The hope of positive updates concerning the coronavirus is slowly being crushed as new cases roll in. Schools are now thinking of different solutions to combat the growing pandemic. However, these plans might change depending on who the future president of the United States is.

According to Antonia Farzan, a writer for The Washington Post, “The United States reported 116,707 new coronavirus infections on Thursday.” Farzan discusses how people are testing positive by simply going into work in person, going to school in person, and working at the polls for the election.

“No region of the country is being spared from the onslaught: The 20 states reporting record single-day increases on Thursday span New England, the Midwest, the Great Plains and the Pacific Northwest,” Farzan reports. However, the states that have the most dramatic increases in the United States over the past week include Maine, Iowa, Colorado, Minnesota and Nebraska.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals that there has been an “increase of 1,135 new deaths in America, adding on the 234,264 total deaths already reported.” The CDC specifically reports for Maryland that the cases in the last seven days per 100K are 17 cases with a total 151,505 cases.

With cases still rising, Maryland schools are not rushing to open up for the second part of the school year. For instance, Patuxent Valley Middle School has dispersed a survey to students and their parents to fill out. This survey asks the student if they would prefer to continue online learning or go back to in-person learning for the rest of the school year. The survey data is only being collected to help Patuxent Valley Middle School decide what their plan of action is for the rest of this school year.

Colleges are also being cautious. Colleges such as Howard Community College (HCC), are not rushing to reopen. HCC reported on their public health dashboard that the total cumulative number of coronavirus cases on and off-campus for students, faculty, adjunct faculty, administrators, professional/technical, and support continues to fluctuate.

With an irregular but growing number of cases, Michele Bilello from HCC’s EOP team states that, “The college will continue to report cases on and off campus to maintain transparency within our community. The dashboard will keep the college community informed as the pandemic continues on.”

Governor Larry Hogan has also addressed the growing cases in Maryland, but in an alarming way. Pamela Wood and Jeff Barker, writers for The Baltimore Sun, stated that, “With coronavirus cases and hospitalizations jumping in the state and across the nation, Governor Larry Hogan issued a stern warning to Marylanders to not ‘let our guard down,’ but stopped short of enacting new restrictions.”

Wood and Barker report that Hogan states, “Our statewide metrics do not yet warrant taking drastic immediate action.”

Hogan also warns that there may be virus ‘fatigue,’ but “our worst time may be over the next couple of months.”

With the impending dangers and stressful situations that the winter might bring, the prospect of who the future president might be is also extremely stressful and impactful for America’s improvement. Both candidates presented plans for the coronavirus, however, some parts of their plans are harmful or not as helpful as they think.

Joe Biden’s plan to combat the pandemic revolves around the concepts of enforced state mask mandates, the boosting of vaccine testing, detailed plans of vaccine distribution when it is ready and safe, and spending on whatever we need to facilitate a decisive public health response to the pandemic, according to Yasmeen Abutaleb and Laurie McGinley from The Washington Post.

Donald Trump’s plan to combat the pandemic includes two plans David Frum, a writer for The Atlantic, reports. Plan A involves “trading higher human casualties in hopes of a triumph for the central state.”

However, Plan B is “to use the pain as a way to shift odium: Don’t blame me, the guy who failed to prepare for the pandemic. Blame the governors who are now forced to respond to my failure,” Frum reports. It seems that if Trump’s horrific plans backfire, he will make sure that he is not blamed for the aftermath.

These are frightening times, especially with the president of the United States decided but still uncertain. However,  everyone needs to remember that all of the issues in America will not stop as soon as there is a new president. Especially not the pandemic. Everyone will need to follow the plans that the president and the government lays out for them in order for the pandemic to hopefully improve.

As Governor Hogan states, “I mean, it’s simple. It’s not that hard. Just wear the damn masks.”