Marin To Hold School Webinar Amid Omicron Surge

MARIN COUNTY, CA — Marin officials on Thursday will hold virtual meeting to address plans to keep schools open amid an omicron-fueled case surge.

The Public Health Update for the School Community will be held on Zoom from 4 to 5 p.m.

It will feature Marin Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County Superintendent of Schools Mary Jane Burke, and Deputy Health Officer Dr. Lisa M. Santora.

"Parents, families and community members are invited to a Return to School Public Health Update,” Burke said in an email to Patch.

“Our Public Health leaders will be sharing some new guidelines that will be implemented in order to keep or students and staff as healthy as possible, and, so importantly, to keep our schools open.”

Willis on Tuesday unveiled the draft of a 32-point plan that aims to contain the hyper-contagious variant that includes enhanced mask-wearing requirements, more testing, and prohibiting spectators from attending indoor sports events and schools from holding assemblies of 50 or more students (indoor or outdoor).

Omicron has emerged as the region’s dominant variant, accounting for the bulk of a case explosion. The county experienced a single-day record 412 cases Dec. 28, more than double its previous single-day record of 172 in January of last year, Willis said.

And although it appears to be less virulent than previous variants, Willis acknowledged that the raw number of cases that could be seen in the next month remains a concern.

“Omicron is so highly infectious that any one individual in a setting like that may not recognize they’re infected, can infect a large number of others,” Willis said.

“It’s sort of an obvious strategy to reduce the burden of the total number of cases that might emerge from a large gathering if everyone is indoors at the same time when everyone is yelling that goes along with a sporting event.”

Marin’s Office of Education distributed some 96,000 test kits to district students and staff including instructions for how to use them before students left for winter break, and more test kits are on the way.

Marin schools will also update quarantine protocol, with the county aligning with new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that allow those who test positive but are asymptomatic to test of quarantine after five days.

“Throughout the peaks and valleys of the pandemic, the plans and guidelines that have guided our schools so well have been adjusted as needed,” Burke said.

“Guidelines regarding testing, quarantine, large gatherings both in and out school, and other important matters will be presented."

To register for this event, visit here.