COVID-19 has divided many people’s thoughts throughout the United States ever since its outbreak in March. Woodbridge High School students and staff are no exception.

To find out how the school thinks on matters relating to COVID-19, thirteen students and three staff members recently completed a Google Form.

(Disclosure: Responses are to the best knowledge of respondents, but may be inaccurate.)

Only a small amount of the group would have returned to school in person with the hybrid schedule at the beginning of the school year.

For those who did want to go in, missing the in-school experience was a key reason why. Through the summer and spring of 2020, isolation was encouraged, if not required, to halt the spread of COVID-19).

Though these measures seemed to reduce the spread, the number of confirmed cases at the beginning of the school year was averaging in the low to mid-hundreds, according to the New Jersey Health Department. 

To a small number of survey takers, they deemed social health to be more beneficial than health, though many did say that they deemed the cases of COVID-19 to be “Safe.”

For the others that wouldn’t have gone into school on that day, the chief reason was that the cases of COVID-19 in New Jersey at the time are what they considered to be “unsafe.”

Also, an important reason is the absence of a COVID-19 vaccine, a wrinkle within the COVID-19 controversy.

COVID-19 vaccines in recent months have been brought forth into the spotlight with the third American surge of COVID-19, the Presidential Election, and multiple vaccines said to be near 100% effective. 

With such divisive topics being involved divisive thoughts spring up. 

In a survey by Nature Medicine, the vast majority of people are confident and pretty confident that they will be taking a COVID-19 vaccine, which differs from the group surveyed.

Less than a third of survey takers will be taking the vaccine with most people unsure if they will or not.

Of those surveyed, the majority think that there should not be a mandatory vaccine rule, mainly due to the personal freedoms of an individual.

When school reopened for students, 3/4 of those surveyed did not go in, though this isn’t the 3/4 that wouldn’t go in the bedding of the school year, as some were forced to go in. 

With cases of COVID-19 above 4,000, only one would go back in now, due to missing the in-school “experience.”

Though, no one would feel safe returning to school with the hybrid schedule.

Half of the people surveyed will safely return with the hybrid schedule when cases are low and a vaccine is out. Finally, 12.5% would feel safe returning to school in person under the hybrid when COVID-19 is fully eradicated.

Mixed opinions, facts, and reports continue to cause the COVID-19 pandemic to become worse by the day. Keep in mind the next time you go out, a personal opinion can turn into someone else’s personal tragedy.