COVID CLOSE TO HOME
It's changed the world. How is it affecting our community?
Picture this. It’s the second day of school and you are in your third period classroom, learning about Vasco de Gama and Christopher Columbus’s journeys. You watch your teacher receiving a phone call and look straight at you. He tells you that you need to pack your bag because you're getting quarantined.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, from a statewide to a schoolwide level, our lives are being changed.
Some of the most affected are those who have to be closest to the virus every day- healthcare workers. Doctors and nurses are exhausted.
“Our staff is tired – emotionally, mentally and physically. They’ve seen death and despair on an almost daily basis – and put themselves at risk during the process,” said Lance Skelly, a spokesperson for Health First, a company that operates four Brevard hospitals.
Hospitals have had to take drastic measures in order to halt the spread of COVID-19, including ceasing non-emergency operations or elective procedures. COVID patients have overwhelmed hospitals to the point that these important procedures are being put on hold.
“During the most recent height of the pandemic, Health First’s four hospitals, like many others in the state, temporarily halted all non-emergent/non-essential surgeries in order to open more hospital beds for potential COVID+ patients," said Skelly.
Furthermore, families often do not even get to see their relatives in many hospitals. Brevard County hospitals were, at one point, not allowing visitations for many patients due to the risk of contamination.
“We scaled back our patient visitor policy (at one point we allowed no visitors) and erected emergency care tents at our four hospitals,” said Skelly. “All of this was done to protect our patients, staff and visitors from contracting and/or spreading the virus.”
But vaccinations herald an end in sight for the pandemic, and many in Brevard have chosen to receive their COVID vaccines. In Brevard, 368,944 people (61.3%) have received at least one dose and 307,546 (51.1%) are fully vaccinated.
But even these vaccinations have sometimes not been enough to stop the spread. During the week of September 6, Brevard averaged 526 new confirmed cases per day (87.5 for every 100,000 residents). Over concern about these transmission rates, the Brevard County School Board voted on August 30, 2021 to begin requiring masks in all Brevard County public schools, meaning that Edgewood students were feeling the effects of a pandemic that started on the other side of the world.
The mask mandate has been extremely contentious. As of October 5, the latest news was that the mandate would continue until October 29. However, if the amount of new COVID cases falls below 50 per 100,000 in Brevard, the superintendent would have the choice to authorize a parental opt-out. As of September 26, the new case rate was 126.3 per 100,000 residents in Brevard.
In order to prevent COVID from spreading in school, in addition to promoting masks, district schools have been quarantining (sending home), students who have had contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19.
“I do know one person who got quarantined for two weeks,” said Anjala Joseph, 7. “It was challenging for her to make up all of that work by herself.”
As of September 22, however, the school district, following a directive from the Florida Department of Health, changed the quarantine rules. Students who have been a close contact to a person who has tested positive may remain at school as long as they do not have any symptoms. Their parents have the option to keep them home as a precaution.
Sports are incredibly important to so many Edgewood students, but the virus has put these essential high school experiences in jeopardy. Asher Joseph, 10, who plays on the Varsity Boys Golf Team, feels this pressure when he plays.
“I have to be aware that there is COVID,” said Asher. “I need to be careful when playing sports so that I’m not getting too close in contact. COVID is always on our minds, so my family and I still have to be careful.”
And when a student is sent home, they're still responsible for making up their work. Without a virtual learning option, many students find this task nearly impossible.
“One student couldn’t complete their project in Ms. Kyzer’s class,” said Robert Ward, 8. “They couldn’t do it at home either.”
For Edgewood, the quarantine report from September 3- September 6 was 100 quarantines. Note that this report is from before the September 22 quarantine procedure change. Quarantines have helped to slow the spread, but they've also forced students to stay at home and miss out on some of their high school experience.
“The amount of quarantines happening are more than what would be wanted,” said Asher. “But I think now with the masks being mandated, it should help that number.”
But while the effects of COVID-19 are far from over, there is hope on the horizon for a return to normal in the near future. When we all work together as a community- as Floridians, Brevardians, and Edgewoodians- we can stop the spread of this deadly virus.
This is Fiona’s first year on staff and second year at Edgewood. She loves baking desserts and playing tennis. As a writer on the team, she hopes to learn new skills and explore her writing style.