Students are beginning to head back to the classroom for the fall semester, as new COVID variants emerge.
COVID hospitalizations have been ticking upward the past three months. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says EG.5 or Eris, accounts for more than 20% of cases in the U.S. right now. Another strain called FL 1.5.1, or Fornax, accounts for more than 13% of cases.
In Central New York, Upstate University Hospital and Community General began requiring mandatory face masking.
The CDC says it’s also is tracking a new variant, BA.2.86, with cases rising in the United States, Denmark and Israel.
For the new academic year, more than three years after the first shutdowns, the University at Albany is sticking with current guidelines: vaccinations and boosters are no longer required. But officials say they're keeping an eye on the circulating variants.
Democratic state Assemblymember John McDonald is also a licensed pharmacist who runs Marra's in Cohoes.
"We're starting to see pickup in Paxlovid prescriptions, which is used to treat it. So we've been ordering more and dispensing more," McDonald said. "We're seeing a renewed interest in COVID tests. So people are being careful once the loved ones, which is good as well. Vaccines, we're kind of in a lull right now, the bivalent vaccine is pretty much expired right now. And we're waiting on what the next recommendation is going to be, which should be coming out in the next two to three weeks. More likely, this coming fall, individuals will have the opportunity if they choose to, to now receive the flu vaccine, but also the more updated COVID vaccine, which will be a monovalent vaccine."
Officials at the College of Saint Rose say the school will continue to follow Albany County Health Department guidelines and will provide free testing and masks to students and employees upon request. The college says it has maintained the cleaning protocols it implemented in 2020, and currently has no reported cases of COVID.
Union College in Schenectady no longer requires COVID vaccinations and boosters but recommends that faculty, students and staff keep up to date on vaccinations, including boosters, as recommended.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute recommends everyone stay up to date with vaccines and mask if you are high risk or unvaccinated.
Most city school districts are continuing current protocols following CDC guidance. In the Schenectady County town of Rotterdam, where about 70 migrant children have been enrolled as students, Mohonasen Central School District Superintendent Shannon Shine says the COVID threat to low-risk populations such as students is still serious, but it may not be of the level of concern that people previously had.
“You're now able to avail yourselves, for both for yourself and your children, or yourself as a faculty or staff member or an administrator, of vaccinations. So you're able to do something to protect yourself, especially if you are at a more ‘at risk’. And then we also see that schools have been proven to be one of the best places in terms of COVID and the spread of COVID," Shine said. "And I know it sounds a little counterintuitive, but the data has held that out that, you know, we're really one of the best places to be. But more importantly, the parents are also aware, and again, the control for certain things really belongs in the parents hands, as opposed to a school district making, you know, health decisions for large groups of people. Our business is educating and caring for kids, not necessarily, you know, health care. So we're aware of it, hoping it doesn't spike. Because again, it really does affect attendance if there's a community spike. Although, you know, by and large, most of our children are safe, even if they have contracted COVID. And again, that's a generalization not a universal statement.”
On its website the Albany City School District advises if a student or employee tests positive for COVID, they are required to isolate at home for five days and then wear a well-fitting mask for five days after returning. The district says students and employees experiencing symptoms should stay home until fever-free for 24 hours (without medication) with improving symptoms.
