OPS Implements Wellness Precaution

By: Dylan Mather and Ella Bratcher

There are two types of school lunch customers. There are those who get irritated by touching countless handles and punching in their lunch numbers. These are the kids who set their trays down and immediately run towards the hand sanitizer. There’s also the kinds of people who don’t hold themselves to a good standard of proper hygiene. They couldn’t care less about all of the gross things they touch, many of them storm out of the bathroom mindlessly, forgetting to wash their hands. 

Now that the coronavirus is in Kentucky, precautions are being taken in our own city.  Lunch at Owensboro High School was much different today. The food that is normally free to touch was wrapped in individual packaging. The apples that we usually grab and go with our bare hands were put  in individual plastic bags. 

The decision to prepackage the food items came from Central Office. Karen Bristo, the manager of food services at OHS, says that the order came in an email from Jared Revlett, OHS spokesperson.  Bristo agreed with the precautions saying, “I think the less things you have to touch, the safer it will be for the community.” 

During previous periods of widespread illness, salads have been prepackaged, but today’s changes are more extreme. Some schools in the region have closed for the time being, and many more are making changes for the health of their students. Although packaging the food is convenient for the students, this safety measure is much more work for our beloved lunch ladies.

Bristo says that she and many of the lunch room staff hope that it will not be a permanent change, because they had to manually wrap them up. Although Coronavirus has harmed thousands of people and will harm more, maybe a lesson on sanitation won’t be a horrible lasting impact.