On Monday, a second-grader at Sixes Elementary, located at the Cherokee County School District, tested positive for COVID-19. Now, the whole class is quarantined for 14 days.
WSVN News reported that on Tuesday, all 20 students and their class adviser had to stay at home for two weeks. The school admin closed their classroom for cleaning.
Face masks not required
Photos from two different schools in Georgia revealed that it is not yet safe for them to reopen. Just one day of schooling has caused the students to go back and stay at home for safety. Cherokee County School District urges students to wear face masks but does not require them to do so.
See also: School reopening: 5 things parents must consider
The district has a different requirement from its students - shoulders should be covered, and pants and skirts should not have frayed ends. Apart from that, students should wear specific undergarments, but they do not require wearing face masks.
Upworthy notes that school reopenings in an area where the coronavirus is not controlled are already risky. Add the fact that they did not require wearing face masks which makes it scarier. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended delaying school reopening until a place has a lower than five percent positivity rate for the deadly disease. Georgia has a higher than 12 percent of the rate, which means they should not allow kids to go back to physical schooling yet.
See also: Coronavirus: Your Ultimate Guide to Risky Activities [Avoid Risk Level 9]
Learning in-person is better
According to Upworthy, learning in-person is essential, but there is no denying that students' safety should be the top priority. Since there are still too many cases and the country even could not control the virus, school reopening should be delayed just yet.
After the first day of opening, schools had to shut down for at least two weeks. That will happen every time a single student or teacher tests positive with the coronavirus. If the cases from Georgia are low enough, then maybe they could find ways to proceed with schooling. However, they should not do so knowing that they have a high rate without following any measures.
See also: Childhood Obesity May Increase Due to School Closures
Student safety first
Dr. Anthony Fauci urges school reopenings if it is safe enough while following the precautionary measures. Although President Donald Trump tweeted in all caps that schools should reopen, one should still consider the current condition. Students are not safe from the virus, and they could either get sick or be carriers of it. Letting school reopen without any measures is not the wisest choice to make. Unless they require students and teachers to wear face masks, keep a safe distance, and no gathering for photo ops, no one is safe.
