Brrrr it’s starting to get cold outside. That’s right we’ve begun to hit that cold season where the cold breezes will come and go and will at times even make your spine shiver. However, living in Colorado the weather is crazy so sometimes it can be cold, and sometimes it can be warm as can be. You never know what you’re going to get throughout the seasons. With inclement weather changes that are constantly changing how will this affect everyone? How will this affect people with COVID going around too? It’s a mystery but it’s not a hard one to solve. 

When cold weather comes it normally means flu season and cold season. One day you can be sitting in school the next you’ll be out of school sick or walk into school with a small sniffle and cough. Right now, however, the idea of walking into school with a cold sound terrible because all someone will think is that you have COVID. A small cough doesn’t mean that you have COVID though. A small cough and runny nose can easily just be a cold or even allergies so there’s no reason to panic about that. All students should be aware of the symptoms for COVID-19 and should be aware if they have any of these symptoms to stay home. 

That’s not to say that you should panic though as soon as you start to feel a chill or achy. You could have a bug but it doesn’t mean that you have this horrid disease. Changing weather especially cold weather it makes people more prone to getting small colds or a mild cold. With constantly changing weather that goes from cold to warm it makes it even easier for people to have a small cold. Add in the smoke from the fires that have been going on lately and of course, people are going to be coughing, sniffling, and sneezing. 

The one question that a lot of people do have however is how is the cold weather mixed with COVID going to impact the schools? That’s a great question too because nobody really knows but people can easily guess. As of right now, Colorado’s numbers have been on the rise which means that there is a higher chance for schools to shut back down again. Like Denver News 7 said from an update on November 1, 2020 

“Saturday’s three-day average positivity rate in Colorado was 8.77%. The state’s goal is to remain below 5%.” That’s not terrible but it’s not the best either. Truthfully again nobody knows what’s going to happen and nobody knows when schools will be shut down again. 

From a student’s point of view and what we’re hearing almost on a daily, it sounds more and more likely that schools will shut down again it’s just a matter of time. 

Cold weather brings more diseases. It brings the flu (so make sure to get your flu vaccine), it brings a somewhat higher chance of schools being shut down again, and it raises people’s anxiety about how to tell the difference between if they have the flu or COVID. (to read more about the difference between these two diseases check out Darlene Strange’s article Flu Vs. Covid). 

All in all, though everything will be ok and so will you. As long as we stay positive, know the symptoms, and understand what we need to go we will be perfectly ok. It is really easy to tell the difference between allergies and cold from COVID-19. If you have a small cough be sure to wear a mask the same if your sneezing. Not because you may have COVID but mainly because it helps to keep others safe in case you do. Most importantly though stay safe and stay positive because those two put together will help to keep everyone in a better mindset and space.