MHS sees surge in COVID cases to start school year

Advith Natarajan, Staff Writer

Manhattan High East and West campuses recorded 94 total COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks and 119 so far this school year. Since the peak a couple weeks ago, cases have significantly decreased, with the latest active count at 25 cases. 

“It is not a surprise in any environment that when you put people closer together, that you are going to see the potential of increased transfer of any sickness, in addition to COVID, ” Principal Michael Dorst said. “It was nice to see at the end of last week, cases starting to decline [in terms of] per day cases that were reported.”

While cases are soaring, Dorst stated the cases have become far less severe compared to the beginning of the pandemic. 

“I am glad that the level of people’s physical symptoms is not as extreme as it was two years ago,” Dorst said. 

As cases fluctuate throughout the year, Dorst emphasized that staying in school is the priority. 

“We realize that having the ability to be in school, interacting with others, learning from a teacher … is pretty important,” Dorst said. “And we certainly want to avoid a situation where we … would have to return to [early pandemic restrictions].