We got a note from the bigger kid's school about a confirmed case for a student on a bus.

The way the school (or state, if we're going to be complete) is handling these cases is not how I would want them to.

Since the confirmed student is know to have ridden a bus, all of the other students on that bus route are now "close contacts," and need to quarantine. Also, that student's classroom are "close contacts," and they need to quarantine. That's all good and understandable.

Where the other students went into their classrooms, though, should probably be considered a higher alert. We know because one of the kiddo's friends isn't in class any more, so probably on the bus. We've actually "confirmed" this through an on-line parent's group where the parents of the kids on the bus and other classrooms have offered their information and opinions.

I get the privacy bits, and the constraints on the school to keep that information to themselves. "A student on a bus shared by a student in your student's classroom" would be sufficient to warn families to be on the lookout. Instead the message was "a student on a bus" without any additional consideration for whether your student is in that second ring or not.

I also get that every student is really in the third ring.

The way I see it, "patient zero," the confirmed student, was on a bus (in this case, but not all cases), and then in a classroom. That potential bus and classroom are the first rings of exposure, and clear "close contacts." All of those potentially exposed students on the bus, in particular, go to other classrooms, so they are the second ring of exposure. Then, any of those first or second ring contacts, and patient zero, also interact in common spaces, like hallways, bathrooms, gyms, and the library, to some degree. The other users of those spaces are the third ring of exposure (although some are technically second ring as that patient's classroom interactions bring that exposure risk a little closer, right?).

So, because of the parent's group, more than the school announcement, we're keeping an extra diligence on our COVID safety. We've already been up on the "keep your space," "keep your mask on," and "wash your hands and spaces." Everyone washes their hands (begrudgingly and sometimes with much resistance) when we get home from school. We check temperatures each morning, and sometimes at night. We're mindful of extra coughing or runny noses or sore throats. It's a weird humidity time of year, so much congestion or dry throat because of that also happens, so it can get hard to tell, but we're watching.

The biggest thing about this is that we're seeing how paranoid this can be and seem. Our thoughts and best mojo go out to the student and family, and the close contacts, that this doesn't go bad or spread. We recognize we're not really doing anything we weren't doing before, but it's a little bit of a bother that this is being treated than if that student on the bus had been confirmed with one of any of the "normal" communicable diseases the school dealt with. In the old days, head lice or flu or other things would have resulted in an alert to the whole school. Yes, in those days also the students would be blending more in gym and at lunch and throughout the buildings as they move to those other locations. That, mostly, has changed, so now there should be some isolation between the classes.

It'll be nice when all of this is over.

Everyone's healthy.