A custodial worker cleans a table in a classroom at an elementary school in Leander. Photo: Sergio Flores/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Austin public school students will head back to school Wednesday, facing the rapidly spreading Omicron variant that has pushed the city back into Stage 4 coronavirus restrictions.
Austin ISD offered these tips as students return to the classroom after winter break:
- Protect your family with a COVID-19 vaccine, which are available for those ages 5 and older. A booster also increases immunity from the Omicron variant to 75%, up from 34%. Most hospitalized COVID patients are unvaccinated.
- Mask up. If you can't find an N95 mask, wearing two well-fitting masks also increases your safety.
- Get a test. Free to any AISD student or staff member, testing hubs can be found at Akins, Eastside, McCallum, Navarro, Northeast and Travis high schools and Cunnigham, Kiker, Norman-Sims and Pillow elementary schools.
Round Rock ISD is also directing students, staff and families to their own testing site — check with your local school district about masking and testing protocols.
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