Mask for 10 days. Test day 3 and 5. She assured me they are masking. She thinks it was in a class, which makes me feel better that it wasn’t a close friend where they may have not been as careful.
Who are our Mercersburg friends? What is the current spectator policy for indoor sports?
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Mercersburg has not specifically addressed spectators at sports, at least not in the parent emails. But if I had to guess, I would assume they will restrict spectators for at least a couple of weeks.
All students must submit a negative PCR test within 72 hours of return to campus, and they will be tested again upon arrival. Original return date was today, but many people had trouble getting tests over the holiday weekend, and/ or tested positive over the holiday break. So a second arrival date is set for this Sunday, and virtual classes start tomorrow and continue until Monday.
Regarding the flu shot mentioned above, it was required at Mercersburg and the school provided the shots for those who wanted to get them there.
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I am curious to see if sports will go ahead as planned…. The good news is that if South Africa is the model, cases will drop as fast as they went up.
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My kiddo had the flu shot, 3 of her flu vaccinated school friends had it right before break and she came home and brought an unwanted guest, influenza A with her. But since we are so used to masking and quarantine etc. she basically stayed in her room for 5 days and no one else in the house got it. Dr said the shot doesn’t seem to be working well this year.
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Depending on your definition of “reputable,” I’ve seen some reputable estimates of January 9 and 10 for the peak in the US using SA as the model. I was surprised frankly at how specific they were rather than just say “mid January” or whatever.
Anyway, here’s hoping. I will say that it’s gone from a thing where “a friend had it” to “1/2 the people I know (non BS people/families) seem to have it” very quickly!
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Sorry @TonyGrace. Mercersburg is restricting athletic spectators to Mercersburg students and employees only, through at least Jan. 16. I think you’re out of luck for watching the Peddie swim meet in-person… if it even happens. Currently we are not resuming athletics until at least the 11th. I imagine that is subject to change. Check the athletics webpage next week - they might stream the meet.
The flu shot was practically mandated at Kiddo1’s school. They gave each student a time to show up for it, and if they didn’t go, an email was sent to the parents. As you can see upthread, she still got the flu 2 days before winter break. Fortunately, her symptoms, other than a persistent cough, subsided quickly.
I keep waiting for the more dreaded email (or likely phone call) saying Kiddo1 has tested positive. It seems almost inevitable with the amount of cases in the outer community right now. We are keeping our fingers crossed that she stays negative as this wave works its way through. Hopefully your kiddo stays healthy as well!
I also know several fully vaccinated people who have tested positive. My husband and I have be discussing what is the true impact of a positive test in a fully vaccinated (including booster) asymptomatic person. I know that person can still spread the virus but with the positivity rates so high, how worried should a highly vaccinated BS population be? I guess time will tell…
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Thanks. A student’s grandparents live in the area and were trying to find out. I feel like we are back to day to day decision making.
It was good to hear from Kiddo1 that her school, one that has a history of very strict covid prevention protocols, is “learning to live with covid”. They have acknowledged that some school members are likely to test positive, but with a fully vaccinated school community, and omicron symptoms that seem to be more mild, it’s more about reasonably reducing the chance of spread rather than eliminating it. Really hoping these next few weeks are manageable for BSs and that February brings more normality.
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Just asking….are BS faculty exempt from testing? Are their kids exempt from testing? Hypothetically: If a faculty member has COVID and exposes his/her/their family to it, shouldn’t their kids not be in school? Hypothetically speaking: Is it fair that NOW dozens of kids have been identified as close contacts after being at school for ONE DAY, after going through 2 testing channels before stepping foot back on campus. Hypothetically: Is it fair that students who did follow protocol now miss out on sports, must be masked for 10 days, and have other restrictions for activities (including performing arts) because a faculty member et al did not have the same rules that mere mortals had to adhere to?
OMG. That “hypothetical” is maddening and downright awful.
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How worried should they be? Not very based on the science. How worried will they be? That’s unfortunately a separate question.
(Note: at-risk faculty/staff, i.e. 60+, co-morbidities, should of course take extra precaution).
We need to divorce cases from calamity, as Harvard has already done:
The money quote:
“they “expect to have large numbers of cases at Harvard,” but the protection provided by widespread vaccination diminishes risk of serious illness.”
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I can only speak for our school, but the faculty are required to test at every juncture the students are. They were in line at the health center Monday morning dropping off their saliva with everyone else 
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Interesting hypotheticals. My kiddo was dropped off Monday at 10am and the only people who were in the testing line that early were faculty, who were apparently told to report at 10am. I guess, hypothetically, some could have just not gone?
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Us too. Faculty and staff test with the same frequency intervals as students do; they are also required to be vaxxed.
Colleges Need to Catch Up to the Post-vaccine Reality - The Atlantic
I realize this article is about colleges going remote for the beginning of the spring 2022 semester, but I am curious what you are seeing at prep schools in this regard?
Are any prep schools going remote again, cancelling sports, etc.?
NE states have the highest vax/booster rates but still see the largest spikes in the country. Makes me nervous. I don’t think most schools will revert back to remote as long as things are largely under control. Herd immunity is becoming a reality.