During winter break, everyone is going off to different places and traveling. With more and more people traveling throughout this time of year, we will likely see a spike in COVID-19 outbreaks. 

There is a consistent pattern of outbreaks happening throughout the holiday season. One contributing factor may be the season, as people are more prone to getting sick in the winter or not feeling good due to cold weather and the start of flu season. People should be more cautious and aware of what can happen if you travel during this time of year and how it can affect COVID-19 outbreaks throughout our schools. 

We’ve seen schools do better during the fall but once December hits everything changes. This has a lot to do with many people getting the cold, fevers or coughs. But ever since COVID-19 started, it’s become the main suspect for these illnesses that have started during the winter time. During this time you can be more vulnerable to get COVID-19. 

The second factor is that this is when most schools go on winter break. This is when a lot of people are going out of town or traveling to different states or even different countries. With the fact that people are moving around in airports and seeing family from different places, this spread of illnesses is easier to contract and it can become a domino effect — spreading to more and more people, possibly turning into another COVID-19 outbreak.  

This was an issue last year at Park, where during the winter we had so many people out with illnesses or testing positive for COVID-19. A good solution, both now and then, is to not go anywhere, as traveling makes it easier to spread and makes the outbreak worse.

There are some ways to be more cautious if you end up traveling over the holidays. You can test frequently to make sure you’re not COVID-19 positive. Also, make sure to remember the simple things like washing your hands, using hand sanitizer, staying clean and  wearing a mask. These are some of the easiest ways to be a bit safer.