Here at DeMatha, like many other schools around the nation, we are currently fighting the ongoing spread of Covid. The school administration has implemented very strict rules to ensure the health and safety of their students and staff. Even though DeMatha is very good at making sure we are staying safe, Covid still makes it difficult.

The first week of school back from break was virtual due to the rapid spread of the new Omicron variant. This was to make sure everyone was safe and healthy before returning back to school. This shows how much trouble Covid can cause, it could make the school go virtual again if conditions continue to worsen.

The likelihood of that happening again is not very high, though. The assistant dean of students, Mr. O’Connor, said that “the Sunday before getting back from break, we tested all of our staff and students and there were 80 positive tests. The next week there were only 40 and the week after that there were less than 20.” This shows that the rates of the Omicron variant are significantly decreasing.

Every Wednesday, DeMatha has all of its staff and students tested to try to keep the people with Covid from spreading it to others in the building. Doing this allows the school to be able to keep going in-person. According to Mr. O’Connor, “There is no specific positive percentage that would cause virtual school, but it depends on how many teachers are out.”

DeMatha’s athletes also have to stay safe when they are playing their sports. In the weight room, the equipment is sanitized after every workout. This helps stop the spread of Covid throughout our sports teams. Hopefully, the efforts the school makes to stop the spread of Covid-19 will pay off and allow students to keep going to school in person. A full year of in-person school and sports is very important to the health of the school and students after being virtual last year.