As life continues to slowly creep back into normality, restaurants, businesses, and schools have begun to open. La Jolla High is among the schools that have returned to in-person classes. Students spent their first days back on campus from April 12-April 15, with students with last names A-L going on Mondays and Tuesdays and students with last names M-Z going on Wednesdays and Thursdays. As of April 19, all students who have opted in to in person classes are now on campus Mondays through Thursdays.

As students slowly start reappearing on campus, some wonder if returning to school is the safest thing to do. When asked if he felt COVID-safe on campus, Junior Marc Kuo said, “They give us baby wipes that don’t kill bacteria and some people don’t wear their mask right or are way too close.” Some doctors across the world agree with Marc, such as Dr. Dina Kulik, who is a pediatrician in Toronto and one of Canada’s leading child health experts. When asked if baby wipes kill Covid, she said, “We know what kills COVID-19 is an alcohol solution that is 60% or more alcohol” and that baby “wipes absolutely don’t have that much alcohol” because their intended use is for children and having 60% alcohol, the amount needed to kill Covid, would cause “significant rashes and potentially even burning of the skin.” 

However, other students believe that they are safe from COVID, including Senior Theo Couris. “I feel safe because they have us sit socially distant, wear masks, and we wipe down desks,” Couris said. Couris is referring to the desks being spread out across the classroom to maintain social distance rules, masks being required at all times except when eating or drinking, and the baby wipes given to students at the end of class to wipe down the desks. Multiple organizations agree with Couris, including the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. On their website, the CDC claims, “Though outbreaks do occur in school settings, multiple studies have shown that transmission within school settings is typically lower than – or at least similar to – levels of community transmission, when prevention strategies are in place in school.” They also cite a study that was done in Michigan and Washington, which found that, “when community transmission was low, there was no association between in-person learning and community spread.” Whether or not students are truly safe at campus is still up for debate. To the other students attending La Jolla High, do you feel safe?