Stanislaus schools report lowest number of COVID cases, quarantines since school year began
Stanislaus County schools last week reported the lowest number of COVID-19 cases since the academic year began.
The Health Services Agency recorded 183 cases among students and staff for the week beginning Sept. 26, according to an update posted Wednesday. Cases reported in school settings have declined since the end of August, when more than 400 were confirmed.
This reflects a decline in countywide cases and hospitalizations, indicating the surge caused by the delta variant is weakening, according to Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, the Stanislaus County health officer.
High school students accounted for the largest share of cases reported in schools, consistent with the previous couple of weeks.
Schools reported seven outbreaks and seven active clusters the week of Sept. 26, compared to six and 13, respectively, the week before. An outbreak is three cases linked to the same exposure, and a cluster is two cases linked to the same exposure.
Public health officials identified 64 instances being “monitored for additional cases,” down from nearly 100 during the previous reporting period.
Nearly 550 students and staff were in quarantine or isolation Wednesday, compared to more than 1,000 last week.
Modesto City Schools added 70 cases last week, representing 0.22% of the district’s students and staff. Students accounted for 60 of these cases, and staff for 10, according to the district’s dashboard.
Turlock Unified School District recorded just 25 cases last week, exposing 225 people. Eighteen cases were reported among students, and seven among staff.
School leaders from smaller districts told The Bee they are not able to maintain a public COVID-19 data display because of limited staffing resources.
Several districts have created data displays since the school year began. Here are other K-12 school districts in Stanislaus County that The Bee knows to have COVID-19 dashboards:
This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 12:55 PM.
