New COVID-19 cases among Massachusetts public school students and staff members have risen during a two-week period that included Thanksgiving, according to a report released Thursday.
From Nov. 18 to Dec. 1, a total of 8,513 students and 1,396 staffers tested positive for the virus, according to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Each Thursday, DESE releases a report on new cases. From Nov. 11 to 17, public schools reported that 3,257 students and 558 staff members had tested positive. From Nov. 4 to 10, 2,640 students and 381 staff members tested positive.
Across Massachusetts, case counts are rising after weeks of decline.
With about 920,000 students enrolled and roughly 140,000 staff members working in public school buildings, the rate of COVID-19 cases currently stands at 0.93% among students and 1% among staffers, according to DESE’s report.
So far this school year, the pooled testing positivity rate stands at 1.13%, according to the report.
In the last two weeks, Lowell reported the largest number of student COVID cases, with 240, according to the report. The district also had 30 staff cases. From Nov. 15 to 28, there were 757 routine pooled tests processed, with 42 positive results.
Boston had 209 student cases and 59 staff cases. From Nov. 15 to 28, there were 3,692 routine pooled tests with 59 positives.
Worcester had 193 student cases and 35 staff cases. The district did not have pooled testing data listed in DESE’s report.
In Springfield, 178 students tested positive, as did 45 staffers. From Nov. 15 to 28, there were 1,385 routine pooled tests, with 47 of them positive.
Find numbers for your district or school in this searchable database. If you’re having trouble accessing the database, click here.
Districts can participate in rapid testing, pooled testing, test and stay, or a combination of all three.
From Nov. 15 to 28, there were 1,947 schools participating in COVID testing. In that period, 67,154 test and stay tests were administered, with 66,465 of them negative, according to the report.
There were 35,357 pools processed in that period, with 6.76 average swabs per pool and 703 positive results, for a positivity rate of 1.99%, the report showed.
Masks are required in Massachusetts schools through at least Jan. 15, but there is an off-ramp for schools that can prove a COVID vaccination rate of at least 80% and get approval.
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