By Kate Di Guglielmo
ALARMING: How are rising COVID-19 cases affecting schools and sports?
As the number of COVID cases continue to grow, the chances of going back to in-person school are slimming. This year, many children will not be able to go back to school or even participate in their sports seasons. San Bernardino County has already declared their students will not be attending in person school for the rest of the year. Is Riverside County next?
As it stands, the statistics seem to say “yes.” According to Los Angeles Times Staff, Riverside county has 85,896 confirmed COVID cases, 1,444 deaths, and 67,734 recoveries. These statistics led officials to put Riverside County into the “purple zone,” which indicates widespread infection. . In order to go back to school, Riverside County has to be out of the purple zone for two weeks, then wait another two weeks to start letting kids come back. Even after being allowed to return, only half of the original amount of students will be able to attend school every day. There will be set walkways, multiple temperature checking stations, mask mandates, along with enforced social distancing.
While there will be a lot of changes in the students’ school lives, the teachers also must adapt. In their classrooms, there are now fewer desks, and those that remain spaced six feet apart from each other. There are also plastic borders around the desks and while the teacher is walking around the classroom, they must roll a wall of plastic between them and the students to avoid contact. Desks will also be cleaned between each class period in order to prevent the spread of any germs.
Some sports teams have been practicing for about two months now. Girls Waterpolo has cleared phase one, which prevented contact with any equipment and only allowed conditioning. They have been in phase two for about a month, so they can now use equipment, as long as it is not shared between students. Coach Grisham, the head swim coach and an assistant water polo coach at Poly High School, commented that the rising number of COVID infections is impeding the team’s progress, not allowing the athletes to truly enhance their skills. After being asked how she felt about the rising COVID cases in relations to water polo practice. Téa Summers (10) a Poly High school Athlete states, “ at least our practice hasn’t been shut down yet, that would be really disappointing”.
Hopefully cases begin to go down so students can get their lives back and end this troubling year easily.
To learn more about COVID-19, please visit: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html