The Orange County Department of Health Care has announced that state requirements have been approved for elementary school classes beginning at about 24 private elementary schools and one public school district serving nursery school through sixth grade.
Under state law, elementary schools can apply for re-exemptions from the California Department of Public Health only after their COVID-19 seven-day case average falls below 200 cases per 100,000. Dr Clayton Chau, director of the Orange County Health Agency Agency, said the schools could reopen immediately.
Roughly 100 other Orange County private and charter schools have applied for similar permits and are awaiting approval.
The renewed exemptions – which must be approved by provincial and state public health authorities – apply only to primary schools, and robust safety plans must be presented. State officials and public health educators offer the exemptions that recognize that online learning for young children is particularly difficult. Also, young children are generally seen as having a lower risk of developing COVID-19 than older children and adults.
‘Do I have fear and anxiety? Of course I do. Do we expect an outbreak? Of course we will, ”said Chau about concerns about reopening schools. ‘But we have to do it. We know that this overhaul has caused emotional distress for some of our children, and we know that learning at home is not the best education. ”
Chau said parents who want to continue learning online for children, especially those at high risk, are encouraged to do so.
Under state rules, all schools can reopen if their province is 14 days off the state waiting list. This means, among other metrics, that averages of provincial cases should be two weeks below 100 cases per 100,000 people.
Orange County officials believe they may be removed from the watch list on Saturday, which could begin the 14-day countdown to reopening of schools.
“I’m very optimistic that everything will go well,” Chau said.
In Los Angeles County, home to some 1.5 million K-12 students, Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, the county’s chief medical officer, said this week that elementary schools could soon apply for exemptions like COVID-19 cases. sakje. On Thursday, cases stood at 217 per 100,000, 17 above the threshold for exemption approval.
The province has seen a drop in recent weeks in cases encouraging health officials who believe the county may be closer to being removed from the waiting list. The province meets five of the state’s six criteria for removal from the watch list. The last metric that the province has not yet met is a drop in cases below 100 per every 100,000 people.
On Friday, the LA County Department of Health announced nine additional cases of children suffering from a rare coronavirus-related inflammatory syndrome, known as MIS-C. The condition affects children who are exposed to the virus and can cause inflammation of parts of the body, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, skin, eyes and gastrointestinal organs.
A total of 25 children in the province have had MIS-C, officials said. No one died.
In addition, officials reported 46 new deaths related to the virus and 1,759 new cases.
Most recently, San Diego and Placer counties were removed on Tuesday, and Napa County was on Thursday. Removal of the checklist does not allow direct operations from within closed business sectors – such as nail salons and gyms – to reopen after they have been forced to close. The state health officer would need to review the mandate to allow such changes to take place.
Although the daily average for cases and hospitalizations in the past weeks has decreased statewide, it is always possible for a resuscitation in an individual province. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that San Francisco County is expected to be abolished, but the county is still on the list if cases continue to stay above the safety threshold and the number of beds available for intensive care has dropped below 20%.
A decline in cases and hospitalizations does not surprisingly lead to a decline in deaths.
“Hopefully this week and next week you will start to see the death toll really start to drop,” said Centers of Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield in an interview with the Journal of the American Medical Assn.
The decline in current cases is attributed to social behavior of people and modifications of companies in moving operations from inside to outside. It is always possible that a spike may occur in cases when social behavior is relaxed, as was previously the case over holiday weekends.
