While improved air quality offers a longer-term solution that could have benefits beyond reducing the spread of infections in schools, there are still challenges for many schools including cost, time and resources. MacArthur said prior to receiving federal funding, updating their HVAC system was cost-prohibitive.MacArthur said her schools still keep hand sanitizer available in every classroom.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have also greenlit updated COVID shots for anyone 6 months and older. And for the first time ever, people 60 and older can get an RSV vaccine. From Aug. 1, 2021 to July 31, 2022, COVID-19 lead to more deaths among kids and young adults 0-19 years old than any other infectious or respiratory disease compared to 2019, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"One most important thing that is very difficult for us parents to accomplish is to keep your kids at home when they are sick. Because everything starts when somebody comes sick to the workplace or to the school where the virus transmits," Hijano said.