Merced Union High School District to halt in-person classes amid COVID-19 surge statewide
As novel coronavirus transmission continues to surge locally and statewide, Merced Union High School District on Monday announced that it will return to distance learning this Wednesday.
While the district is not being forced to close, a statement by MUHSD Superintendent Alan Peterson said the decision was made after consulting the Merced County Department of Public Health.
“Our schools are simply not able to operate normally under the current circumstances,” the announcement said, referencing Merced County’s purple tier status.
School doors are anticipated to reopen again for hybrid learning — meaning a combination of in-person classes and remote classes — on Jan. 19 for the first day of the second semester.
Five of the county’s 47 known active COVID-19 outbreaks are at MUHSD schools, according to the most recent update on Friday. They include: Merced Union High, Merced Adult School, El Capitan High, Buhach Colony High and Golden Valley High.
More than three laboratory confirmed cases linked to a location within two weeks constitutes an outbreak. Outbreaks are closed when no additional cases are traced back to a location for two weeks.
“People have done an awesome job of following our protocols and maintaining safety, but they do have lives outside. They either have close contacts or have tested positive,” said MUHSD Deputy Superintendent Ralph Calderon.
“There were many staff that were affected, and certainly there were many students who returned to distance learning.”
When MUHSD first re-opened its doors, about 4,000 (40%) students returned for hybrid learning district-wide. That number has since dropped to about 2,000, Calderon said.
By the time the second semester begins in January, the hope is that holiday gatherings and associated case surges will have calmed down, Calderon says. Plus, the news of COVID-19 vaccines reaching California indicates positively for the future.
“I’m very optimistic . . . watching the news tonight, we’re seeing the vaccine coming out,” Calderon said. “I hope that signals the beginning of normalcy for our kids.”
No Merced County Public Health COVID-19 update
No COVID-19 update was available from County Public Health on Monday due to a case surge and changes to how the state health department processes data, a message on County Public Health’s Facebook page said.
As of the last update on Friday, Merced County tallied 14,483 total cases. Infections considered currently active accounted for 2,663 of those cases. Fatalities numbered 207.
The most recent California Department of Public Health data showed that six of Merced County’s 24 intensive care unit beds were available as of Sunday — one less than the prior day. A total of 41 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized for the virus within the county and eight were in the ICU on Sunday.
A state update on Monday concerning regional ICU availability, however, showed that 0% of ICU beds were free in the San Joaquin Valley.
ICU beds in the the 12-county Valley have consistently been scarce compared to the state’s other four regions. Southern California has 2.7% availability as of Monday and the Greater Sacramento area 14.8%.
Northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area are the only regions with ICU capacity high enough to avoid triggering the stay-at-home orders that other regions are subject to. The orders aim to prevent a region’s hospitals from becoming overrun with COVID-19 patients.
Counties within the three affected regions, including Merced County, must shutter bars, wineries, in-person dining and other economic sectors for at least three weeks. The orders will remain in place until a region’s hospital capacity recovers.
Statewide, 6.5% of ICU beds were free as of Monday.
