DALLAS — Many kids just finished up the first day of school, and other are starting school next week. There is a lot of concern from parents about sending their kids back as cases of the Delta variant and COVID continue to rise.
At Cornerstone Baptist Church in South Dallas, it’s all about keeping the kids masked up, and healthy.
“Since COVID hit, I had to stay home, I have a 1-year-old also,” parent Joanca Rivera said.
Rivera is constantly telling her kids how to stay safe.
“When we go out to the store, wear your mask, cover your nose,” she said.
Her kids, like thousands of others across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, will be heading back to school next week.
Jurlis Williams Jr. is the guardian of 5-year-old Malaysia.
“COVID-19, that’s my main concern. You don’t know if everyone has been vaccinated,” Williams said.
At 76 years old, Williams said he’s feeling healthy.
But with the Delta variant on the rise and being even more infectious, he doesn’t know what Malaysia will bring home.
“No one knows what effect it has on people, they said elder people, it hits young people, too,” Williams said.
At the camp, nearly every day, the volunteers and the workers are teaching the children that when they’re in school, they’re going to be sitting three feet apart, they’re going to be wearing a mask, even though it’s not mandatory and they should be constantly washing their hands
Over at Cook Children’s Medical Center, a graph paints the picture for us, where you can clearly see the curves only getting higher.
The number of positive cases is on the rise.
“The group concern is mostly the adults,” said Dr. Marc Mazade, the pediatric infectious disease specialist at Cook Children's.
Health officials say the numbers are as high as they were in November 2020.
“By protecting the kids, we’re protecting the secondary cases occurring in families with grandparents, and other people,” Mazade said.
That’s why Williams got vaccinated. But once school starts for Malaysia, they’re going to stay extra cautious.
“You don’t know what path it will take. It’s dangerous,” Williams said.