As the number of positive tests for the coronavirus rises up to 16 in North Carolina, doubling in just one day, it’s clear that COVID19 is only becoming more and more common. Governor Roy Cooper has acknowledged this by discouraging the gatherings of 100 or more people. 

A state of emergency has been declared in North Carolina for already two days, eight Wake County residents have already tested positive, and huge sports seasons have been canceled and/or postponed, so why are Wake County schools still open?

Not only does Green Level High School have well above 100 students, around 800, these students share the same tables to eat on, write on, sneeze on, and touch. Students travel from sports games to sports games, concerts to restaurants, and school to home. This means the virus can spread incredibly fast. 

Even public and private universities like Duke, NC State, and UNC have chosen to suspend classes and/or switch to online courses. If these huge universities can make such decisions, why can’t Wake County Public schools?

It’s not only colleges, but also Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Orange County, and Durham County schools have decided to close, move up spring break, and/or switch to online courses as well. 

In Italy, the number of deaths has already topped 1000. If we don’t want that to happen to the U.S., we must keep the public health safe, and we cannot keep the public health safe if students are still attending school, sitting just a few inches from one another.

Also, myths about kids not getting the virus are false. Kids can contract the virus, and although the cases are often less severe, they can easily pass it on to family members who are older and more at risk of the disease.

This information isn’t to make you nervous or stressed. This information is to keep you safe, so you can be cautious and care for your health and your family’s. If schools do not close soon, closing schools later will not have as much of an impact.

If you agree that the public’s health should be prioritized, please sign this petition that says Wake County schools should close until the coronavirus is handled, tweet at WCPSS on twitter, and/or tag them on instagram. 

Because it’s not called overreacting, it’s called keeping the public health safe.