COVID summer surge not slowing down as school year approaches

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – COVID cases are on the rise but records show hospitalizations for COVID are lower than this time last year.

Many residents realize that it is going to become part of life.

“It’s going to be around forever. You are just going to have to live with it and just be cautious,” says Bill Mello of Holyoke.

Precautions for the virus used to be social distancing, wearing masks, and limiting the time you spend in public areas, but it is looking different now.

With the vaccine and booster, the CDC removed the isolation and quarantine recommendations after a positive test and instead implemented new guidelines.

If you test positive, they now recommend staying home and taking at least 24 hours to make sure your symptoms are overall better and you do not have a fever. If both of these are true, you can return to normal activities.

These CDC guidelines also apply to all respiratory viruses, not just COVID.

Most schools start in just two weeks and the back-to-school time of year is the common time for colds and COVID to spread around. And when large gatherings of children are together in an enclosed area like school, sickness is bound to spread.

Mello runs a driving school and most, if not all of his clients, are high school students learning to drive. He told 22News, “They are pretty well pre-cautioned on what they do and that stuff so, if they don’t feel good, they don’t come in, so they are pretty good about that, the parents are real cautious about that.”

Mello said he appreciates parents watching how their children are feeling and making sure they don’t spread any infections.

To prepare for a new potential back-to-school surge, it is recommended you keep some test kits at home so that when you are not feeling well, you can test right away.

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