At this time last year, Savannah-Chatham County Public School students remained at home for virtual schooling, while Bryan and Effingham county students went forward with hybrid virtual and in-person instruction. There were no vaccines available for adults or children and COVID-19 numbers were climbing.
This year, things look different, almost celebratory, as everyone, including SCCPSS students, return to the classroom.
Cleaning and distancing protocols are in place, hand sanitizers are stationed at the ready, and vaccines are free and available to help stem the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. SCCPSS maintains a mask mandate for students and teachers. Bryan and Effingham counties have made masks optional.
But one thing remains the same: COVID numbers are spiking once again.
According to a year-over-year comparison of COVID data from Aug. 3 2020 to Aug. 3 2021 tallied daily by the Coastal Health District, each of the three counties' Community Transmission Indexes are up: 25% in Bryan, 3% in Chatham, and 48% in Effingham. Low vaccination rates across the tri-county area and the insidiousness of the delta variant are two factors pushing the uptick.
The next two weeks will be telling as to how the school communities will absorb the impacts of the virus through COVID protocols and a return to as much normalcy as possible. This time will be a lesson to us all for how we will live with this virus.
Amy Paige Condon is a content coach for Savannah Morning News. Her area covers watchdog and investigative reporting, health, environment, growth and development, courts, and equity. You can reach her at acondon@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Despite vaccine availability, Chatham, Bryan and Effingham still seeing COVID cases rising
