Marin County Elementary School Delta Variant Eruption Source Might Be An Unmasked And Unimmunized Teacher

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that the main source of the delta variant outbreak at an elementary school in Marin County, California might be an unvaccinated teacher who has taken off her mask to read out to her students. The officials from the CDC have said that the teacher has ended up infecting around half of the students in the class and these students have passed on the virus to other students, family members, and members of the community as well. Public health officials have said that the incident shows how easy it is to destabilize efforts to protect children who are yet to be immunized. The director of the CDC, Rochelle Walensky has reported that the teacher has visited the school despite having symptoms of COVID19 and then has removed her mask while reading out to students in the class. Experts have reported their findings of the investigation in CDC’s Weekly Report on Death and Disease. They have found that the teacher has thought that the symptoms of COVID19 might be due to allergy. As per the experts, around 12 out of 22 students have been diagnosed with COVID19. Health experts have said that despite many layers of preventive measures to prevent the spread of the virus, the outbreak has taken place. Health officials have said that the schools have made mask-wearing mandatory for tutors and students while indoors. During the interviews with parents of infected students, experts have found that adherence to masking and social distancing in line with CDC’s recommendation has been considerably high in the class. Nevertheless, the teacher has been found without a mask on many occasions while reading out to students in the class.

School authorities have separated all desks by six feet and installed high-efficiency portable particulate air filters in the class. All doors and classroom windows have been left open for proper air circulation. However, all these efforts have failed to protect children. Ultimately, nearly 27 people including teachers and students have been found to be infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Experts have said that nobody has developed a severe infection and all of them have recovered. They have said that these cases have been linked to one of the most concerning strains known as the delta variant of coronavirus. Public Health officials from California have said that they have not been able to test everyone who might have been exposed to the virus in this outbreak. The CDC has said that the incident has set an example showing how essential it is for all schools to follow all recommendations to protect their staff and children. As per the CDC, vaccination is the key way to protect children from the virus in schools. Health officials have said that inoculation is the only sure-shot solution to end the pandemic. It will help schools to steadily resume in-person learning and extracurricular activities. Children who are below 12 years are still not eligible for vaccination in the US, therefore adults around them must get vaccinated, said the experts. The Deputy Health Officer for Marin County, Dr. Lisa Santora has said that officials have held Super Saturday events to persuade teachers and school staff to get the vaccine but some teachers have still not taken the vaccine. She has said that adults have been undervaluing the risk of hospitalization when they are choosing not to get the vaccine. She has confirmed that around 90 percent of people who are hospitalized with COVID19 in Marin County have not been inoculated and they are in the age group of 30 to 50 years.

Dr. Lisa Santora has said that the delta outbreak in the school has been a major blow to Marin County. She has said that the concerning variant is going to make it hard for health experts to contain the spread of the virus. There have been few adults who have been part of the outbreak in elementary schools. These adults have parents of infected children, who have been vaccinated against the virus, which shows that the delta variant can very well dodge protection that is derived from COVID19 shots. As per the report, among five adults who have been infected in the outbreak, all of them have been fully immunized except one parent and a teacher. All vaccinated adults and one adult who has not been vaccinated have been diagnosed with symptomatic infection and have been dealing with symptoms such as fever, chills, cough, loss of smell, and headache. Marin County officials have launched an extensive contact tracing operation. It has shown that many children have been exposed to the virus during sleepovers; some children have contracted the virus from infected teachers in the class and passed on the virus to their other siblings as well. Health officials have tested most of the children who might have been exposed to the virus, as many of them have never shown any symptoms of COVID19. School authorities have put all mitigation strategies in place to contain the outbreak, said the officials. However, the CDC has said that schools can safely reopen and resume classes if they follow all recommendations.