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A mother walks with her son after all Seattle public schools were closed due to coronavirus fears on March 11, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by John Moore / Getty Images)
Snohomish County’s political leader says out loud what many think as schools across the state prepare to reopen.
No school in Washington would reopen to all students below the end-2020 threshold
“I just want to warn people that just because they reopen doesn’t mean that everything will be okay,” executive Dave Somers said this week. “We’ll just have to support our teachers and our school districts while they do it and make the best decisions we can. “
Somers warned families things are fluid when school resumes and said people need to plan for last-minute changes to school rules and all in-person activities.
“It’s a bit of a perilous situation we find ourselves in right now, but we’re just trying to support each other,” he said.
The county executive noted that the health department and local school districts are working well together as they analyze best practices based on current COVID conditions.
Aside from the current increase in cases largely due to the delta variant, as in many places, Snohomish County’s COVID-19 cases have increased with the return of cold weather last fall.
“The hospitalization rate is real, the case rate is real, the dangers of COVID are real,” Somers said.
“Stay tuned, it’s going to be interesting as we open up,” he added.
8,000 free backpacks full of school supplies available Tuesday
According to Shawn Frederick of the Snohomish Health District, local hospitals continue to experience an increase in COVID cases and staff shortages.
Just over 1,700 cases were reported in the county last week. Over the past two weeks, the case rate for the county is 394 per 100,000 people.
Frederick also says that there are still 209,000 residents eligible to receive the vaccine but who have not yet been vaccinated.
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