While reports from around the country continue to come out about schools shutting down due to COVID-19 outbreaks after just weeks of being open, some are warning of a spike that may be inevitable.
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Dr. Michael Osterholm spoke with News Talk 830 WCCO's Chad Hartman to discuss what he thinks will be the biggest threat this school year and what he is concerned about.
"This issue with kids is a very critical one," Osterholm said.
Unlike the novel strain of the coronavirus or any other variant that has been significantly present in the country, the Delta variant has been able to spread more easily among children and younger Americans.
"It is very transmissible in kids, unlike a year ago when we said we could probably reopen schools safely," Osterholm said. "The point was we wanted our kids back in school."
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Osterholm shared that nationwide in the last year, 341 children have died of COVID-19 infections. Sixty-six, or 20%, of those deaths, have come over the previous three weeks when a small number of schools began opening across the country.
Because of the recent spikes in new COVID-19 cases, and because schools have identified students as close contacts, there are 1,000 schools in 35 states that have already closed and moved instruction to an online learning format.
"This is highly infectious in these kids, and kids really do get very sick," he shared. "It's not like in the average flu season; last year, I would have said this is like a bad flu season for kids.
"This [year] is very different."
With students losing out on a year of learning, many felt that returning kids to the classroom was crucial to not lose out on more education. But, unfortunately, this is where Osterholm thinks mistakes were made, with some putting "blinders on," acting as if the virus doesn't exist anymore, he said.
"We need to do a lot more in our schools to make them safer," Osterholm said. "And then when transmission starts to occur in those schools, you gotta shut it down. You just do, or you're going to see an increasing number of severe illnesses and deaths in these kids."
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When it comes to what schools can do to make this academic year safe, Osterholm sees one key factor. Vaccinations.
Beyond ensuring that everyone eligible has received their shots—including teachers, staff, and parents and siblings of students—Osterholm said that having proper ventilation in classrooms, testing more frequently, wearing quality masks, and social distancing will help with safety.
"If you put all that together, then I think you can do it as well as you can," Osterholm said. "But even then, the chances of having an outbreak are still real. Then the school has to have a system for when you [move to distance learning]."
As most Minnesota K-12 schools open this week, only time will tell if another surge of COVID-19 cases will hit the state as it has elsewhere.
