January marked the two years since the first COVID-19 case was diagnosed in the United States, and cases are again on the rise. Schools and businesses alike shut down as states across the country placed mandates that restricted people to lockdowns.

Throughout the US students and staff alike returned to schools from the winter holiday break to find Covid numbers again on the rise.

“I started having symptoms on December 31, and the symptoms only lasted for a couple of days,” DHS biology teacher Marisol Rangel Garcia said. “I just had a sore throat and I was really tired for like two days and after that I was fine.”

“When I had Covid it wasn’t that bad,” Sophomore Riley Ramirez said, “I was lucky enough that I only had a fever and not the others symptoms, also it was just the day I test positive that I felt bad.”

While symptoms may be similar, Covid experiences prove to be individual and unique, and dangerous for many. According to the CDC  (Centers for Disease Control) website’s latest weekly data tracker, Texas has 236,647 cases and has suffered 1,302 deaths, but case numbers are slowly diminishing.

And locally, DHS has experienced milder Covid cases.

“When I had got covid one of the symptoms I got was shortness of breath, and I’m in athletics so it was tough when I came back,” sophomore Iris Stricker said. “I still have shortness of breath, but it’s not as bad as when I first got Covid.”

Following CDC and TEA guidelines, Devine ISD changed the isolation protocols for its staff and students. If a student or staff member tests positive and shows symptoms, the day after symptoms start to improve marks the first day of the five-day quarantine period. If a person is asymptomatic but tests positive, the day after the positive test marks day one of the five-day period before returning to school.

As Covid variants add to the rise in positive cases, many are left questioning if this will mean the return to lockdown? Unfortunately, we can only wait and see.

Devine ISD’s released Covid protocol includes a list of symptoms that may indicate COVID-19 infection:

• Temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher when taken by mouth;
• Sore throat;
• Loss of taste or smell
• New uncontrolled cough that causes difficulty breathing (or, for students with a chronic allergic/asthmatic cough, a change in their cough from baseline);
• Diarrhea, vomiting, or abdominal pain; or
• New onset of severe headache, especially with a fever
• Chills
• Congestion or runny nose
• Shaking or exaggerated shivering
• Significant muscle ache or pain