Jennings High School students Meridian Reynolds, Chloe Brookbank and Bailey Ritz celebrate another “masked” school holiday season.
Marlee Jones photo | For the Republic
Corona is one virus that will just not go away. One of the newest variants of interest is the omicron variant.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) a variant of interest is “One with specific genetic markers that have been associated with changes to receptor binding, reduced efficiency of treatment, predicted increase in transmissibility, or disease severity.”
Jennings County Schools registered nurse Janet Myers said, “Although the research is just beginning, it seems that the side effects are less severe on this new variant.
“We’ve continued to see local surges both in the positive and negative directions. I would guess that Jennings County will re-enter the red condition,” Myers said, referring to the state’s highest color code for positive COVID-19 tests.
“No matter what this, or any other variant comes along, all schools have had to make modification these past two years, and every school will continue to work in our students’ best interest, as this will continue to be an issue that won’t just go away.”
The WHO has advised “It is probably safest right now to restrict your own travel to necessary places only if possible. Masks are still highly recommended and could help keep you and others safe.”
Senior Brett Silvey said: “Personally, wearing a mask is getting pretty old. I don’t think we should continue to let COVID control our daily lives.”
Junior Meridian Reynolds said: “I’m over it all, it seems that this virus has defined us as a county and I just want things to go back like they used to be.”
Being educated and updated on all the facts is very important, as this continues to be a very evolving situation.
