The COVID-19 Omicron variant was first detected on Dec. 1, 2021, in South Africa. In roughly the month since, Omicron has become the dominant variant of COVID in many places around the world, including the US. So how is Minarets faring amid the surge of Omicron cases? Not very well.
Let’s start with the statistics. Between Jan. 3 and Jan. 7, 41 students tested positive for COVID. On Jan. 10 alone, there were 27 positive tests between students and staff combined. A total of 16 staff members had tested positive as of Jan. 11, with that number steadily increasing. These numbers far surpass those of any other at the school since the pandemic began.
How is this spike in cases affecting life at school? Sports are being hit pretty hard. Since the Omicron variant first began circulating, boys JV basketball has been suspended twice due to COVID cases, boys and girls varsity basketball have had games postponed, and boys soccer has also been suspended for set amounts of time due to positive tests. More suspensions will likely occur as the variant is still making its way through the school population. Life in the classroom has been affected heavily as well due to teachers testing positive and having to quarantine. This has resulted in a large number of substitute teachers being needed, which leads to a substantial decrease in learning for students.
What will come of this spike in cases in the long run? The good news is the virus will likely supply students who aren’t vaccinated with some natural immunity, meaning at the rate students are testing positive, we could see most students having immunity after this surge. That’s great news for us, as we could be looking at an end to worrying about the virus in a meaningful way. The bad news is most students at Minarets are unvaccinated, meaning, although the Omicron variant has been proven to be less harmful to the body than other strains of COVID, it can still be serious in unvaccinated people.
So the conclusion is, if we can get through this surge without too many sports games canceled, quarantined teachers, and sick students, we may ultimately come out of this in better shape.
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