Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash
(KNSI) – The Sartell St. Stepehen School District says its students in grades 6-12 will be going back to class full time. A letter sent to parents says sixth through 12th graders go to full-time in-person learning starting February 8th. Students in pre-K through grade five returned on January 11th, and school officials say the in-person learning model for them will remain in place.
That means all students in grades pre-K through senior high school will be in the classroom full time.
School officials say the decision to return everyone to the classroom was made following guidelines set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and with consultation from local medical providers, Stearns County Public Health, and the Minnesota Department of Health. Earlier this week, the CDC says new research and data shows transmission in school is rare and that within the Sartell St. Stephen School District, they have had “a low to non-existent transmission
Dr. Morris; Planning to Use Many Locations for Vaccine [PODCAST]
CentraCare Spokesman Dr. George Morris joined me on WJON this week. He says CentraCare is working with the state and Stearns County Public Health in planning for many vaccination locations for the Covid-19 vaccine when their supplies increase. He says they d like to use large indoor facilities in numerous Central Minnesota communities with the intention of reducing long lines and to make this orderly and effective. Morris is optimistic that the vaccine will be available to everyone that wants one at some point this spring.
Morris says if the Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines become approved that will likely increase the amount of vaccine available. He also says those two are one-dose vaccines that don t require the extreme cold temperatures that the Pfizer vaccine requires.
SCSU Moving Toward More In-Person Learning [PODCAST]
St. Cloud State University President Dr. Robbyn Wacker joined me on WJON today. She is happy with how the University staff and students have adjusted during the Covid-19 pandemic. She says they only have 10 students and 4 staff members who are positive Covid-19. St. Cloud State has been working with CentraCare and Stearns County Public Health offering whatever they can to aid in the efforts of storing or distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine when it becomes more widely available. Wacker says SCSU is lending a freezer to CentraCare. This freezer has capabilities of temperatures dropping to least 80 degrees below zero which is required to store the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. Listen to our conversation below.
CentraCare Spokesman Dr. George Morris joined me on WJON this Week for an update on Covid-19 cases at St. Cloud Hospital and within CentraCare. He says St. Cloud Hospital continues to be beyond full but have less pressure from hospitalized Covid-19 patients this week as opposed to last week. He says they are at a level that they can handle.