Editorial: Take coronavirus precautions seriously

OPINIONS PLAYING IT SAFE It is more important than ever that high schoolers follow COVID-19 precautions

The staff editorial represents the opinion of the majority of The Highlander editorial board

With over 34,000 COVID-19 cases as of Dec. 9, Fairfax County remains a hotspot in Virginia. But as the number of cases continues to increase, the amount of students following precautions has been on the decline.

Students need to understand the importance of following coronavirus mitigation practices. As we near the tentative return-to-school date, it is especially crucial that all students recognize the severity of the virus and play an active role in preventing its spread.

When the pandemic began, the majority of cases consisted of older people, causing students to believe that younger people are less likely to contract COVID-19. But now, the younger population makes up the majority of cases in Virginia, with 21% of cases coming from 20- to 29-year-olds.

Due to this misconception combined with quarantine fatigue, students began dismissing precautions and started resuming their normal lives. As a result, there have been numerous outbreaks among the McLean student body.

Senior Julia Irons is one of the students who contracted COVID-19. After only seeing a small group of friends for the past two months, her positive test result was a surprise to her.

“You see it happening around you, but you never expect it to happen to you,” Irons said. “When one of my friends first tested positive, reality kind of hit me because I was like, ‘Oh, this can really happen to people I know—and me too.’”

Students should keep Irons’ experience in mind when making choices about who they see. With the increasing prevalence of the virus in McLean, students need to understand the likelihood of them contacting COVID-19 and how their actions impact those around them.

“No matter how the virus will affect you individually, it’s important that everyone is following the guidelines, so that we can slow that, because cases among young people are it down and make sure that those people less likely to result in fatality, they do not who are immunocompromised and people need to take protocols seriously. However, who are a little bit older are able to live their it is everyone’s responsibility to protect the lives,” junior Atticus Gore said. vulnerable members of our community.

Due to the ongoing rise in cases, FCPS Virginia’s current COVID-19 guidelines has been forced to postpone its back-to- include mandatory face coverings in indoor school plan. The current metric is that new public spaces and restrictions on gatherings cases must remain below 200 per 100,000 of more than 25 participants. Students people, but as of Dec. 9, the number of should continue to follow these restrictions new cases in the county reached 471.8 per and self-quarantine if they have a known 100,000. Struggling to meet these thresholds, exposure or experience symptoms like fever, there is doubt among the community cough or lack of taste or smell. about successfully returning to the physical “We need to just get the information out classroom. to make sure that people understand the

“I changed my mind and decided to importance of wearing those masks and the do virtual school for the rest of the year. I importance of that social distancing,” Gore haven’t seen many successful outcomes of said. “Because the numbers will subsequently schools that decided to have their students go down, and it will be safe for us to return come back,” senior Lily Can said. “It’s too to sports and return to school.” much of a risk for my family and friends if As we prepare to transition back to I went back.” school next month, it is extremely important

The high risk associated with returning to that everyone follows these necessary the classroom has not been taken lightly by precautions. Though the spread of COVID FCPS. Group 5 of the return to school plan, cannot directly be controlled, it can be which includes pre-K and kindergarten, was reduced if students follow the recommended originally scheduled to return on Nov. 17, preventative measures. We owe it to our but they are still confined to virtual learning teachers, our community and ourselves. as the county monitors health metrics.

Even data regarding the number of cases among FCPS students and staff can be misleading, as the FCPS COVID-19 Case Dashboard currently only accounts for students and staff who have returned to in-person learning, not the thousands of others who could have potentially contracted the virus. As a result, students are unaware of the extent the coronavirus is spreading.

“I was having a conversation with someone STAYING HOME — McLean parent and U.S. the other day, and they Surgeon General Jerome Adams tweets about didn’t even know that there the importance of not attending parties. In order was a spike in COVID to minimize the impact of COVID-19, students cases,” Gore said. should avoid large gatherings. (Photo obtained via

Some teenagers believe Twitter)