COVID-19 remains a moving target. The virus itself is mutating. Health officials’ recommendations are changing. And Southern Nevada’s infection rates are rising. As the Clark County School District prepares to welcome students back on August 9, concerns about safety continue to surface.

We consulted Southern Nevada Health District’s chief medical officer, Dr. Cort Lohff, and the research available to us, to learn more.

What is the current state of COVID-19 in Nevada? Nevada is seeing what Lohff calls a “resurgence” in cases, due to the highly transmissible delta variant. Hundreds of cases are being recorded every day, with Clark County acting as a hotbed for new infections and deaths at an alarming rate.

What percentage of Clark County’s teenage population has been vaccinated? A press time, the Southern Nevada Health District reported that just over 11% of residents 19 years old or younger had been fully vaccinated.

Will students need the COVID-19 vaccine before returning to school? Nevada requires kids to receive certain immunizations for school, but the COVID-19 vaccine is not one of them. The state Board of Health decides which vaccines kids need, but it’s unlikely any mandates around the COVID-19 vaccine will happen until it’s available to every child age group. Pfizer and Moderna are already expanding their vaccine clinical studies to children ages 5-11, according to The New York Times. But Lohff urges parents and caregivers to get vaccinated, even if their kids cannot. “We strongly encourage them to seek out the vaccination if they’re able to,” he says. “That’s ultimately going to be the most effective way of us being able to control this.

“I recognize that folks have some reluctance to get themselves vaccinated and may be reluctant to get their child vaccinated as well. But I would encourage them to seek out accurate, evidence-based information about the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine from their pediatrician, or from others that may have gotten vaccinated,” Lohff continues, “and to be very skeptical about information that they may hear from other people, or what they may see on TV or online.”

How at risk are children outside the current vaccination age range? “Compared to adults,” Lohff says, “children who are infected with this virus are more likely to be asymptomatic or to have mild illness and less likely to develop severe illness or die.” But that doesn’t mean they can’t spread the virus to others, he warns.

So how can we protect the children who can’t be vaccinated yet? “It goes back to the very simple kinds of things that we recommended all along,” Lohff says. “For young kids, teaching them how to properly wash their hands, how to properly cover their cough and sneeze. With a mask, making sure that they really understand how to properly put it on and take it off.”

Lohff urges kids 12 and up who have been vaccinated to continue these behaviors, too. The vaccine is effective, but breakthrough infections still occur.

Will CCSD students be required to wear masks? Initial plans called for masks to be optional for students from pre-K through third grade and for those in grades 6-12 who had been fully vaccinated. But the Clark County School District announced a policy change on July 27, in response to recommendations from the Southern Nevada Health District, American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Students, regardless of vaccination status, are now required to wear face masks indoors, unless medical or developmental conditions prohibit it. Masks must also be worn on district school buses.

Will teachers, administrators and other staffers be required to wear masks or to be vaccinated to return to campus? All CCSD teachers are required to wear masks in keeping with an employee mask mandate from the Clark County Commission and CCSD’s new mask policy. Those who are vaccinated must submit proof of vaccination via CCSD’s online portal. Those who are not vaccinated must undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.

When a student—or teacher—tests positive for COVID-19, what happens to others in their class(es)? Repeated inquiries about this topic were unanswered by CCSD officials at press time, but an email that went out from one area high school stated that, “Any individual in close contact needs to quarantine for 10 days,” and that, “A close contact is someone within 6 feet for a collective 15 minutes.” Given the proximity of seats within local classrooms, students and their parents should brace for the very real possibility of missed days this school year.

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