What would life be like if COVID-19 happened again in 2025? Well, the United States, is currently experiencing some of the worst worldwide illnesses this country has experienced since COVID-19.

Common illnesses are expected this time of season, but recently as of late January and into early February, school districts across the U.S have been hit hard with common illnesses such as the flu, COVID-19, colds, and even pneumonia.

The Wentzville School District specifically is one of the districts that have been hit hard with illnesses along with other local districts.

According to the Liberty High School attendance office, on Jan. 31 350 students were marked absent. The majority of those were due to the illnesses. Around 50 students left throughout the day on average due to feeling sick.

One of the attendance office staff members, Kim Maronic, revealed how this new outbreak compares to COVID-19.

“This definitely isn’t as bad as COVID-19 but I am still telling subs who come in to sanitize their desk,” Moronic said.

The CDC has put the United States in a “High” zone for illness activity.

The viruses seem to be getting past those who are immunized with their flu immunization. The CDC recommends all people to make sure they are current with their immunizations to insure a less severe case of the flu or influenza.

Students aren’t the only ones who have been getting sick. Over the past few days there have been an average of 28 teachers out sick. This has been a nightmare for the front office. One in particular who struggles with finding teachers subs is attendance secretary Renee Church.

“It’s been a challenge to find coverage for teachers. We had a day with 8 teachers uncovered,” Church said.

While nothing seems to compare to the pandemic that occurred back in 2020, this most recent outbreak has people wondering, could this be a reoccurring event?