*Many schools across the nation are pushing back the start of the 2022 school year amid an alleged surge in coronavirus cases.
We previously reported that teachers in Chicago, the nation’s third-largest school district, voted Tuesday for a temporary return to remote learning amid the omicron surge, and city leaders reacted by canceling classes for most of the district’s 330,000 students.
MadameNoire writes: Morehouse College recently announced that they would be starting the 2022 Spring Semester online, according to the AJC, while Howard University pushed back their return to class date altogether, WTOP reported.
READ MORE: Chicago Teachers Vote for Return to Remote Learning and Mayor Lightfoot is Livid (Watch)
“When our largest school system gets back, I think we are going to see our numbers increasing even more unfortunately as a result of that,” Dr. Stanley Spinner, chief medical officer at Texas Children’s Pediatrics told CNN.
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona wants all students physically in class amid the pandemic.
“Our expectation is for schools to be open full-time for students for in-person learning,” Cardona said on Fox News Sunday. “There’s a level of urgency that we shouldn’t lose around making sure that our children learn in person.”
Meanwhile, the Chicago Teachers Union voted late Tuesday to pause in-person learning and work remotely until Jan. 18, or until the current surge in COVID-19 cases dips below a particular threshold.
The move has angered Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who accuses the teachers of hindering the district’s 330,000 students unnecessarily. She said a shift back to virtual learning would disproportionately affect children of color.
“What we should not be doing is allowing CTU leadership to shut down an entire school system,” Lightfoot said.
“We’re seeing a surge in patients again, unprecedented in this pandemic,” said Dr. James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University Hospital told CNN. “What’s coming for the rest of the country could be very serious. And they need to be prepared.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci said on CNN Sunday that hospitals should brace for surging COVID cases.
“Even if the rate of hospitalization is lower with Omicron than it is with Delta, there’s still the danger that you’re going to have a surging of hospitalizations that might stress the health care system,” said Fauci.
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