As of Tuesday, all 25 school districts and 16 charter schools in Shasta County are back in session. Schools in the region have seen a growth in COVID cases, with around 1,000 students and staff under a modified quarantine. Even though the schools are doing everything that they can to stay open, the number of COVID cases that are stemming from the schools is concerning both school and health officials.
According to Judy Flores, the superintendent of Shasta schools, the Shasta County public health school unit is overwhelmed with schools asking for help with contact tracing.
鈥淭hey are not able to do the case investigation because the cases are coming in so fast,鈥� says Flores. 鈥淐ases are rising among the 12 and under population. In the past 30 days, 134 children under the age of 12 have tested positive for COVID-19.鈥�
The schools are having problems finding substitute teachers for all of the teachers that are in quarantine for COVID.
The districts are urging people to get vaccinated to help prevent schools from needing to close down again. The data from the county shows how effective vaccines are. In the last three months, 1,621 unvaccinated people have tested positive for COVID 19, compared to just 156 vaccinated people. In addition, during the same period, unvaccinated people are more than 10 times more likely to be sent to the hospital for COVID.
County health officials are hoping with the recent FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine, more people will be encouraged to get vaccinated. As of right now, Mark Michelson from Shasta Regional Medical Center says that the hospitals are still doing elective procedures and have plenty of Personal Protective Equipment.
