More than 100 students and staff were quarantined in San Diego County 2 days after they resumed their personal education

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“While the quarantines are frustrating and worrying so early in the reopening, positive Covid cases and quarantines were not unexpected,” said Escondido Union School District Superintendent, Dr. Luis Rankins-Ibarra, in a statement to CNN.

The challenging environment created by Covid-19 is impacting schools across the country as teachers and students grapple with the new realities of distance learning models, mask wearing and social distance, based on the recommendations of local and national health officials .
After months of online learning, many officials are eager to reopen classrooms, which has sparked debate as to whether it is safe to return to face-to-face learning.

In Escondido, 8,700 students on 23 campuses were enrolled in their hybrid modeling program that began on Tuesday, with students divided into cohorts and attending in person at different parts of the day.

But despite those measures, seven individuals tested positive at various Escondido school locations and attended in an infectious state, resulting in the quarantine of 81 students and 15 staff, Escondido Union School District told CNN.

The schools affected this week were Farr Avenue Elementary, Pioneer Elementary, Rock Springs Elementary and Mission Middle School, according to the district. Affected students and staff have returned to distance learning.

Pioneer Elementary School, one of the affected schools.

District officials said careful contact tracking confirmed that these positive cases were not transmitted in schools, but rather by individuals who are extended relatives of those who set foot on the various campuses.

“Our city has a high rate of cases, and our community is made up of many multi-generational families. This makes for a challenging environment,” said Chief Inspector Rankins-Ibarra. “It is unfortunate that people are still coming to campus while waiting for the Covid test results or after being in close contact with someone who is positive, or while feeling sick,” he added.

The Chief Inspector stressed that families should keep their children at home if they are “ill in any way”. He said safety remains a top priority and “very strict health and safety standards” will be raised at the school locations. He also said district officials believe they can sustain on-campus instruction in the hybrid model.

School districts and teachers disagree on when to return children to class during a pandemic

“We are committed to providing a safe environment for our students and staff while on campus,” said Rankins-Ibarra. “However, we have no control over the off-campus environments,” he said.

Prior to the outbreaks, health and safety protocols in force included temperature checks and verbal questionnaires to all students about symptoms and exposure before entering classrooms, school officials said. Classrooms had portable air filtration systems and space between desks. There were also a maximum of 12 students in a classroom, both at the primary and secondary school levels. It is unclear how safety standards will be strengthened after the last positive cases.

While data in San Diego indicates the start of a downward trend in the number of cases and hospitalizations, the county has reported a total of 244,069 positive cases and 2,777 deaths since the start of the pandemic. It remains in the purple tier, or the strictest tier of California’s coronavirus reporting system, which requires the closure of many non-essential indoor businesses.

Friday, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency marked another grim milestone, with the report of his first pediatric Covid-19 death. The deceased was a 10-year-old boy with underlying medical conditions, officials said.

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