As we all know there is no vaccine for Covid-19. Most vaccine trials are still in phases 1 and 2. And only a few are in phase 3. And that not only means that we may never go back to a normal society until the seniors this year are 50, but it also means that COVID-19 will still be here when early November comes, the flu arrives.

The flu is exactly like COVID-19, however, it’s not as severe, and it doesn’t involve shortness of breath. The symptoms are usually not as crazy as COVID-19, but you will still be sick. When flu season comes, we may have a slight chance of not getting it into our school, forcing us to go back to hybrid or remote learning. Because of the face masks, the germs won’t get into our bodies very easily. When the virus started, it was all cold and miserable and everything shut down. But then as the weather warmed up and turned into summer, society started to come back to life differently.

As Indian summer comes to a close, it means the weather gets colder and society might return the way it was when it hit us in March. Remember, November comes up very quickly and that means we celebrate our 1-year Covidversary. Covidversary is an anniversary that I made up that talks about the 1-year anniversary of Covid-19 being discovered in China before spreading to other countries.  America was not prepared for the virus because China was not honest about the virus in the beginning. 

Morgan School nurse Margaret Zarcone shared her opinion about COVID-19 during the flu season. Here are her responses. 

• We might stay learning in person because everyone has been following the new school rules and safety precautions.
• When flu season hits, we may experience some students and teachers to get symptoms of the flu or COVID-19, like a fever or cough. If they experience any of those symptoms, stay home.
• A COVID-19 vaccine is much needed, and hopefully, it won’t be long before we get one.
• Students learning full time in school is a good idea because it will help those students who can’t concentrate at home and like learning in school.
• The flu shot is the most important thing to get this year because even though we don’t have a COVID-19 vaccine, we will be able to get the flu vaccine. We then know we won’t get the flu virus.
• Both COVID-19 and flu are caused by viruses and have similar symptoms, but both have different effects.
• If everyone follows the distancing and other rules in the community, then the town won’t be affected as it was in March.
• There is no estimate on how many teachers are likely to get the flu or COVID-19 if they follow the rules.
• COVID-19 has already affected the fall sports games like football, soccer, and cheerleading, but they are maintaining a regular amount of training for these games keeping the students in shape
• All in all school nurse Mrs. Zarcone is happy to be here and willing to do her part in The Morgan School to keep everyone safe

While all of us don’t know how much longer it will be until we get a vaccine, we do know that one of the craziest years that the world has to go through is only 2 months away from coming to a close. And in my opinion, we only have 49 more years until we finally get a vaccine and return to normal. 

What do you think might happen in 2021?  And more importantly, will the death total go up to 250,00 or more because of flu and COVID-19 deaths? We do know that Thanksgiving and Christmas will look very different this year for all of us. A lot of Zoom calls, tons of drive-bys, and face masks when driving by to say Merry Christmas or sing Christmas Carols. The New Year’s Eve celebration and ball drop in New York City will look very different this year. There may be a few to no people at all because we don’t want another hot spot on the east coast as we did in March.

Either way, we won’t know what the November weather will bring us this fall when the flu season hits.