Summit County Public Health on Monday recommended that local schools start the year online, while also releasing several recommendations for schools returning to class during the coronavirus pandemic.
New COVID-19 cases should be on the decline before children return to schools, but there has been a significant increase in local cases of late, SCPH said in a statement Monday morning. This makes distance learning its preferred option for schools with the K-12 grades.
Akron Public Schools, Copley and Coventry are among districts to announce all-only classes to start the year.
The health district said it recognizes that students with special education, intervention and social / emotional learning needs should receive better education in a personal environment, and said students should have these services but in small group settings.
The remote option would have the lowest risk of spreading COVID-19, the health district said.
The second option is a hybrid model of learning, where children could split time between home and school for learning. This option could include modified class size.
The health district said this model should include mandatory masks for all students without exemptions and strict cleaning. It should also have as much as six feet of social distance as possible.
The third option, with the highest risk of spread, would return with normal class sizes, five days a week, according to the health district. SCPH said extreme precautionary measures should be taken if a school chooses this model.
SCPH said that students do not recommend going back to school until the following happens:
– COVID-19 cases decrease in Summit County for ideally four to six weeks
– The county moves to yellow as level 1 on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System. The province is currently as level 2 (Orange).
– There is increased test capacity for youth.
– There is a decline in hospital settings, which SCPH says is a marker for community dissemination.
Many of the indicators that SCPH army should see are on the way up.
From July 26 to August 8, new cases per head were 117 cases per 100,000. This is twice the threshold set by the Ohio Department of Health as an indicator of community outreach.
In the past month, SCPH said the figure of seven days business has been as increased, remaining in the 6-9 cases per 100,000 range. SCPH said that countries with successful open schools have a rate of 3 cases per 100,000 or less.
From June 20 to July 20, the 7-day average increased from 9.3 to 36.6 cases per day. As of July 31, there were 48.9 cases per day in Summit County.
These increases all coincide with 93 percent of the cases that are out of the community, SCPH said. From 8 July to 4 August, only 82 of 1126 cases were linked to municipal housing.
Although there have been only 271 cases in people under 19, the department has already investigated multiple outbreaks related to coaching or attending practices.
Testing for children under 18 is still limited, SCPH said.
SCPH said school districts need to remain sober and change strategies on a real-time basis to ensure everyone’s safety.
This is an evolving story back on updates.
Reporter Sean McDonnell contributed to this report.
