School is back in session in northern Arizona, although it looks unlike anything we’ve ever seen before, with most K-12 school systems opting for virtual classes at least for the first quarter of the school year because of coronavirus.
#1 Benchmarks. One of the big statistical indicators for whether a school district is ready to begin in-person sessions has to do with three benchmarks from the Arizona Department of Health Services. They are:
A decline in coronavirus cases or less than 100 cases per 100,000 individuals for two consecutive weeks;
Two consecutive weeks with “percent positivity” below 7%. (This is exactly what it sounds like; that fewer than 7% of the coronavirus tests come back positive. It’s an indicator of transmission rates or that too few people are being tested.)
Two consecutive weeks with hospital visits for COVID-like illnesses in the region below 10%.
