As doctors learn more about COVID-19, more available treatments are available and the restrictions are becoming less harsh. They have drastically changed since 2020, especially in schools.
“As COVID restrictions have changed, in school we still recommend being out for five days when diagnosed or symptomatic,” said Gibson County Health Department Public Health Nurse Diena Hornby. “People can start returning for work or school after the five days are up or have shown no symptoms for at least 24 hours.”
As for Gibson Southern High School, school nurse Laura Rader feels more at ease regarding the new restrictions for the school.
“I think it has made it a lot easier for everybody to get back to normal,” Rader said. “Everything has been more relaxed and lifted a little bit. We still go by the CDC recommendations instead of having mandates.”
With the new COVID-19 changes at schools, quarantine is less harsh on students than it was in previous years.
“The CDC recommends five days out,” Rader said. “The student or staff would have to be fever-free without fever-reducing medicine for 24 hours before they can return to school.”
As more information is collected about COVID-19 and new medications are being created. Currently, about one or two students or staff members are out with COVID-19 per month. Rader was told by a student who previously had COVID-19 that it was just like a bad cold.
“The more knowledge the better,” Hornby said. “We find more solutions to treat the virus. When we learn more about the virus and the changes it has made, the vacancies will follow that curve. The vaccine this year is different from last year because of the changes that were made in the virus.”
Some of the student body are pleased with the changes following returning to school and others just do not care.
“I think the changes are more chill,” junior Halle Evans said. “I am glad that we don’t have to wear masks to school anymore. If you need five days out, then that’s fine, but I don’t think it is necessary to wear a mask when you come back to school.”
As the holiday seasons are coming and going, the Gibson County Health Department wants to remind everyone that if you are sick or do not feel good, stay home.
“The best thing that you could do to protect yourself and everyone else if you don’t feel good is to simply just stay home,” Hornby said. “If it is a respiratory spread, then you should stay home and respect others, especially the elders who could get easily sick.”
