Less than two weeks into the school year, a Kentucky school district has canceled in-person classes for the rest of week after nearly a fifth of the students came down with illnesses including Covid, strep throat and the flu.
The Lee County School district, which has just under 900 students, began classes on Aug. 9 but noticed attendance drop to about 82% on Friday, according to Superintendent Earl Ray Schuler.
By Monday, that rate dipped to 81% and 14 staff members called in sick, Schuler said.
The district canceled classes Tuesday and Wednesday and will shift to remote learning on Thursday and Friday. Extracurricular activities, including sports practices and games, have been canceled through the week to allow for a deep clean of the school, Schuler said.
“We’re sanitizing our buses and our buildings and giving our staff and our students time to heal,” he said.
The district, which is split into an elementary school and a combined middle and high school, saw approximately equal numbers of students call in sick across the two schools, Schuler said.
As the new school year begins across the country, various other school districts have already had to cancel classes, though primarily due to severe heat waves or tropical storms. Districts in Palm Springs, California; Johnston, Iowa; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, among others, suspended classes or closed early at least one day this week.
In Kentucky, the Lee County school district is encouraging families to stay home and limit contact with other students if possible. It has also urged people to get vaccinated against the flu and Covid (though the school district does not require either).
Earlier this month, officials from public health agencies across the country advised people to protect themselves against respiratory viruses this fall by getting their yearly flu shots and new Covid boosters when available.
Flu shots are typically recommended for everyone over 6 months old in September or October, and this year’s guidelines are no exception. Updated Covid boosters, meanwhile, are expected to roll out in mid- to late-September but have yet to get the Food and Drug Administration’s authorization.
Though back-to-school season is in full swing, it’s still early in the year to see large flu outbreaks, according to Dr. Danny Benjamin, a professor of pediatrics at Duke University. In the coming weeks, school districts are more likely to see outbreaks of Covid and other non-flu viruses, he said.
Benjamin predicted that schools will see flu outbreaks around early October. Last year, the U.S. saw flu season ramp up earlier than expected, in the first few weeks of October.
“When the vaccines become available, it’s something to really think through in protecting yourself and your family,” Benjamin said.
Benjamin also advised parents to teach their children to follow basic health precautions like thoroughly washing hands and sneezing into the elbow.
For the small share of children who are severely immunocompromised, he added, it may be worth considering masking at school, though he acknowledged that may bring unwanted attention in some situations.
“For parents of children who are healthy, if there are other children in the classroom who are masking, just remind your kids that not everybody has the same health background and some folks need a little extra protection,” Benjamin said. “It can be hard to be the one sixth-grader in middle school wearing a mask.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
