Fewer COVID cases in town schools

GREENWICH — After a surge in COVID-19 cases in the Greenwich Public Schools this spring, the number of new cases reported Friday among students and staff dropped to 44, the smallest number in a about month in the district, according to the district’s online tracker.

The drop in the number of new cases occurred just before the school district began a three-day weekend for Memorial Day.

The district reported 74 new cases of COVID last Tuesday in the twice-aweek updates. The total number of cases reported in the school district is now 639 for May, which is second only to January in COVID-19 cases.

In the first month of 2022, the omicron variant hit the state hard and the district reported 1,422 cases of COVID-19 for the month.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the twice-a-week updates in the school district has fluctuated in recent weeks, but this is the first report to drop below 50 cases since April 8. The spread of the highly contagious BA.2 subvariant corresponds with the spike in cases seen across Connecticut this spring, experts say.

The total number of COVID-19 cases reported since students returned to classrooms on April 24 after a weeklong spring recess totals 746, according to the tracker. The Greenwich Public Schools has reported more cases of COVID-19 since the recess than it reported in the entire 2020-21 school year, when it reported 700 cases.

Since the spring recess in April, the breakdown has been 63 cases reported on April 26, 44 cases on April 29, 55 cases on May 3, 81 cases on May 6, 113 cases on May 10, 112 cases on May 13, 95 cases on May 17, 65 cases on May 20, 74 cases on May 24 and 44 cases on Friday.

A total of 3,248 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the school district since classes began Sept. 1. That is more than quadruple the number of cases reported in the 2020-21 school year. As of Friday, the Greenwich Public Schools were reporting 51 active cases of COVID-19, down from 67 active cases on Tuesday; 68 active cases May 20, 93 active cases on May 17 and 119 active cases on May 13, according to the tracker.

Active cases were reported in 12 of the school buildings, with the most — 20 active cases — reported at Greenwich High, the largest school in the district.