Within the last couple weeks, COVID-19 cases have been on the rise in Minnesota, and BSM is no exception. This has resulted in the classroom sizes getting smaller with more and more kids having to quarantine.

Students tend to be more focused in classrooms compared to Zoom where one can get easily distracted. With Covid cases/exposures at BSM at a low at the beginning of the school year, students were more focused and eager to get back into the classroom after last year, where they were only in the classroom two to three times per week.

Over the past week, Minnesota has seen the worst rate of Covid infections in the nation. This has brought Minnesota hospitals closer to their max capacity, as 95% of the beds in hospitals are filled with a majority of Covid patients and some who are non-Covid related patients. The state reported, as of November 15th, there have been 5,266 new Covid cases, which doesn’t account for the many more people that most likely have it and haven’t gotten tested yet. The reason for these Covid exposures are unknown, but the number of unvaccinated people, lack of masks and vaccines wearing off are the main suspected reasons. Some studies have shown that the Covid-19 vaccine isn’t as effective after six months, which has resulted in people getting booster shots. This should be more effective in fighting Covid and lowers the chances of getting it.

Over the past week at BSM, the amount of Covid exposures/Covid cases have increased drastically. Over this past weekend, the amount of kids wearing masks and having to quarantine has risen since last week, leaving BSM’s current Covid protocols questioned. “The biggest indicator is the other catholic schools and whether to wear masks or not and the numbers they are seeing,” senior high Assistant Principal and Covid coordinator Cami Dahlstrom said.

The number of students has shifted from being in the mid double digits to being in the triple digits after this weekend. Only 54 students were required to be masked last week, and this week, 178 are required to mask. These staggering numbers leave some students wondering if BSM will go back to being fully online or even going back to hybrid, just for a short amount of time. The more cases/exposures that are happening, the more likely this could be one way BSM solves their problems of all these students having to quarantine. “I don’t think we will go hybrid anytime this year, [as] our goal is to get everyone back in the building this year,” Dahlstrom said.