Some school districts in the D.C. area are seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases, including in Fairfax County, Virginia, and Frederick County, Maryland. News4 spoke with families about how they’re responding.
Frederick County mother Kelly Huggins said her daughter recently got sick on a school band trip to Disney.
“I was angry, honestly. Like angry at the universe. Why did my kid get it?” she said.
Huggins said their family knew the risks of going on the trip and were cautious about wearing masks. They wish others had been too.
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“I was furious that nobody’s taking this seriously. They’re not wearing masks in school,” she said.
She said her daughter is doing better. Their family isn’t the only one that’s had to deal with the spread of the virus.
Over the past month, cases have spiked throughout Maryland’s Frederick County Public Schools, with this week on track to have over 800 cases if things continue at the current pace. For context, that’s still much lower than the peak of 1,800 cases seen in January.
In Fairfax County, public schools also have seen a spike. The district saw on Monday its highest number of cases in a single day since the school year began.
In Prince William County, 7-year-old Jett got COVID two weeks ago. It spread to the rest of his family, including his mom.
“I didn’t know if it was gonna be long-term. We had some residual effects like chest congestion. Everyone was coughing, puking,” Ciara Fisher said.
She said most of her son’s classmates don’t wear masks, which concerns her.
“If the cases keep going like they’re going, especially in the elementary schools where kids aren’t being cautious and they don’t wash their hands and they’re kind of gross then, yeah, I wish they would,” Fisher said.
The Prince William County Public Schools’ website says they do not have any COVID outbreaks in progress.
Other families told News4 they do not want masks to be brought back in schools and they aren’t overly concerned about COVID.
“I think it’s to be expected. I think a virus is gonna virus,” Fairfax County parent Saundra Davis said. “The good part is that most people who want to be are vaccinated, boosted.”
Loudoun County Public Schools said their case counts have remained low.
In Montgomery County, the public school district says they are seeing more cases and that students in classrooms with three or more positive cases may be asked to wear a mask.
