This just in: As of Tuesday September 20, during a one hour interview, President Joe Biden has officially gone to declare that “The pandemic is over,” after years of uncertainty. Since the start of the school year, students at Lompoc High School have returned to class and with notable changes compared to previous years. The majority have finally decided to give up their masks, seemingly for good, as talk of the infamous COVID-19 has begun to die down. However, this poses one big question; Why? Has this contagion really started to disappear? Well the answer may not be so simple. These days, it’s safe to say news channels have given up much talk surrounding the subject after three tedious and unfortunate years since the discovery of this virus, making coverage on new cases increasingly scarce.

A huge contributor to this could be the recently discovered Monkeypox virus. Being the newest threat and the new trending virus of the year, many have forgotten about the virus that started it all in late 2019. Around the height of the pandemic, there were reportedly around 1.3 million new cases in only a day in the United States. These days it’s safe to say these numbers have gotten much more tolerable, which can be seen in numbers as low as 95,000 in a day. However, that isn’t to say that the casualties in the United States don’t continue to grow day by day. As of September 12, 2022, the state with the highest number of COVID-19 cases was California, followed by Texas and Florida. Ultimately, it’s clear there is a correlation between the time of the year and the size of these numbers. The largest number of cases tend to present themselves towards the final months of the year leading into the first few months, with the holidays compelling many to take flights to visit families and spend time together.

As a part of Santa Barbara County, Lompoc High School has certainly seen worse days. Around the middle of the previous school year, attendance per class was completely unpredictable, as student count per class could vary anywhere from more than half the class gone, to only a few students missing. This wasn’t limited to just students, but teachers as well, who would get sick and would then have to send their students without notice or explanation to the library. Nonetheless, classes at LHS resumed just as any other normal year with students and teachers fully attending in person. This year was no exception. For the second time since the pandemic hit, seniors at LHS will have the honor to graduate the traditional way. 

Last school year’s class of 2022 went into remote learning during their sophomore year and didn’t get to come back until their Junior year. Thankfully, things didn’t turn out as bad as they did for our class of 2021, who unfortunately didn’t even get to receive a formal graduation and had to complete their final year of high school remotely. Even after fully returning to school in 2021, teachers and students were wary of just how long this would last before being told to go back to remote learning. But despite all the hardships, risks, and uncertainties, the school remained open for a full year for the first time since 2018. Who knows? With the holidays just around the corner, and many ceasing their use of masks, this is subject to change, as this is the time of year where statistics see a sudden spike in covid-19 cases. But until then, students will continue to learn face to face with their peers and teachers. 

What do you think? Will we ever see another year of remote learning again? Will COVID-19 make a comeback? Vote in the poll and see what other LHS peers have to say!