One of the concerns since the start of the 2021-22 school year has  people wondering if it is safe to send students back to school. Of course, many parents and teachers were, and still are, reluctant to send their children back to school. 

Since the pandemic started back in 2019, over 10.6 million children have tested positive for Covid-19. At the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year in September, there were nearly 5.6 million additional child cases. It is now 2022 and over 2 million of these cases have come just from January.

From the week of January 13th there was a 17% increase over the 981,000 cases. The cases doubled from two weeks prior. The week of January 20th, nearly 1,151,000 child COVID cases were reported. There was a 25.2% increase. Students have been encouraged to get vaccinated to keep themselves safe while they continue to attend school. According to the CDC, as of July 31, 2021, 30% of 14-15 year olds and 40% of 16-17 year olds are fully vaccinated.

The spikes in January meant that COVID cases have dropped nationally in February due to the mostly mild symptoms of the Omicron variant. Although students are vaccinated, they were still getting sick due to the highly transmissible variant.  February has seen an increase in attendance at LFCISD due to the drop in cases. 

Junior Roni Saldana has enjoyed the return to 100% in person classes for the 2021-22 school year.

“I felt safe returning to school,” Saldana said. ” I had been coming since before the return of all the students, so it didn’t feel unnatural. At first, it felt a little weird, but as we’ve fallen back into the routine, I don’t mind it.”