No, There Are No New COVID-19 Lockdowns Round The Nook

Ah, again to high school season. From faculty provide buying to recalibrating each our youngsters’ and our schedules, the method of returning to high school is never easy — even when mother and father are relieved, lastly, to now not cope with summer season childcare issues. However many mother and father are involved in regards to the rise in fall diseases — a constant actuality, with or with out COVID-19 considerations. And claims made by alt-right radio present host Alex Jones that massive COVID-19 lockdowns are on the way in which amidst an increase in circumstances spiraling aren’t serving to parental nervousness.

Any guardian who has heard these claims might get nervous. There’s no marvel why! Three years in the past, when COVID-19 first hit the U.S., and lockdowns adopted to assist management the unfold of an infection, it was a really difficult time for fogeys, and that’s placing it frivolously.

Mother and father needed to juggle youngsters thrown into distant education, with many juggling a couple of youngster. All of the whereas, they’d to determine find out how to maintain their jobs — whether or not they may shift to distant work or in the event that they labored on the entrance line, like at grocery shops or in healthcare. Add within the stress of zero childcare, and it was a nightmare many are nonetheless attempting to crawl out of.

However haven’t any concern: The claims should not true.

Based on reporting from the Associated Press, fears about widespread faculty lockdowns originated from an August 18 episode of The Alex Jones Present, “Federal Officers Blow the Whistle on Biden’s Plan for New COVID Lockdowns.” Within the episode, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones claimed that nameless sources within the authorities informed him to count on a sequence of lockdown-related measures to be taken over this fall and into December.

On the present, Jones claimed that nameless authorities sources at Customs and Border Safety (CBP) and the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) informed him that “COVID protocols” can be returning, and that TSA workers can be required to put on masks, as would, finally, vacationers on planes, amongst different journey restrictions. Jones’ claims rapidly unfold throughout social media.

However there may be zero validity to Jones’ claims. Based on FactCheck.org, the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) — the company that will be answerable for enacting masks mandates in journey — and the TSA each debunked what Jones mentioned a couple of potential “lockdown.” The TSA mentioned they had been unaware of any risk that TSA workers can be required to put on masks once more, and the CDC known as the rumors of lockdowns “totally false.” CBP additionally informed FactCheck that rumors that the group “has plans to independently reintroduce COVID-19 protocols are false.”

Moreover, the “Biden plan,” as Jones referred to it, doesn’t actually exist. As one professional who spoke to FactCheck.org put it: “The restrictions that had been put into place on companies, on going to the movie show, on going to the retail mall … all of these had been executed by states and native governments, not the federal authorities,” mentioned Wendy E. Parmet, a public well being regulation professional at Northeastern College.

What is true, although, is that COVID cases and hospital admissions associated to the virus are rising nationally. And with youngsters returning to high school, we’re prone to see a confluence of diseases — between COVID, influenza, and RSV — which is able to undoubtedly affect households who must juggle childcare, faculty, and work with sick days.

Based on ABC 7 News, two districts in Kentucky have already closed their doorways attributable to “widespread sickness” in keeping with influenza and COVID. Moreover, a college in Texas has quickly halted extracurricular actions attributable to rising circumstances in its group.

Nevertheless, these are just some faculties out of 1000’s and 1000’s, and people momentary closed doorways definitely don’t quantity to nationwide shutdowns. Sure, there’s at all times the likelihood that some particular person faculties or districts nationwide must quickly pause in-person courses or extracurricular actions attributable to rampant sickness, however there is no such thing as a validity or concern to the rumors that widespread lockdowns are coming.

And when you’re nervous about your child getting sick in the course of the back-to-school season, and if you wish to assist maintain your loved ones secure amid rising COVID-19, flu, and RSV circumstances whereas protecting the unfold in your group down, following the same protocols we’ve been inspired to do for the previous three years nonetheless works.

Make sure that you and the household are updated on vaccinations, get the COVID booster when the brand new one is out there later this fall, encourage your youngsters to scrub their palms often or use hand sanitizer, and think about masking if circumstances and hospitalization numbers are excessive regionally or if anybody in your family is at excessive threat of extreme problems from COVID.