Students Return To Classrooms Following Holiday Break As COVID-19 Cases Surge
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- It's back to class for multiple school districts across the region, but it comes at a time while the COVID-19 crisis across the country is worsening, and now it's impacting students as they start the spring semester.
Across the Pittsburgh Public Schools system, a dozen schools will be learning virtually.
This is the result of several positive COVID-19 cases and quarantines causing a staffing shortage.
Related stories:
- Pittsburgh Public Schools Shifting 12 Schools To Remote Learning On Monday
- Saint Gregory Catholic Elementary School Moves To Virtual Learning Due To COVID-19 Staffing Issues
All of the impacted students will learn through Microsoft Teams and Schoolology.
Across the country, schools are battling the issue of sending students back to the classroom, with the number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 hitting an all-time high at the end of the year.
"This is a milder form of the coronavirus, it appears to be a more of an upper airway disease and a low airway disease. That's good for most Americans. The one group that that may be a problem for is very young kid, very young children, toddlers who have trouble with upper airway infections and your in fact seeing more croup-like infections and bronchiolitis," said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former FDA Commissioner and current Pfizer board member.
Health leaders are divided on whether or not children should be back in the classroom or not.
Some say if you're in an area of high transmission of COVID-19, it may be too soon.
Pittsburgh Public Schools still have a 10-day quarantine period for those who test positive, even after the CDC changed its guidance last week.
The district plans to have the impacted buildings closed today and intends on reopening them tomorrow.
