COVID cases spike sharply in CT schools, data shows
COVID-19 cases among students and school staff have sharply increased over the past week, according to state data.
Statewide, 3,018 students had positive COVID tests as of Wednesday, up from 2,261 a week earlier, a 33 percent increase, according to figures released Thursday by the state.
Staff in schools also saw more COVID cases, 1,013 on Wednesday, up from 803 a week earlier, an increase of 210 cases, or 26 percent week-over-week, figures show.
In Enfield, officials closed an elementary school Thursday and Friday after more than half of staff members tested positive for COVID-19.
“Although we have tried to cover the building with staff members from other schools, we have reached a point where we simply cannot provide adequate adult supervision to safely open for in-person learning,”
Superintendent Christopher Drezek told parents in a Tuesday email.
Drezek questioned whether the school could reopen next week, saying it will depend how many staff members are cleared to return by Monday.
Across the state, COVID cases are rising, though new hospitalizations have leveled off. The state said Thursday that there were 233 patients in Connecticut hospitals fighting a COVID infection, the same as there were seven days earlier.
COVID cases have increased by 6,420 new cases
were discovered out of 62,002 reported tests over the past seven days for a positivity rate of 10.35 percent.
An additional 18 people died from a COVID infection over the past week for a total of 10,858 since the start of the pandemic.
Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani said during a Wednesday interview with Hearst Connecticut Media that the state's high vaccination rate is responsible for hospitalizations remaining low despite a rise in cases.
“Most of the people who want to be vaccinated in the state of Connecticut have been vaccinated, which is quite a high number,” she said.
According to state data, 3,040,333 Connecticut residents have received at least one vaccine dose, 2,731,563 are considered fully vaccinated.
Though she said 85.2 percent of residents are fully vaccinated, Juthani noted that children 5 and under “are not even eligible yet.”
“If you consider where we are, particularly by age
groups, with our oldest age groups, it's greater than 95 percent,” she said.
Booster rates, however, remain lower. As of Thursday, 1,515,679 people have received a third dose, according to state data. The latest figures show 159,280 residents have received a fourth dose, which is limited to people age 50 and over, and patients with certain comorbidities.
“People know what we need to do. People have the tools,” Juthani said. “The state's job is to remind you of the tools, to make certain tools available.”