How many Stanislaus students, staff have contracted COVID since winter break?
Thousands of Stanislaus County students and staff have contracted COVID-19 over the past few weeks, as schools resumed in-person instruction following winter break amid the latest wave of cases.
K-12 schools and colleges across the country have temporarily shifted online due to rising infections and staff shortages. California State University, Stanislaus, announced last week it would move the first two weeks of the spring semester online because of the omicron variant.
But K-12 districts in Stanislaus County have kept school buildings open. They have shifted quarantine procedures to simplify and speed up contact tracing and have shortened isolation requirements as state and national public health agencies updated their recommendations.
The county’s COVID-19 data dashboard for schools tallied 2,243 cases reported in schools for the week ending Jan. 15. So far this week, the dashboard shows about 950 cases, and the same for the week ending Jan. 8. That’s nearly 4,150 cases so far in January.
Modesto City Schools confirmed almost 340 student cases and 40 staff cases Jan. 10-14, the district’s first week back from its winter break. That’s about 1.2% of students and employees, according to the dashboard.
The district also posts cases reported daily. In its most recent update Tuesday, it reported nearly 200 additional cases.
At a school board meeting Tuesday evening, Superintendent Sara Noguchi addressed staffing challenges caused by these cases. She thanked teachers, staff and administrators for pulling together amid the year’s “rocky start.”
“People are filling in everywhere to ensure that our schools stay open,” she said.
Turlock Unified School District confirmed 460 student cases and 75 staff cases Jan. 8-14, its dashboard shows. Turlock Unified returned from winter break one week prior to Modesto City Schools. In its first week back, it reported more than 150 cases that it attributed to the omicron variant.
In Ceres, a dashboard most recently updated Jan. 13 shows about 280 student and staff cases Jan. 4-7. Students at Ceres Unified School District resumed instruction Jan. 4.
Turlock Unified recently opened a new community testing site through Heal 360, an urgent care and primary care provider with a COVID-19 testing division. It’s located at the district’s Child Nutrition Education Center at 1901 Auto Mall Drive and open to the public from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, according to a Heal 360 spokesperson and Turlock Unified’s website. The site offers PCR and rapid antigen tests, according to the district.
Ceres Unified partnered with the same organization in December to offer free testing from 7:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays at Central Valley High School. It has offered testing at other schools as well, but recent staffing shortages have caused those to pause.
