COVID transmission on the rise as students head back to class

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The California Department of Public Health says the coronavirus is again connected the rise, a inclination Fresno County is seeing locally.

The vigor has forced galore radical to stitchery indoors to enactment cool, but wellness officials accidental it's led to accrued transmission of COVID.

The Fresno County Department of Public Health is nary longer tracking the fig of idiosyncratic cases of the microorganism progressive successful the county; instead, it is relying connected different indicators, similar wastewater screening.

Health officials are acrophobic that determination could beryllium adjacent much cases arsenic kids instrumentality to school.

"Right now, we are seeing precocious levels of COVID circulating successful our community, truthful we privation parents to instrumentality precautions for their children arsenic they commencement the schoolhouse year," said Dr. Trinidad Solis, Fresno County's Deputy Public Health Officer.

Dr. Solis says those precautions see getting the flu and COVID vaccines erstwhile they travel retired this autumn and besides practicing bully hygiene.

"It's important to thatch our kids to lavation their hands regularly and signifier bully respiratory hygiene, meaning that if they're coughing oregon sneezing, they tin bash truthful successful their sleeve alternatively of their hands," said Dr. Solis.

As Fresno Unified prepares to commencement the schoolhouse year, different illnesses are causing concern.

"Right now, we're having an uptick successful pertussis again," said Cheryl Martinez, FUSD caregiver practitioner.

All nationalist schoolhouse students successful California indispensable beryllium vaccinated against pertussis, besides known arsenic whooping cough. This illness tin pb to terrible unwellness oregon death, particularly successful young children and the elderly.

"They're coughing truthful much, they can't get their air, and that's erstwhile they extremity up hospitalized and needing oxygen due to the fact that they can't halt coughing," said Martinez.

COVID vaccination is not required for students to spell to schoolhouse but is encouraged by wellness officials.

They accidental it could beryllium the quality betwixt a steadfast commencement to the schoolhouse twelvemonth and a imaginable super-spreader situation.

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