There were 1,804 Massachusetts students, 350 school staffers with COVID in past week, pooled testing positivity rate below 1%

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Massachusetts education officials on Thursday reported that 1,804 students and 350 school staff members tested positive for COVID-19 between Oct. 14 and Oct. 20.

As of Thursday there are about 920,000 students enrolled and roughly 140,000 staff members working in public school buildings, with the rate of COVID-19 cases at 0.20% among students and 0.25% among staffers, according to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

This week’s totals showed nearly 100 fewer cases among students but about 20 more cases among staffers, compared to last week’s 1,918 students and 337 school staff who tested positive.

DESE’s report is released each Thursday and includes information on COVID-19 cases reported among public school employees and enrolled students from a period of Thursday to Wednesday. The report also includes data on pooled testing.

So far this school year, the pooled testing positivity rate stands at 0.92%, according to the report.

Worcester had the largest number of student cases with 61, according to the report, followed by New Bedford with 49, Springfield with 46 and Lowell with 42.

Worcester also saw the most staff cases at 13, followed by Springfield at 12; Boston and Brockton each reported 11 cases among staffers.

In Springfield, there were 790 routine pooled tests from Oct. 11 to Oct. 17, with 16 positives, a rate of 2%. Boston reported 2,226 pooled tests in that time, with 13 positives, a rate less than 1%, the report indicates.

Find numbers for your district or school in this searchable database. If you’re having trouble accessing the database, click here.

This school year, districts can participate in rapid testing, pooled testing, test and stay, or a combination of all three, at no charge through the state. Officials have said more than 2,200 public and private schools have been scheduled to participate, more than double the number of schools that participated in testing last year.

From Oct. 11 to Oct. 17, there were 1,410 schools participating in school COVID testing. In that period, there were 11,369 test and stay tests, with 11,242 of them negative, according to the report.

There were 20,665 pools processed in that period, with 6.76 average swabs per pool and 189 positive results, for a positivity rate of .91%.

Last week, Gov. Charlie Baker activated up to 200 members of the Massachusetts National Guard to help with COVID-19 testing in the public schools.

Hopkinton High School has become the first school in Massachusetts to receive approval from the state to lift a face mask requirement for individuals vaccinated against COVID-19, officials said Tuesday.

Unvaccinated individuals are still required to wear masks.

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