With the current trend of a slow, steady decline in local COVID-19 cases, area officials are scaling back some related safety protocols.
Effective March 1, the Richmond County school district will transition to making masks optional in all classrooms and buildings. The district has been mandating masks in all buildings since the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year.
“Presently, the spread rate of COVID-19 in our community is less than eight percent,” according to an email from Lynthia Ross, chief public relations officer for the Richmond County School System.
However, masks will still be required for drivers and passengers on school bus due to federal transportation requirements.
The slow, but steady decline in the number of COVID-19 cases has prompted changes at all levels.
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At a Feb. 25 media briefing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the COVID-19 Community Level. It is based on the number of new hospital admissions relative to the number of beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.
“This new framework moves beyond just looking at cases and test positivity to evaluate factors that reflect the severity of disease, including hospitalizations and hospital capacity, and helps to determine whether the level of COVID 19 and severe disease are low, medium, or high in a community,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. “This updated approach focuses on directing our prevention efforts towards protecting people at high risk for severe illness and preventing hospitals and healthcare systems from being overwhelmed.”
The new metrics list counties as either low, medium or high risk, said Dr. Greta Massetti of the COVID 19 Incident Management Team.
“At the low level, there is limited impact on the healthcare system and low amounts of severe disease in the community. People should stay up to date with their vaccines and get tested if they’re sick. At the medium level, more people are experiencing severe disease in the community and they’re starting to see more impact on the health healthcare system. At this level, CDC recommends that people who are high risk, such as someone who is immunocompromised, should talk to their healthcare provider about taking additional precautions and may choose to wear a mask. As communities enter into the high level, there is high amount of people experiencing severe disease and high potential for healthcare systems strains. At the high level, CDC recommends that everyone wear a mask indoors, in public, including in schools,” she said.
As of Feb. 24, Richmond and Columbia Counties were listed as medium, however, Aiken County is listed in the high level.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control announced new guidelines to help schools and childcare centers transition to facing SARS-CoV-2 as endemic, no longer a pandemic.
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Effective March 1, individual schools can suspend “Test to Stay’ or quarantine when they have two consecutive weeks with less than 10% of all students and staff with COVID-19. Schools may also stop contact tracing and masking of close contacts.
At the Feb. 22 meeting of the Aiken County Board of Education, Superintendent King Laurence said all schools in the district are reporting fewer than 10% of cases.
Laurence added the new guidelines also mean a return to a more normal posture for school activities.
“I am relaxing the COVID-based restrictions on volunteers, visitors, field trips, and other school events effective March 1,” said Laurence. “Our original intent was to begin making that move to relax those restrictions right after Christmas, but the Omicron spike interfered with that plan.”
In announcing the new state guidelines, the South Carolina health agency’s director, Dr. Edward Simmer acknowledged the impact the virus has had on families, children and educators for two years.
“Our updated guidance recognizes that COVID-19 is an illness that we now need to treat and manage as endemic, and will help our schools, childcare centers, and ultimately all of us make that transition. At the same time, it also allows us to respond quickly should another surge or impactful new variant arise,” he said.
Community levels can be found at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a general assignment reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
