Top BJC HealthCare official detail COVID-19’s summer surge ahead of expected rise in cases as kids head back to school

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - As the back-to-school season kicks off across the Greater St. Louis Region, top health experts warn parents of an expected rise in sicknesses as kids return to class.

This comes as doctors are seeing a summer surge of COVID-19 in the area.

“I think this definitely counts as a summer surge, and we’ve had a summer surge every year since the pandemic started,” said Dr. Hilary Babcock, Chief Quality Officer at BJC HealthCare.

“And with kids going back to school,” Dr. Babcock says, “we can expect an increase in cases among school children as they return to that classroom environment where they’re inside and all together.”

Dr. Babcock provides a few tips for parents who may worry about illnesses, COVID-19 or otherwise when sending their kids back to school:

check with your child to see how they are feeling
if your child is developing cold symptoms, keep them home from school
if unsure of illness (for COVID-19), test using at-home tests or at an urgent care

“Really, no one wants to get sick, and so if you are sick, or your child is sick, it’s best to stay home, so you minimize the risk of spreading it … you have to think about our kids in school and the adults at high risk in our community,” Dr. Babcock says. “We want to make sure we are keeping everyone safe.”

Another way to avoid a trip to the doctor? Teach your child proper respiratory etiquette.

“The most important thing is just ensuring that your child knows how to follow good respiratory etiquette so that they know how to cough or sneeze into their elbow, they know to wash their hands frequently or use hand sanitizer at school,” Dr. Babcock says. “If everyone keeps their kids home when their kids are sick, then that minimizes the risk, as well.”

The advice comes as research shows the COVID-19 FLiRT variants are making rounds, and though still as infectious as previous strains, doctors are seeing milder symptoms.

“We continue to see more mild disease, but that’s likely not because the virus is milder, but because our immunity is so much stronger now,” a report from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds. “After years of vaccinations and infections, most of the population is better able to fight off an infection without as much concern for severe disease.”

The latest guidelines from the CDC detail that COVID-19-positive patients should stay home from work or school until they are fever and symptom-free for 24 hours. In June, the CDC adopted these updated vaccination recommendations.

The most recent data available from the City of St. Louis details the number of COVID-19 cases is on the rise, though community spread is still in the “Low” category.