With the Omicron variant developing around the world, Richardson and its entities are already preparing for countermeasure against the spread of virus according to a Times News Express article from January 8 which reports, 

“Richardson ISD said on Friday, Jan 7 that it would be implementing a three-week mask requirement for all students starting Monday, Jan 10.

The announcement came as COVID-19 rates skyrocketed over the previous week, including at RISD where they reached pandemic-high levels.

“This decision was made because of an unprecedented rise in positive cases among students and employees,” Interim Superintendent Tabitha Branum said. “We continue to focus on the goal of keeping our schools open for in-person teaching and learning, and this is a necessary step if we hope to keep our students learning in school.”

The district asked parents to monitor their children for symptoms and to keep them home if they’re ill. RISD offers two sites for no-cost COVID-19 testing as well, and recommends that students get vaccinated if able.”

However, it’s not just Richardson’s entities that are preparing for the Omicron as resident companies are also starting to close and conduct sanitizations according to a Fox 4 News article from January 7, 

“Walmart is temporarily closing another neighborhood market in North Texas for sanitizing.

The neighborhood market on Buckingham Road in Richardson closed Friday afternoon and won’t reopen until Sunday morning at 6 a.m.

Even though the CDC has now determined that disinfecting surfaces is not “typically necessary,” Walmart has been temporarily closing stores in counties across the country with high-infection rates.

This is the second Walmart in North Texas to temporarily close, recently. The Uptown Dallas location closed for two days at the end of 2021.” 

Richardson, which houses 37,000 children who are already attending face to face classes, is already starting to change protocols after several cities conducted the same change of protocol.