Grand Canyon Times

Responding to an inquiry about the status of COVID-19 cases in Arizona and any potential effect on schools, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne stated that public health agencies now consider COVID-19 to be a common respiratory virus and that schools should operate normally.

Horne said, “I have been asked about how schools should address a recent surge in COVID cases in Arizona. My unequivocal answer, based on guidance from national and state public health agencies, is that schools absolutely need to operate normally because the threat of COVID, especially among school-age children is extremely minimal. By contrast, extended closures of schools during the pandemic had a debilitating and long-lasting effect on learning. We see that in lower test scores nationally and the cost to the education of millions of children is incalculable.”

The Centers for Disease Control guidance on respiratory viruses now describes COVID-19 as a “common respiratory viral illness such as RSV or the flu.” Former Arizona Department of Health Services Director Will Humble was quoted in a recent news item as saying COVID-19 is “working its way into becoming a common cold.” The current state Department of Health Services website states that both that agency and the CDC “recognize that students benefit mentally, emotionally, and physically from in-person instruction.”