TEXAS, USA — When coronavirus cases fell, Chapel Hill ISD decided to lift its temporary mask mandate.
“It's going to be about a week now since we've had no masked mandate. Now, that doesn't mean a student or staff member can't wear a mask. That is up to their discretion,” said Belen Casillas with the district.
She said school personnel work directly with NET Health as they track infection trends to determine which COVID protocols are most appropriate.
Chapel Hill ISD has 3,400 students. As of Oct. 22, 13 of them were COVID-19 positive.
Staff member caseloads were also low with six active cases among nearly 600 staff members.
Though this decline is promising, UT surgeon Steven Cox says we’re not out of the woods yet.
“It’s very important that we do not get logged into a false sense of security in the fact that today the numbers are much lower, because we still have a very large portion of the population who remain unvaccinated today," Cox said.
Caseload tracking will be especially crucial for districts as we head into the holiday season- notorious for gatherings and case spikes.
“We're not coming into the holidays without knowing the effect that gathering has on our students and our staff," Casillas added
She also said protocols are fluid and should cases spike again, they’ll react accordingly.
Dr. Mark Anderson with CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital agreed caution is key.
“We’re getting through this surge," said Dr. Anderson. "We’re thankful for it. But we certainly don’t want to see another one.”