August 28, 2025 #1 Local News, Information and Event Source for the Century City/Westwood areas.

With the Drop in COVID-19 Cases, How Westwood-Area Can Schools Reopen Safely?

UCLA experts weigh in on back to class questions

From UCLA Health

With Los Angeles County school districts getting the green light from state officials to reopen elementary schools, everyone — parents, teachers, administrators and children — is understandably wondering about safety.

Although the Los Angeles Unified School District’s reopening plan has been approved, the district hasn’t set an opening date yet, and it will continue to offer 100% online schooling for those who want it through the end of the school year. While the county’s 1.5 million K–6 students and their parents wait to see what happens, UCLA Health professionals have insights on how schools can best manage the move to in-class instruction.

Shangxin Yang, an assistant clinical professor of pathology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and father of a fourth-grader, said he’s optimistic about the decline of COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County and what the long-awaited return to school means for local students.

“When you look at the community, all the rates are going down in a very dramatic fashion,” he said. “In the meantime, there’s a lot more solid evidence suggesting that reopening schools with multiple mitigation strategies actually works with very minimal, rare outbreaks in schools.”

paper published in January in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports “little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission” of COVID-19.

Yang and Dr. Anuradha Seshadri, a pediatrician and internist at UCLA Health, shared ideas that can help keep everyone safer.

In the classroom

  • Keeping students in fixed groups with the same classmates and teachers for all on-campus activities prevents infection and supports effective contact tracing, Yang said. Reducing interaction between groups of students decreases the risk of infection, and any that occur would be “limited to that group and much less likely to spread to other groups on campus.”
  • Wearing masks and physical distancing are still essential.
  • Families of students in each group should only interact with other families and households in that group. “You can’t just put this on schools,” Seshadri said. “It’s your responsibility as a family member for that child you are sending to school.”
  • Teachers can help young students comply with safe practices by turning them into a game. For instance, children who wear their mask all day and follow all the protocols can earn stickers for their good behavior, and at the end of the week, and the student with the most stickers wins a prize. “It helps kids at that age to understand that it’s not just about themselves,” Seshadri said. “It’s protecting other people — people and friends that they care about, and their family members, too.”
  • Markings on the floor that denote proper physical distances are a good idea for shared spaces such as hallways and locker bays. Staggering access to lockers — and keeping group members’ lockers 6 feet apart — can prevent students from crowding the area. Kids should also wash their hands before and after touching their lockers, which should be wiped down frequently.

Getting to school

  • Walking or carpooling with members of the same classroom group is the safest option.

Shared spaces

  • Cafeteria access should be limited, and meals should be pre-packaged, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Water fountains are high-touch areas, so parents should consider sending students to school with their own refillable water bottles. “If there is a shared water fountain, it should be cleaned frequently,” Seshadri said.
  • The most likely location for virus transmission is the staff lounge. “People should not share food, and they shouldn’t really be talking while they are eating, to be honest,” Yang said. “Once they take off their mask, they should be just eating and if they want to talk, they should put the mask back on.”

“You can’t just count on one thing, because nothing is perfect,” Yang said. “You really need multiple layers of strategies, including how you limit the group. But on top of that, you still need to have masks. You still need to practice social distancing. You have to do multiple things to minimize the risk.”

This story was adapted from a longer version on UCLA Health’s website.

Related Posts

(Video) The Opening of Mr. Charlie’s with Santa Monica Mayor Lana Negrete

August 28, 2025

August 28, 2025

Vegan burger restaurant with brightly colored decor now open on 26th street across fromthe Brentwood Country Mart. The Opening of...

California Pizza Kitchen Debuts Heart-Shaped Pizza Celebrating Swift–Kelce

August 28, 2025

August 28, 2025

13 Days of Engagement Pizzas, and Return of Hot Honey Flavors California Pizza Kitchen is rolling out a series of...

Culver Hotel Celebrates 101 Years With 101 Anniversary Menu and Live Music

August 28, 2025

August 28, 2025

Guests Can Enjoy a Four-Course Meal, Nightly Performances, Trivia Contest The historic Culver Hotel is celebrating its 101st anniversary this...

Westside Chefs Shine at the Manhattan Beach Food & Wine Festival in September

August 27, 2025

August 27, 2025

South Bay’s Culinary Festival Returns With Two Nights of Food, Wine, and Music Santa Monica, Westchester, Los Angeles, and West...

(Video) Come Tour The Willows Community School!

August 27, 2025

August 27, 2025

Sign up for a tour at The Willows and come see what makes our school such a vibrant, inspiring place...

Jewish Clergy Rally in Los Angeles Urging Ceasefire, Hostage Release, and Food Aid for Gaza

August 27, 2025

August 27, 2025

Two Dozen Rabbis Gathered at Israeli Consulate, Hostage’s Family Appears at Second Rally Jewish clergy from across Los Angeles County...

Metro LA’s Aug. 30 Deadline for Public Comment on Sepulveda Transit Draft EIR Approaches

August 27, 2025

August 27, 2025

Community Members Can Weigh In Before the 90-Day Comment Period Closes. Metro is reminding community members that the 90-day public...

Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Culver City, and Uni High Gear Up for Early-Season Games

August 26, 2025

August 26, 2025

The Centaurs, Eagles, Normans, and Wildcats Face Key Matchups This Week Football season is heating up across our area, with...

I-405 to See Lane Reductions, Ramp Closures as Pavement Rehab Project Continues

August 26, 2025

August 26, 2025

Drivers Should Expect Delays With Overnight Work Aug. 26–28, Sept. 5 Motorists using Interstate 405 through the Sepulveda Pass should...

Kobe Day Tribute: Lakers Welcome UCLA Newborns With Purple-and-Gold Gifts

August 26, 2025

August 26, 2025

Babies Received Adorable Care Packages in Celebration of “Kobe Day.” Families welcoming newborns at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center and...

Suspect Arrested After Eight-Hour SWAT Standoff in Jefferson Park Shooting

August 26, 2025

August 26, 2025

 Police Say a Man Was Killed and a Suspect Barricaded Himself Inside a Home Hours after a fatal shooting near...

Attorney General Rob Bonta Secures Release of $900M in Frozen Education Funds for California

August 25, 2025

August 25, 2025

Trump Administration Agrees to Release Frozen Education Funds  California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Friday that the Trump administration has...

“Rich Rollin” Burglary Crew Linked to 92 Break-Ins Taken Down in LAPD Operation

August 25, 2025

August 25, 2025

Ten Suspects, Including Confirmed Gang Members, Face Charges Nearly 100 residential burglaries across the city have been tied to a...

Oakley Founder Relists Beverly Hills Fortress for $65.995 Million

August 25, 2025

August 25, 2025

James Jannard’s Brutalist Mansion in Trousdale Estates For Sale The brutalist estate built by Oakley founder James Jannard is back...

18-Year-Old Woman Fatally Shot While Trying to Break Up a Fight on a Metro Bus

August 24, 2025

August 24, 2025

Police Say the Teen Was Killed in Westchester After Intervening in a Dispute  Efforts to break up a fight on...