It is becoming increasingly obvious that the Omicron Variant has hit Oliver Ames hard. Classes are half empty, close-contact emails are blowing up people’s phones and everyone can name someone they know who has Covid or has been exposed to it. The Omicron Variant has quickly become the dominant strain of the virus in the country. Biology teacher, Mr. Mulcahy, states that “it has shown to be by far the most contagious strain of Covid, much more so than Delta, and has the most number of mutations of all the other strains.”
While this variant is much less deadly, with milder symptoms being reported by vaccinated people who have been infected, it is still highly contagious. “The symptoms have also been different, more of an upper respiratory illness with a lot of fatigue. Some of the symptoms like loss of taste and smell are absent, but more importantly it appears as though it does not lead to some of the more serious lung infections that previous variants have had. That does not mean that people will not get sick and need to be hospitalized” says Mr. Mulcahy about some possible symptoms this variant causes.
Some question why we should take Omicron seriously if it only causes moderate to severe cold like symptoms. While some experience these symptoms, others are still being hospitalized due to this new variant. “The great concern with Omicron is how contagious it is, overloading our hospitals and leading to otherwise preventable deaths. On January 3rd alone there were 33,000 new cases in Massachusetts” warns Mr. Mulcahy. So what do rising cases mean for our school? Mulc says “for our school it will mean more students and staff missing days and events, and it is as simple as that.” Principal Cavanaugh reports that OA has “had between 15%-20% of our students absent each day this week” It is important to keep in mind that “these absences are not all Covid related”, however administration does “correlate the unusually high number of absences to the virus. “Senior Rebecca Steves is becoming concerned about rising cases. She worries that “if this trend keeps going I don’t know how we’ll be able to do things like prom and graduation the way we want.”
The increase in cases has been stressful for me, knowing how much we could miss out on over the next couple of months if we aren’t careful
Rebecca Steves
You are more likely to experiences milder symptoms, or no symptoms at all, if you are vaccinated. However, a vaccine does not automatically mean you will avoid this variant or any other new or old strains. The more mutations there are, the more “that its ability to avoid immune response from vaccines or natural immunity of previous infections [is] higher”. But don’t fret, the bio teacher reassures that “vaccines are still effective against Omicron, with those that are boosted less likely to get infected as well as getting less sick when affected” and even still, “those who are vaccinated but not boosted still have some immunity, and significantly more than those not vaccinated at all.”
So what can we do to slow the spread of Covid? Mulc says that “all we can really do is continue to do what we know reduces transmission.” Which includes “wear[ing] masks and space as best as we can” yet, “we are still climbing” in cases. Mulc predicts that the peak is “looking to hit us in mid January.” Rebecca says she could definitely “feel safer if I knew people around me were being more cautious” at school. She goes on to say that she tries “to be an optimistic person, but knowing what could be ruined all because some people just don’t care is a bit discouraging.”
The possibility of returning to online school grows every day, with Chicago public school systems returning to remote learning after 73% of the teachers union votes to refuse showing up for in-person lessons. More school systems are likely to follow; whether or not Easton is one of these systems is yet to be revealed. Steves says “at some point it may become necessary, especially seeing how many kids were absent from my classes after coming back to school after break.” She goes on to say that she “had a normally full 20/25 kid class with fewer than ten students there today.” Rebecca is not in favor of returning to school because she feels as though she “learned very little last year over google meets and [she] [doesn’t] want to spend the second half of senior year doing that.” Mr. Mulcahy expresses his favorability for staying in school by saying, “being in school for me is so much more preferable to what we had last year, so hopefully we can ride out this wave and continue to get back to normal.”
As always, wear your mask properly (over the mouth and nose) socially distance yourself as best as possible and if you are having any symptoms at all stay home and get a test! Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2022!