Health Officials: Berrien In Good Position To Restart School

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student-safe-2

The Berrien County Health Department is feeling confident about the resumption of school tomorrow. Spokesperson Gillian Conrad tells WSJM News the COVID-19 numbers for the area in recent weeks suggest “we are in a pretty good place.”

“We believe our community transmission levels are relatively low,” Conrad said. “Right now, we are seeing a very steady place with numbers of new cases that are coming in each week. We’ve seen kind of a leveling off of those new cases that are coming in.”

Conrad says the hospitalizations are very low, the percentage of tests that come back positive continues to be about 3%, and deaths have been steady and low. The lag the county had been experiencing on getting test results has also been eased. She says schools in the community can reopen for in-person instruction as long as strict safety protocols are followed.

“With our relatively low levels of community transmission, we feel that Berrien County is poised and in a good position to start this school year in person. Coupled with the fact that schools have really done a good job preparing for health and safety procedures to be in place, we are confident that our kids are going to be able to get back into the classroom and be ready to learn again this year.”

Conrad says all school districts in the county are offering in-person instruction in one form or another, and the health department has worked closely with them to review their safety protocols. She reminds all parents they need to screen their kids for illness each morning before sending them off to classes, and urges everyone to continue wearing masks and washing hands frequently.