These articles are thanks to my son Mike
School districts across the nation are on edge now that we're entering mid-August into September, when K-12 schools typically open. And during more normal times Fall sports like football are already in full swing in terms of practices, which in some places, for example in most parts of Texas, appears to be resuming as normal.
Many districts especially in the South are offering an 'online option' especially for middle through high school students while simultaneously opening their doors, albeit with strict safety measures in place, such as temperature checks and the wearing of masks.
But one Mississippi public school opened its doors as scheduled in early August, only to now be living the nightmare that most fear: "Roughly 100 students were sent home from a southern Mississippi high school on Tuesday after coming into contact with a teacher who was exhibiting mild COVID-19 symptoms," The Hill reports.
Amid raging school board debates and varying opinions among administrators over re-opening, many who say schools should stay closed altogether this fall argue that the moment a cluster of COVID-19 confirmations emerges in any given school they are going to shut their doors anyway.
In this latest case in Gulfport, Mississippi it's not even as yet clear whether the teacher actually has coronavirus. But while a test is pending students were sent home anyway “out of an abundance of caution to keep everyone safe,” the district said in a statement.
Any students and faculty that had contact with the teacher will enter a 14-day quarantine - again estimated at about 100 - not returning to campus, pending the teacher's test results return, The Hill continues. In the case of a negative test, the school said classes will resume as normal. The school says social distancing measures have been in place.
The whole episode presents a serious dilemma which high schools and hesitant colleges are sure to experience: assuming a school reopens, how much panic will ensue the moment students and teachers naturally catch common colds or other viruses?
Outbreaks of various types of illnesses, or coughs, or also bacterial illnesses like Strep throat tend to be all-too-common on school campuses particularly in the fall and winter months.
PHOTOS: THAI STUDENTS ENCASED IN PLEXIGLASS AS SCHOOLS REOPEN FOLLOWING COVID LOCKDOWN
Schools impose Orwellian COVID restrictions on elementary school students
IMAGE CREDITS: LAUREN DECICCA/GETTY IMAGES.
Surreal photos out of Thailand show mask-wearing elementary school students placed in social distancing cubes made up of plastic and plexiglass.
More from the Daily Mail:
Thai children in kindergarten at the Wat Khlong Toey School in Bangkok, which has been reopened for a month, study behind perspex boxes and play with toys alone in screened-in areas.
The green light was given for schools in the country to reopen at the start of July with a series of strict measures in place.
Authorities recommended class sizes are restricted to 20-25 students while doorknobs, desks and other areas at risk of spreading infection be sanitized frequently throughout the day.
Check out photos from Bangkok, released Monday by Getty Images:
The Mail reports 58 people in Thailand have died from COVID-19 and there are currently 3,351 infections.
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