COVID cases hit triple-digits for December in town schools

GREENWICH — In December alone, the Greenwich Public Schools have reported 102 cases of COVID-19.

The latest numbers, updated on Friday by the district, reflect a continued upward trend in the number of coronavirus cases. Week-over-week, there were 29 new cases in the district. And just since Tuesday, there have been 17 new positives reported in the district.

The total number of cases since the start of school now sits at 199, with students and staff leaving for holiday recess as of Wednesday.

As of Friday, there were 32 active cases in the district affecting 13 of the district’s schools. According to the district, of the active cases, 20 were traced back to outside activities or family exposure, 11 were linked to undetermined community exposure and one was the result of in-school transmission.

On Tuesday, Superintendent Toni Jones announced Greenwich Schools would move to all remote learning for the week following holiday break, from Jan. 4 to Jan. 7, with an expected return to in-person learning Jan. 11. The move came after repeated calls from teachers, citing safety concerns, to move remote. Greenwich joined other surrounding districts Stamford, Darien, New Canaan

and Norwalk in adjusting its calendar because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This will assist in keeping our schools safe, healthy and fully staffed,” Jones said.

According to Jones, the move to remote learning will give staff and students a full 14 days after Christmas to quarantine and get tested for the coronavirus as needed. It will also help ease the stress felt by staff members who don’t live in Greenwich and whose children attend school in districts that have already made the call to go remote.

“This adjustment will help our staff feel safer about their return to our buildings, as many of them are concerned about the amount of anticipated travel,” Jones said.

In the letter, Jones linked to the state’s updated travel restrictions and asked that any student or staff member who travels outside of Connecticut, New York, New Jersey or Rhode Island on, or after,

Jan. 1, to provide a negative COVID-19 test before returning to school.

In addition, Jones said the district is sticking to a 14-day mandatory quarantine period, despite the Centers for Disease Control and Protection recently announcing that potential exposure to an infected individual required only a seven- to 10-day quarantine.

“While GPS is making this adjustment, it is important to note that the trend in our community saw a slight spike after Thanksgiving which impacted the number of quarantines and positive cases in our GPS families,” Jones said.

“The concerns about travel are high, and we are asking all of our families and staff to encourage our students to wear a mask if they have play dates, sledding opportunities, or engage in any type of social activity outside of school during the break. Wearing a mask does make a difference.”