For many in the St. Louis U. High community, the first weeks of the school year have been a much-awaited return to normalcy with the celebration of the Back to School Mixer, Running of the Bills, and Mass of the Holy Spirit. For some, however, these crowded events have proved the lasting effects of the pandemic.

In the ten days following the first week of school, there were 57 confirmed positive Covid cases among students and faculty at SLUH. Additionally, the school had an average of 63 daily absences across seven school days, reaching a high of 85 absent students on Wednesday, Aug. 24.

“I would say that (BTSM) certainly could have been a factor, but I don’t know if we can make that connection 100 percent. As we all know, correlation doesn’t equal causation,” said Assistant Principal for Student Life Brock Kesterson. “There are probably other things as well that may have had an influence on it. We’re back to school in general, back together in bigger crowds.”

As students return to crowded hallways, daily classes, and extracurricular activities and events, contact between students is increased, allowing for the possibility of transmission.

“Nationally and internationally, we’ve seen an uptick in cases,” said SLUH nurse Scott Gilbert. “Just people being back in school and back in the hallways and larger crowds, a thousand kids in the school—that’s causation, too.”

There are currently six active Covid cases in the SLUH community as more previously-infected students and faculty return to campus after quarantine. The majority of Covid-positive cases experienced mild symptoms, limited to a runny nose, a slight cough, and occasionally light fatigue.

SLUH’s current safety plan allows the administration to ensure the health of the school community in the event of a drastic increase in cases. If cases rise to more than 15 percent of the student population and/or 10 percent of the faculty or staff, the school will return to indoor mask requirements, contact tracing, and a period of virtual classes.

“The usual cautions are in effect, the biggest ones being preventative,” explained Principal Ian Gibbons, SJ. “If you have symptoms, if you have recently been tested positive for Covid, you should stay away. So washing hands, covering your mouth when you cough, all those pieces; we can always be more diligent in reminding people and enforcing those protocols.”

Numbers of Covid cases have begun to decrease in the past few days, so the SLUH community remains hopeful that this downward trend will continue.

“Labor Day weekend, you’re talking primarily people outside,” said Gilbert. “Our hope is that the outside environment helps us out.”

Last year, the late fall and winter months were hit hard with a huge increase in Covid cases at SLUH. It is possible that this current spike in infection will allow for a calm, healthy next couple of months.

“It’s important to point out one of the things I’m very proud of,” said Gilbert. “Every time there’s a positive case, I call the families. We talk, we communicate to see how their sons are doing and how they’re feeling, and we set a release date for them to make sure they don’t get back too early.”

Just like in the past, the school relies on students and their families to accurately report cases in order to overcome this challenge.

“I think our community is very responsible,” said Gibbons. “Some other schools are having challenges with families reporting cases. Our families are being very conscientious and vigilant, and we feel our numbers are very accurate, and that goes a long way to helping us to understand what’s happening behind the curtain, so to speak.”

In this spirit of community and care, the administration is keeping the safety of the school community as a priority, especially in regard to scheduled events in the future.

“I think it's just a matter of being cautious in how we approach those kinds of events,” said Kesterson of things like the BTSM. “I don't think we are going to cancel any sort of events either, at least at this point. But I think it's just the process to make sure that the evidence is on us to keep this place safe and and keep you safe and just continue to have the conversations and make informed decisions about what we want to do going forward. It's not over, it’s still lingering, and we can't ignore it.”

Even through the difficulties of navigating Covid-19 in its endemic stages, SLUH is on track to continue with each of its plans for the coming months.

“We shouldn’t change a thing,” said Gilbert. “I don’t think it’s necessary to change a thing at all as far as canceling gatherings, or masking at gatherings, or changing or safety protocol for future events. Look at the Mass of the Holy Spirit—we didn’t do anything different. We all gathered in the Commons and we were really fine. We’ll be fine.”