(ABC4) – It has now been a week since Labor Day weekend, a time when many health officials worried Utah would see a spike in COVID-19 cases. Since then Utah has recorded over 7,500 COVID-19 cases, many among school-aged children.
On Monday, the Utah Department of Health reported 935 new cases of COVID-19 among school-aged children. These numbers stem from Friday, Saturday, and Sunday because UDOH does not release updated numbers over the weekend.
According to UDOH’s COVID-19 in schools dashboard, there have been over 4,300 cases reported in schools so far this academic year. Of those, over 3,750 are students. For the 2020-21 school year, Utah saw over 39,900 COVID-19 cases in schools, including over 33,000 in students.
Currently, UDOH reports over 45 schools in Utah have active cases in students in the double-digits. To be considered an active case, the case must have been reported to public health in the previous two weeks.
Here are the five schools with the most active cases in students:
- Syracuse School: 37
- Cedar Valley High: 30
- Syracuse High: 30
- Antelope School: 25
- Clearfield High: 23
On Monday, Syracuse Elementary became the first in the Davis School District to meet the threshold of COVID-19 cases to active the Test to Stay program. This means if parents opt-out of having their child tested, those students will not be allowed to go to school for 10 days, just like students who do test positive.
A week ago, Cedar Valley High had the greatest number of active cases among students at 36, far more than Green Canyon High’s 18. Syracuse High had 18 active cases a week ago. With the exception of Cedar Valley High, the schools with the highest active cases among students are all from the Davis School District.
According to UDOH’s dashboard, the active cases at Cedar Valley High, Syracuse High, and Antelope School are only among students, not teachers or other staff. The dashboard also reports these five schools have had the most active cases of COVID-19 this school year:
- Cedar Valley High: 60
- Syracuse School: 40
- Syracuse High: 32
- Sky View High: 32
- Clearfield High: 28
Earlier this month, both Syracuse schools and Clearfield High were not in the top five. To see the full dashboard, click here. UDOH says reporting of these cases may be delayed.
Over 70% of Utahns 12-years-old and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The youngest in the state – those between the ages of 12 and 18 – are the least-vaccinated, according to UDOH. As of Sept. 14, just over 56% of this age group has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while 45.5% are fully vaccinated.