As COVID-19 becomes rampant in Santa Clara County, local schools must respond and take action for students to be safe among their peers. It is no coincidence that the cases have doubled when many people returned to work or school after a long vacation or being amongst crowds at concerts or other summer events.
As of Aug. 22, the Palo Alto, Sunnyvale and San Jose sewersheds found there is a high concentration of COVID-19 wastewater samples while the Gilroy sewershed is at a medium concentration. Within the Palo Alto sewershed samples, which also contain data samples of Mountain View and Los Altos, they have a current concentration level of 0.0007 while at the beginning of the month it showed 0.0003.
Aaron Groff, the communication officer of the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department, said the wastewater data is the fastest way to show the spread of COVID-19 in the community. Groff said the COVID-19 wastewater samples went down 23% from the summer peak in July but is still higher than normal at the same time last year.
“Public health continues to recommend prevention measures of staying up to date on vaccinations by getting the latest COVID shot that was just authorized by the federal government this month, washing your hands, staying home when sick and considering wearing a mask in indoor crowded spaces,” Groff said. “As fall approaches, other respiratory viruses like RSV and flu become more prevalent and public health recommends everyone six months and older receive this year’s flu shot.”
With the increase of COVID-19 cases in mind, Groff said his department will work closely with the Santa Clara County Office of Education, district superintendents and other school officials to “discuss public health topics and share resources for a healthy school year.”
Groff said the local public school districts follow the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), where there are policies for keeping their community safe and how to mitigate the spread of diseases.
According to the California Department of Education (CDE) and the CDPH’s July 11, 2024 letter, they created a list of strategies to create a safe in-person learning environment in the 2024-2025 school year and how to support students in various childcare settings. Both departments strongly recommend people get COVID-19 and influenza vaccines to “minimize outbreaks, absences, and school disruptions. They said it is important to check what vaccines are required or updated each year a student is in school and for families to contact their school if they need help finding a vaccination facility.
For good prevention measures, schools are recommended to have face masks available at all times for students or employees to reduce
contact with respiratory illnesses, airborne allergens or wildfire smoke. The CDC suggests schools also improve their ventilation by installing portable air filtration cleaners, installing post-pandemic ventilation systems that reduce airborne contaminants or moving classes to alternative spaces to reduce contact with illnesses.
If a student or faculty member is feeling sick or testing positive for COVID-19, the departments said to follow the CDC’s recommendation of staying at home until a fever disappears and symptoms improve after 24 hours. After five days, the CDC said that one can resume their normal activities but with precautions such as wearing a mask or keeping a distance from a group.
If a person knows that they have COVID-19 symptoms such as a decrease in appetite, chest discomfort, chills or new loss of taste or smell, it is important to contact the people that they know they spent a lot of time around.
For children with disabilities or with high-risk medical conditions, the departments suggest schools continue implementing normal curriculum for students while identifying how to provide people with equal access when there is an increased rate of COVID-19 or other transmissible diseases in the community.
Although local school districts have removed their mitigation efforts from their policies, it is still important to be aware of the data sets available. The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department can help prepare for other growing diseases such as RSV, Influenza or Monkeypox as winter
approaches.
To read the CDPH and CDE’s open letter on disease prevention, visit tinyurl.com/55nncwzs. To view county wastewater graphs, visit data.wastewaterscan.org/.
