COVID surge: All over again

From virtual to in person, then back to virtual, when will the cycle end? Students went from breaking bad quarantine habits, only to fall back into them a few months later. With COVID levels spiking, UACHS decided to close down for two weeks. The morning of December 23rd, 2021, UACHS students were notified that their school was going back into remote learning until January 18th, 2022.

When students received this message they were panicking, remembering the 2020 quarantine. After just getting used to being in-person once again, we were sent back to online learning. Once we returned to in person learning many had little ambition to do any work. It was difficult to get accustomed to being in a classroom around other people. Eventually students settled into a form of normalcy. However, we were sent back into an inactive mental space. UACHS junior Gabriel Lauz is afraid that things will be happening all over again.

“When I saw this message, I was thinking back to two years ago, March 2020,” Lauz said. “It might just happen all over again, you know, where we got sent home for supposedly just two weeks and then bam we don’t go back to school until 2021.” 

Since Principal Lugo noticed that many students were becoming ill rapidly, he consulted the Board President and the Board of Education in order to close down UACHS for a two week quarantine. Over 50 students in UACHS were being sent home because they either tested positive for COVID or they sat next to a student who had COVID. UACHS junior, Patrcia Gomes realized her classes were slowly becoming empty.

“I noticed that in a few of my classes my classmates were gone,” Gomes said. “There were a lot of people testing positive and infecting others, so a good number of kids were in quarantine.” 

With Omicron surging people have gone back to a state of panic, however this is not the same virus from 2020. According to the World Health Organization, Omicron is less severe and does not spread as fast as other COVID variants, luckily. 

The effects of Omicron hit UACHS. Senior, Alexa Lucius, along with many other people got covid over the break.

“It’s like over the break, everyone got COVID out of nowhere,” said Lucius. “I got COVID and many of my friends got it too, so it was weird.” 

Since our return in late January, there has been a decrease in the amount of reported positive cases. For many, the looming possibility of being sent back home keeps them in a state of unease.