LA County Students Face Uncertainty in the Midst of Post-Holiday COVID-19 Surge
10 people on average test positive for COVID-19 every minute in Los Angeles County. Even more alarming, somebody dies as a result of the virus every six minutes, according to public health reports.
The startling rise in cases, high mortality rates, and unfavorable statistics all point to L.A. County being the next largest hotspot for the novel coronavirus in the United States. Frontline workers and essential employees are feeling the pressure in Los Angeles, but students’ lives have been drastically changed as well.
A high school student of the Los Angeles School District who wishes to remain anonymous has experienced the severity of the pandemic firsthand.
“My parents and older brother contracted COVID-19 in the beginning of January, and although they’ve recovered completely now, it was tough to juggle school with caring for my family,” she recalled.
“Listening to Zoom lectures while preparing meals and medicine for my family slowly became the norm, and I truly never could’ve imagined experiencing my junior year like this. Sporting a mask around the house, disinfecting every surface, and taking notes in my AP English class while listening to my family cough from the isolation of their bedrooms was heartbreaking.”
Her story is one of many experienced by students in the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis. The steady rise in cases in L.A. County has resulted in alarming statistics, with a staggering 16,107 deaths since Mar. 2020.
The County of Los Angeles Public Health recently announced that over 1,000,000 positive cases had been reported.
“Los Angeles has become the epicenter of the crisis,” Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner stated on his Twitter on Dec. 21, 2020, alongside an infographic disclosing LA as the city with the highest positive test rate and most daily new cases nationwide.
However, students who have remained safe in light of the pandemic are still facing limitations and struggles in school.
“The uncertainty of it all has been hard,” said Warren Lin, a senior from Arcadia High School (AHS). “With school being online, it’s easy to feel disconnected from my peers and teachers. Having to experience senior year through a screen has been really disappointing, but I’m glad we’re staying safe.”
Cassandra Kuo, a Senior at Westridge School, mirrored Lin’s sentiments regarding the safety of students in Southern California.
“It’s frustrating to see people ignoring stay-at-home orders and partying without masks,” Kuo explained. “We’re all trying to prevent this from getting any worse than it has, especially as students who really want to go back to school, but it’s just discouraging to see the numbers spiking with people who don’t seem to care about the damage they’re inflicting.”
Non-socially distanced gatherings certainly played a role in the surge of cases immediately following the holiday season, according to Los Angeles County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer.
“The anticipated surge from the winter holiday gatherings has begun. And 10s upon 10s of thousands of people are paying the price with new COVID-19 infections,” said Dr. Ferrer.
The uncertainty surrounding Southern California and COVID-19 continues to affect the day-to-day lives of students in LA County. With Governor Newsom’s recent lift on the statewide curfew and stay-at-home orders, it’ll be difficult to predict the trajectory of the virus and just how much longer it’ll affect our students.
Written and edited by TGP Regional Correspondent, Nathan Kuo.
