According to the system’s weekly case tracker, more than 3,000 students, faculty and staff in the New Orleans NOLA Public School District have been quarantined due to possible exposure to COVID-19.
In the first batch of numbers provided since all school districts started classes, the school district updates its tracker every Monday, reporting that 299 active COVID-19 cases and 3,004 contacts have been quarantined.
The number of positive cases has more than doubled since last week, when many schools had not yet reopened in the 2021-2022 school year. The number of people in quarantine has increased by nearly five times from 638 last week.
As of Monday, the number of quarantined students and faculty members accounted for almost 6% of the school’s population. The most quarantined school is KIPP Morial School, which reported that 362 people may have been exposed to the virus.
In Louisiana’s most populous city, the increasing number of cases and quarantine marks the beginning of the state’s difficult reopening of schools, which is facing coronavirus cases due to the highly transmitted delta virus and Louisiana’s low vaccination rate The surge.
Only 38.3% of the population in Louisiana is fully immunized and ranks fifth in vaccination rates among all states in the country. Unvaccinated patients accounted for 91% of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state and 83% of COVID-related deaths this month.
Pediatricians in Louisiana have been worried that low vaccination rates may have dangerous consequences for children under 12 years of age who are not yet eligible for vaccination—especially when schools reopen in the fall for face-to-face learning.
“We do believe that returning to school may create more opportunities for the spread of the virus, but what we saw in the spring and last year is how effective schools are by using masks and keeping distance to mitigate the impact of the epidemic,” Oxner Health’s Pediatric System Chairman Dr. William Linaz Told before Weekly newspapergram.
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Although the NOLA Public School District requires all students and staff (whether vaccinated or not) to wear masks in school buildings, the rapid spread of the Delta variant across the state has made Louisiana one of the three most severe outbreaks in the country. In a few weeks, Florida and Mississippi have also seen an alarming rise in coronavirus cases.
“This week’s data reflects community transmission and an increase in cases in the greater New Orleans area,” said Dr. Benjamin F. Springgate, the school district’s medical consultant, on Monday.
He added: “Although [this week’s] The numbers are high, and the quarantine reflects the mitigation measures we are taking to help ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff. Due to these mitigation measures, the spread of COVID-19 in our school is still very rare. “
School officials said they hope to continue to teach face-to-face, and pointed out that last year’s school exam results showed a significant drop in student performance.
But more and more cases have caused some parents to fight for a virtual choice for their children.
On Monday night, several parents and educators gathered outside the KIPP New Orleans school headquarters and asked for online learning options.
In a statement, NOLA Public Schools stated that the school district “understands parents’ concerns about face-to-face learning, but we want to assure parents that we are following the advice of science and federal, state, and local health experts.”
“The American Academy of Pediatrics, [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], This [Louisiana Health Department], And the New Orleans Department of Health has analyzed the data and all agree that the best place for children is in the classroom,” the statement read. “Benefits include the development of social and emotional skills, access to healthy meals and activities, and access to virtual Mental health support provided by learning. “
The school district also pointed out that data shows that students are more likely to contract COVID-19 outside the school than inside the school building.
