More than 100 students and staff quarantined in San Diego County, 2 days after the resumption of classroom learning

More than 100 students and staff quarantined in San Diego County, 2 days after the resumption of classroom learning

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“Although the quarantines at the beginning of the reopening are frustrating and worrying, Covid’s positive cases and quarantines were not unexpected,” said the superintendent of the Escondido Union School District, Dr. Luis Rankins-Ibarra, in a statement to CNN.

The challenging environment created by Covid-19 has impacted schools across the country, as teachers and students struggle with the new reality of distance learning models, wearing masks and social distance, following the recommendations of local health authorities and state.
After spending months learning online, many employees are eager to reopen classrooms, which has sparked a debate over whether it is safe to return to face-to-face learning.

In Escondido, 8,700 students on 23 campuses were enrolled in their hybrid model learning program that started Tuesday, with students divided into groups and attending school in person at different parts of the day.

However, despite these measures, seven individuals tested positive at several Escondido schools and attended in an infectious state, resulting in the quarantine of 81 students and 15 employees, the União de Escondido School District told CNN.

The schools affected this week were Farr Avenue Elementary, Pioneer Elementary, Rock Springs Elementary and Mission Middle School, according to the district. Affected students and staff returned to distance learning.

Pioneer Elementary School, one of the impacted schools.

District officials said the meticulous tracking of contacts confirmed that these positive cases were not transmitted in schools, but by individuals who are relatives of those who stepped on the various campuses.

“Our city struggles with a high rate of cases and our community includes many families of several generations. This creates a challenging environment,” said Superintendent Rankins-Ibarra. “It is a pity that people still come to campus while awaiting the results of the Covid test or after having close contact with someone who is positive or while feeling bad,” he added.

The superintendent emphasized that families should keep their children at home if they are “sick in any way”. He said that safety remains a priority and “very strict health and safety standards” will be stepped up in schools. He also said that district officials believe they can maintain on-campus instruction in the hybrid model in the future.

School districts and teachers are at odds over when children should return to school during the pandemic

“We are doing everything possible to ensure a safe environment for our students and staff while on campus,” said Rankins-Ibarra. “However, we cannot control environments outside of campus,” he said.

Before the outbreaks, current health and safety protocols included temperature checks and verbal questionnaires to all students about symptoms and exposure before entering classrooms, school officials said. Classrooms had portable air filtration systems and wallet spacing. There were also a maximum of 12 students in a classroom at the elementary and high school levels. It is unclear how security standards will be strengthened after the latest positive cases.

While San Diego data indicates the beginning of a downward trend in case and hospitalization rates, the county has reported a total of 244,069 positive cases and 2,777 deaths since the pandemic began. It remains in the purple layer, or the stricter layer of California’s coronavirus reporting system, which requires the closure of many non-essential internal businesses.

On Friday, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency marked another dark milestone, reporting its first pediatric death in Covid-19. The deceased was a 10-year-old boy with underlying medical conditions, officials said.

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