Schools near 500 COVID-19 cases since start of classes

GREENWICH — The total number of COVID-19 cases reported in the Greenwich Public Schools since the start of the scholastic year is nearing 500.

In its biweekly Friday update on the coronavirus, the school district reported 11 new cases since Tuesday and 19 new cases in a week, bringing the total since the start of school to 495. Of those cases, 58 have been reported in March.

There are 25 active cases of COVID-19 in the district, with 12 schools currently affected.

Vaccines continue to be administered to educators and the general public and, on Friday, residents age 45 and older became eligible to receive the vaccination. Despite the push to vaccinate increasingly more of the population, the state — as well as Greenwich Public Schools — has seen a small bump in its number of positive cases, while hospitalizations and deaths have mostly remained flat.

Aside from those who opted for all remote learning, students in elementary and middle schools in Greenwich have been receiving in-person classroom instruction five days per week since September.

Until this week, Greenwich High students and staff were working on a hybrid cohort model, in which each cohort attended school in person two days a week and virtually three days per week, with all students virtual on Wednesdays. As of March 17, Superintendent of Schools Toni Jones reinstated Wednesday as an inperson learning day for high schoolers. The two cohorts will alternate in-person learning on Wednesdays each week.

Also, on Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance that three feet of distance between students is sufficient for all elementary students and for most middleand high-school students. The move paves the way for students across the country to return to in-person learning. But in Greenwich, where the district was already using state protocols of 3 to 6 feet distance, the change in guidelines may not have a profound effect.

“The American Academy of Pediatrics also shared this guidance as well; and the district has been utilizing 3 to 6 feet of social distancing since our return to in-person learning began last fall,” Jones said Friday. “And we have been grateful that districts like GPS have been able to demonstrate that 3 to 6 feet of social distancing has been effective in keeping our students and staff in school safely throughout this year. Proper social distancing and mask wearing continue to be our greatest mitigation tactics.”