At least 90,000 students have had to quarantine because of COVID-19 so far this school year

Just weeks into the new school year, at least 90,000 children in 19 states have had to or are currently quarantining or isolating after contracting COVID-19 or coming into contact with someone who tested positive for the disease.

The disruptions have caused uncertainty for parents, students and school districts that had hoped to resume in-person instruction after a year marked by lockdowns and virtual learning.

The staggering number of K-12 students under quarantine is largely driven by the highly infectious delta variant that has taken hold as the dominant strain in the U.S.

When factoring in reports that included both students and staff as a single statistic, the number of people quarantining or in isolation rose to at least 154,000, according to an analysis of news reports and school data.

Isolation, in some districts, refers to individuals who test positive for COVID-19, while quarantine involves people who come into contact with the virus. Both circumstances, however, force students and faculty members to spend time outside of the classroom.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), more than 180,000 children tested positive for COVID-19 between Aug. 12 and Aug. 19, which accounts for nearly 4 percent of the more than 4.5 million child coronavirus infections reported since the beginning of the pandemic.

Children accounted for more than 1 in 5 new COVID-19 cases last week, according to the AAP.