Imperial County schools consider virtual learning as COVID-19 cases go up

CALEXICO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - Schools across the Imperial Valley are scrambling to decide whether or not they should close classroom doors again.

This was confirmed in Imperial County on Thursday, following the first case of the Omicron variant in the Imperial Valley.

The San Diego State University (SDSU) campus in Calexico will be returning to online learning for two weeks to hopefully slow the spread. 

The Calexico Unified High School District (CUSD) is now looking into whether or not they should close any of their schools down.

Alejandra Limon is the public information officer for CUSD and she says the district is monitoring the situation. Limon explained how closing schools down is not up to them.

"That is up to the public health department, when we turn in our cases they look at our numbers, they call us and analyze whether or not that is the situation that might occur," she said.

CUSD says it is waiting to find out the number of students and staff who have COVID-19 across the district. Limon says that number will come from the Imperial County Public Health Department (ICPHD). 

With about 10,000 students across the district, CUSD says it does not feel the need to close any of its schools at this time, but that can change if cases continue to go up at schools.