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Editorial: School is back

A familiar ritual returns for families across Gloucester and Mathews on Monday as boys and girls will wake up early and groggy after a summer of sleeping in for many, rushing like mad to get everything ready in time for the big yellow bus that’s making its way down the street.

School is back. It’s always an exciting time, full of the promise of new beginnings, new friendships, new adventures and challenges. Yet this year is doubly exciting. For the first time since 2019, students will be going back to what we all hope is a “normal” school year.

Covid is still here, but is becoming a more manageable, endemic disease. We still need to take precautions to keep down its spread, but we have learned much from the past two-plus years. Exposures and outbreaks will still need to be monitored, but we are in a stronger place today than we were in March of 2020, with vaccinations, boosters and treatments protecting all of us from severe illness.

Recognizing this changing reality, the CDC...

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