'Very difficult situation' for multi-generation households as school year nears
TAMPA, Fla. - The Hillsborough County Emergency Policy Group saw new data Thursday breaking down the COVID-19 infection rate among various age groups.
Dr. John Curran, a pediatrician and the chairman of the county's Health Care Advisory Board, says 10% of positive COVID-19 cases over the past 30 days in Hillsborough County were in people aged five to 19.
"We have clearly got community transmission, we’d like to suspect that it may be coming from young adults in the household or it may be coming from young adults who are the parents of the children in the household,” Dr. Curran said.
It is still unclear how the virus is spread between adults and children, but Dr. Curran's data shows 96% of hospitalizations happen for people aged 25 or older.
This is troubling for school districts across the state as they plan to re-open schools. Families are trying to plan child care and figure out the safest option for multi-generational households.
RELATED: Online or in-class? Hillsborough County school leaders still have a choice to make
9 weeks of online-only learning still option for Hillsborough schools
Hillsborough County Public Schools leaders pushed back the first day of school to August 24, but left open the option of starting the year with 9 weeks of online classes. Meanwhile students, teachers, and parents have to wait for their final decision.
"Grandparents, because of childcare needs will be taking care and e-learning with their grandchildren and their exposure is also increased by that as well because parents who need to work are not going to be able to necessarily stay home and e-learn with their student,” said Melissa Snively, the Hillsborough County School Board Chair.
The Hillsborough County School Board voted Thursday to push back the first day of school to August 24, but members did not make a decision on the kind of education awaiting students.
As of now, there are two online and one in-class option for students, but the school board could still decide to move everything online, at least for the first weeks of the year. The board said it would make the final decision in two weeks.