VOA教育报道2022--新冠病毒确诊上升的问题

More Questions for Schools as COVID-19 Cases Rise

As schools open after the holiday vacation, school officials must again decide whether to keep students away.

The Omicron version of the coronavirus is spreading quickly. Cases in the United States have doubled in a short period.

In December, President Joe Biden announced renewed efforts to get more Americans vaccinated¹ and to get booster shots. In addition, he announced expanded COVID-19 testing partly paid for by the government. However, he also urged schools to remain open. Biden said more vaccines³ are available to children and there is federal support for schools.

"Last year, we thought the only way to keep children safe was to close their schools," Biden said. "Today we know more and we have the tools to keep schools open."

But schools are still closing. Burbio is a company that tracks school closures in the U.S. As of Monday afternoon, it found 2,753 schools that have closed or changed to in-person classes this week. When the Delta⁴ variant⁵ was spreading in late August, 792 schools closed to in-person classes.

Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer booster shot for children as young as 12. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said 13.5 million 12 to 17-year-olds have received two Pfizer shots. That is just over half of children in that age group.

Hospitalizations among children, who have been vaccinated at lower rates, are also rising. But early research suggests that Omicron is a less severe version of the disease. A third shot of vaccine², the booster shot, also appears to be effective at fighting off the new version of the coronavirus.

In late December, the CDC changed its guidelines about quarantining if someone is infected with the Omicron variant. Now, those infected with Omicron are requested to stay isolated⁶ for five days, instead of 10 as suggested earlier. Shorter isolation⁷ time may make it easier for schools to stay open. Students infected with Omicron would miss just five days of class.

The CDC and Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona support "test-to-stay" policies for schools. Such a policy calls for students to remain in school after they come in contact with a student with the virus if tests show they are not infected. Some schools have required students to quarantine for several days before returning to class.

"This is welcome news to principals, who are dealing⁸ with lengthy⁹ and disruptive quarantines," said the National Association of Elementary School Principals in a statement about the CDC guidelines. "Even as the pandemic continues to pose new challenges, we must remain laser-focused on ensuring students are attending in-person schooling¹⁰ when it is safe to do so."

But some school districts were not prepared for the increase in coronavirus cases.

Detroit schools in Michigan are closed this week through Wednesday to test all school workers for the virus. But students will not be attending online classes because some students do not have computers, district superintendent¹¹ Nikolai Vitti said in a written statement.

Closing schools will give them a chance "to have as much of a COVID free working environment as possible while possibly preparing students for a laptop distribution process" during the end of the week.

Chicago is the country's third-largest school district. Officials there announced the purchase of 100,000 laptop computers over the holidays in case they are needed for learning at home in January. District leaders said they hope to avoid closing all schools in the area. The Chicago Teachers Union supports temporarily halting in-person learning. It also supports new safety measures, like COVID-19 tests showing students are not infected before they can return to school.

In Florida's Miami-Dade County, testing has shown that one in four people have been infected with the coronavirus. The school system announced Thursday that all school workers must wear face coverings at school. Students are strongly encouraged to wear them. A state law prevents school districts from requiring face coverings for students.

Cardona wrote in a message to districts that 99 percent of schools were open in-person in December, compared with 46 percent last January.

"The goal remains¹² to keep all schools open for in-person learning five days a week throughout the 2021-22 school year and beyond," he said.

Words in This Story

Booster shot — n. an extra amount of a substance (called a vaccine) that is injected with a needle into a person or animal to help protect against a particular disease

track — v. to follow and observe, especially in an effort to find evidence

isolation — n. the state of being in a place or situation that is separate from others

quarantine — n. the period of time during which a person or animal that has a disease or that might have a disease is kept away from others to prevent the disease from spreading

principal — n the person in charge of a public school

disruptive — adj. preventing things from carrying on in a normal way

laser-focused — adj. paying very close attention to something

district — n. an area established by a government for official government business

distribute — v. to give or to send to people; to give out

encourage — v. to make someone more likely to do some action

1 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

2 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

3 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

4 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

5 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

6 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

7 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

10 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

11 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。