City schools see fewer virus cases

GREENWICH — There have been just eight reported cases of COVID-19 in Greenwich schools in the last week, the lowest weekly total since October, excluding numbers from the holiday recess.

The district reported three new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday and five on Friday. After weeks of high case counts, transmission of the virus in the district’s schools appears to be under control as the end of the scholastic year approaches.

There are now seven active cases of COVID-19 affecting four schools. Greenwich High, which for much of April saw cases in the double digits and at times had more than 100 teachers and students in quarantine, has just one active case as of Friday.

Western Middle School had three cases, Central Middle School had two and Julian Curtiss School had one.

Since the start of school, there have been 687 cases of COVID-19 reported by the district among teachers, students and staff, with more than 140 reported in April alone.

A large number of cases in April came immediately before and after the district’s spring break, which likely contributed to the transmission of the virus.

In the week leading up to spring break, the district reported 42 cases. In the week following break, there were 45 COVID-19 cases — the most cases reported in a single week since the district began tracking numbers in September 2020.

As the end of the school year nears, teachers and students over the age of 16 are eligible to be vaccinated.

The federal Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve vaccines for children ages 12 to 15 early next week, which should further protect against the spread of the virus.