, balanced against the deleterious effects of keeping them out.”

Despite this, many large school districts like Washington, DC, and Baltimore, Maryland, have decided to extend winter break to implement widescale testing before returning to school, as well as closures or remote learning. --->READ MORE HERE

Brittainy Newman/AP-File

Returning Students Greeted With Closing Schools:

As coronavirus cases surge due to the highly transmissible omicron variant, schools across the country are resuming classes after their winter breaks and navigating a complicated return made even more so by staffing shortages, testing snafus and bad weather.

According to the school tracking site Burbio, an additional 1,600 schools announced shutting down in-person learning for at least one day over the last week, with some announcing one- or two-week virtual learning breaks due to rising COVID-19 cases.

In New Jersey, schools in Newark, Camden and Linden pivoted to virtual for the first two weeks in January, as did five others in the state for the first week of the new year. Schools in Cleveland, Ohio, and Madison, Wisconsin, will be virtual the first week as well along with those in Atlanta and Milwaukee. Officials in Providence, Rhode Island, decided to return students to classrooms using a staggered start throughout the week.

And a growing number of school districts are requiring students and staff to present negative COVID-19 test results prior to coming back, including in Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, the stage is set for a showdown between city and union officials in Chicago, the country’s third-largest school district, where educators say conditions are too unsafe to return to in-person learning, which they did on Monday. --->READ MORE HERE

Follow links below to related stories and resources:

Watch for Backdoor School Closures for Omicron

Major Teachers’ Union Lobbied New York City to Close Schools This Week

USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates

WSJ: Coronavirus Live Updates

YAHOO NEWS: Coronavirus Live Updates

NEW YORK POST: Coronavirus The Latest

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