Superintendent Weekly Press Release March 12, 2021
Dear Cedar Bluffs Families,
COVID RISK LEVEL: ORANGE
Cedar Bluffs remains in the Orange Risk Dial at 2.14 unchanged from last week. Saunders and Dodge counties remained the same at 2.14, while Washington County rose from 2.29 to 2.43. The new variant has been discovered in the Omaha area and with Washington county in direct proximity the rise, although unconfirmed but might be related.
As you may have seen, the CDC has issued new guidance for those who have been fully vaccinated. If you have been fully vaccinated, you may gather with other fully vaccinated individuals outside your family and not wear masks. Furthermore, I know that other countries are beginning to open for tourism and if you can show proof of vaccination, you are allowed entry. Israel was the first to launch a vaccine immunity passport program called “green booklet” where if you have been fully vaccinated you may begin attending bars, restaurants and other establishments at full capacity and without restrictions. I do not believe any State in America would implement this, but some companies may implement similar ideas. It is not that long ago when masks were required in some stores and not in others. Those private companies have the right to not allow entry with no mask, it may not be too far-fetched to not allow entry without a vaccine card. One of my friends who is planning a vacation to Mexico this summer was told that her family will either have to be tested before being allowed into the country or provide proof of vaccination. This article talks about the different software apps that have been developed to help with travel. https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2020/12/08/vaccine-passport-immunity-app-covid/
According to this article vaccine passports are already in use in some areas. “Since December, passengers have been using CommonPass for testing verification on select flights out of New York, Boston, London, and Hong Kong with United, JetBlue, Lufthansa, Swiss International and Virgin Atlantic. Those options are in addition to previous trial routes for United and Cathay Pacific Flights to London, New York, Hong Kong, and Singapore. IATA’s Health Pass, meanwhile, recently garnered trial use on several international air carriers, including Emirates, Copa, Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines.”
In other news, published on March 3, 2021 in the scientific journal Blood Advances, this study indicates that the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV2, appears to have a blood type preference. In particular, COVID-19 seems to gravitate towards blood group A in respiratory cells. The same can’t be said for red blood cells in the same group. The study also shows that there’s no preference towards respiratory or red blood cells in type B and O blood groups.
It’s worth pointing out that the study does not show that people with blood types B and O are immune to the virus, but it does suggest that blood type A individuals are more likely to get infected. Scientists have stressed that the study does not offer a clear indication on how COVID-19 impacts people of different blood types, but it is a step forward for coronavirus research. This could explain how some have very mild reaction to the virus while others struggle.
TOTAL POSITIVE: 46-Students, 61-Parent(s)/Family Members, 31-Staff
THIS WEEK POSITIVE: 0-Students, 0-Parent(s)/Family Members, 0-Staff CURRENT QUARANTINE: 0
Updates from last week: None to Report
For this week we have zero positive cases to report for the third week in a row. We did have two students who were symptomatic and were tested. One of the two tested this week received their negative results, while the other is still waiting for results. #WildcatPride