Covid-19 is surging back, a new wave of cases engulfing the world. Eaglecrest is not exempt from this. The late December and early January surge -- largely due to the Omicron variant’s dramatic entrance -- has left classrooms half-full, field trips suspended, and a respondent resurgence in Covid-19 clinics and testing centers.
“It sounds like Omicron may be more contagious and may be less severe, especially for those who are vaccinated,” said Keith Proctor, an English teacher whose wife, Dr. Leslie Proctor, is a physician who specializes in Internal Medicine at St. Joseph Hospital in Denver. “It's interesting because at her hospital -- and I don't know her percentage-- but it was full, pretty much. It wasn't all Covid, but there was an uptick in Covid [cases] primarily from a lot of people who weren't vaccinated.” Proctor notes that although vaccinated people were still coming in, to his knowledge, those rates had decreased while the rate of unvaccinated hospitalizations continued to be higher.
With a more contagious variant and its comparatively less severe symptoms also came a shortened quarantine guideline. As of December 27, the CDC changed its guidelines for those exposed and those testing positive: a mere 5 days.
“People with COVID-19 should isolate for 5 days and if they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are resolving (without fever for 24 hours), follow that by 5 days of wearing a mask when around others to minimize the risk of infecting people they encounter,” said the CDC in their media statement. “The change is motivated by science demonstrating that the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and the 2-3 days after.”
In light of the changing variants and guidelines of Covid, much of our response has had to adjust as well. "CDC’s updated recommendations for isolation and quarantine balance what we know about the spread of the virus and the protection provided by vaccination and booster doses," said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. "These updates ensure people can safely continue their daily lives." From more prevalent clinics to more extensive testing to greater availability for kids vaccines, local Covid solutions are having a notable impact.
In a recent update from Cherry Creek School District superintendent Christopher Scott, it was announced that although still strongly encouraged, masks will not be required in schools starting next Monday, February 7th. This change comes as a result of loosened Tri-County Health Department guidelines, which opted not to renew the school mask mandate. In the same letter, vaccination options are offered and encouraged and Scott notes that the CCSD Covid data tracker will remain on their website. However, community letters with updates on reported positive cases will no longer be sent out to students and parents.
These changes come after a notable spike in Omicron cases. As of February 1st, Tri-County Health still marks Arapahoe County as having a High Community Transmission Status for both 7-Day Cumulative Incidence Rates and 7-Day Average Test Positivity. So it seems that Covid will remain an issue, though reported case numbers and positivity rates are dropping across Colorado, according to Colorado’s Covid-19 data tracker.
Perhaps February will mark a turning point in the pandemic for our community -- or perhaps it will simply become another valley amidst case peaks. Regardless, our response to the virus is changing alongside new variants and vaccination rates. And for people like Heather Nelsen, a social studies teacher, greater vaccination numbers are a sign of progress -- and potentially a path back to normality.
“I see it as the more we can get vaccinated, I feel the less harmful this disease will be on all of us,” said Nelsen. “So if we can make it so that we have less people hospitalized and less stress on the health care system, I think that can only help matters.”
New Round of Vaccines
In early December, the option of vaccination was opened to yet another portion of the U.S. population: kids 5 to 11. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine was officially approved for anyone over age five, and in the nearly two months since, there has been a continuous conversation over whether children should receive the vaccine.
And maybe -- just maybe -- we will begin to see the end of the pandemic soon. Proctor postulates another theory, though. "A lot of our common colds that we have today are types of coronaviruses," he said. "The theory is that this happened who knows how many years ago, millions of years ago, and that [Covid-19] will become similar to those other common colds -- that it's maybe more contagious, but maybe it's not as severe.”
For now, as we await further guidelines and hope for a return to some semblance of a pre-Covid-19 life, perhaps the best we can do is hope for the best but prepare for the worst -- or at least exercise some caution.
"Prevention is our best option: get vaccinated, get boosted, wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial and high community transmission, and take a test before you gather," said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky in a Dec. 27th media statement.