The University of Illinois Springfield Innovation Hub, UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership and the Community Health Roundtable will host a free virtual public webinar titled “Back to School During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Delta Variant, the Policy Response and Our School Nurses on the Front Lines” at Noon Friday, Aug. 20 via Zoom.

The Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus, which is much more contagious than the original COVID-19 alpha variant, has prompted a rapid increase in COVID infections just as the school year is about to start. In this webinar, expert panelists will discuss the characteristics of the COVID-19 delta variant that got us here, the state level policy issues that have resulted and how school nurses are dealing with this on the front lines.

Panelists include Jeff Aranowski, executive director for safe and healthy climate at the Illinois State Board of Education; Jennifer Hughes, a nurse and health services manager for Springfield School District #186; and Dr. Vidya Sundareshan, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and medical advisor to the Sangamon County Department of Public Health. The discussion will be moderated by Molly Lamb, executive director of the UIS Center of State Policy and Leadership.

In order to attend the event, please register online at go.uis.edu/COVIDwebinar. A Zoom link will be emailed to those who register.

For more information, contact Bruce Sommer at 217-899-3186 or bsomm2@uis.edu. Past UIS webinars can be found online at go.uis.edu/Webinars.