For the latest example of why the continued rush in the U.S. to "reopen" is quite clearly a horrifically misguided idea, we turn to the the largest school district in the state of Georgia, where at least 260 employees have either tested positive for COVID-19 or been exposed to the virus.
Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Gwinnett County Public School teachers started pre-planning procedures on Wednesday at 141 different facilities across the county. One day later, an estimated 260 employees "had been excluded from work due to a positive case or contact with a case."
In a statement, Gwinnett County spokesperson Sloan Roach said that the bulk of these cases are due to "community spread." Roach also noted that these numbers are fluid and could change in the coming days. Gwinnett, as has been heavily discussed amid ongoing COVID-19 problems across Georgia, has maintained one of the highest case rates in the state with an estimated 240 deaths as of Aug. 2.
And while county officials insist that precautions are being followed as teachers are asked to attend in-person meetings and training sessions, the AJC report includes a mention of the "hundreds" of anonymous tips they've received from teachers in the area who expressed concern for the alleged lack of health-minded practices being followed thus far.
Georgia, like many areas in the south, has been saddled with added COVID-19 complications in the form of a far-too-large amount of residents who appear to genuinely believe that the virus is part of some sort of conspiracy. To be absolutely clear, it most certainly is not.
