School reopening: Beware COVID-19 variants

Re: “Inslee offers new guidance that lowers bar for schools to reopen,” (TNT, Dec. 18).

The state has just introduced new metrics for determining when schools should reopen. Generally speaking, it will now permit many more community outbreaks to occur while still encouraging schools to reopen.

But should total case numbers of coronavirus constitute the primary consideration for determining school reopenings? What about the presence of COVID-19 variants within the infected population?

Early on in the pandemic the COVID-19 variant D614D was the predominant strain of virus infecting humans. But around the beginning of June, epidemiologists were determining that another variant, D614G, was more infectious and was becoming the dominant source of new cases.

Now we are seeing the evolution of a new variant in Great Britain, a strain that could be more infectious than D614G.

When this variant starts to appear in America, as it almost certainly will, should the presence of the English coronavirus within our local communities also be determinative of school reopenings?

Are numbers on a metrics chart sufficient to establish the real safety of reopening schools?

This story was originally published December 22, 2020 at 8:32 AM with the headline "School reopening: Beware COVID-19 variants."