Updated: This story was updated to reflect additional response from federal officials.
Schools need to prepare for a nationwide surge in cases of the coronavirus that鈥檚 currently wreaking global havoc and could disrupt daily life in some communities, federal officials warned Tuesday.
鈥淵ou should ask your children鈥檚 schools about their plans for school dismissals or school closures,鈥� Nancy Messonnier, a director at the Centers for Disease Control, said during a press briefing on Tuesday. 鈥淎sk about plans for teleschool.鈥�
Messonnier warned at that time that her agency is confident an outbreak will occur in the United States and is now mulling 鈥渆xactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness.鈥� A few hours later, federal officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, sought to downplay the urgency of the earlier warning from CDC officials.
Messonnier also said she鈥檇 already contacted her local superintendent asking about the district鈥檚 plans in the event of an outbreak.
The disease, which originated in China last month, has claimed more than 2,600 lives and affected more than 77,000 people worldwide. Fourteen people in the U.S., plus 40 passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, have confirmed cases of the illness, for which typical symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the CDC. In the last week, people in Italy, South Korea and Iran have died from the virus.
Tuesday鈥檚 warning from the CDC marks an abrupt shift in tone from the agency, which has largely remained circumspect about the threat level for the U.S. The risk assessment on the CDC website still says the 鈥渋mmediate health risk from COVID-19 is considered low鈥� for the average American, though it warns that a global 鈥減andemic鈥� declaration could shift the forecast. The World Health Organization on Monday declined to declare a pandemic but cautioned that it may reverse that decision as more information arrives.
Hospitals have begun stockpiling resources in case the threat worsens, and urging frequent hand-washing and keeping sick children home from school until they鈥檙e fever-free for 24 hours without medication. Several schools have also canceled field trips to China as well as Chinese exchange programs.
Steps Schools Can Take
During past outbreaks like the 鈥渟wine flu鈥� of 2009, the CDC asked AASA, the School Superintendents Association, to assist in spreading the word to school districts, according to Dan Domenech, the association鈥檚 executive director. The association is preparing to answer that request from the CDC as soon as it comes in, Domenech said.
The first step schools should consider, Domenech said, is establishing a process for determining whether students are contracting the virus and a system for reporting updates to health officials.
鈥淚f it鈥檚 serious enough to close schools, we have something today we didn鈥檛 have back then: We have the technology that does allow students to be able to stay home and do work online,鈥� Domenech said.
Earlier this month, the heads of the two national teachers鈥� unions called on the Trump administration to provide more direct guidance to schools on how to respond to the virus鈥� growing threat.
Students in Rensselaer Central Schools in Indiana got an early preview of sorts for the district鈥檚 response to a widespread infection. The week of Jan. 20, an outbreak of flu sent absentee rates in the district鈥檚 middle and high schools soaring above 20 percent. Before health officials could formally request a shutdown, the district closed Thursday and Friday of that week, according to Curtis Craig, superintendent of schools.
The district had previously been deploying e-learning in the event of inclement weather. Craig said the biggest key to success in unexpected e-learning situations is to have adequately prepared students and teachers prior to the emergency.
鈥淚f you can run the kids through some online practice while they鈥檙e here at school, it鈥檚 much much better. If online isn鈥檛 completely different than what they鈥檙e doing in school, that鈥檚 even better,鈥� Craig said. 鈥淚f the kids are used to going to a student management system to go online to submit their assignments, submitting their assignments online, then it鈥檚 not a completely different experience for them.鈥�
It won鈥檛 be possible to pre-empt or even alleviate illness-related anxiety, Craig says. His team saw concerns about the local flu outbreak bubbling up on social media shortly before the decision to close for two days.
鈥淚t very may well have caused our absence rate because people saw that and thought, since the school鈥檚 sending this, it must be bad,鈥� Craig said.
鈥淚n the longer term, we want people to look to the school sites for accuracy and information,鈥� he continued. 鈥淚 guess I would rather have that increase of people being cautious, and for them to know that the school is going to put out accurate information for them, and the parents can decide.鈥�
