COVID cases in New Orleans’ public schools dropped again last week and quarantines were also down, according to data released Tuesday.
More than 1,058 students and staff were in quarantine as of Friday after 665 people – 97 staff and 568 students – tested positive for COVID between Jan. 17-21. Cases were spread across 54 of the district's 76 schools.
That’s a substantial decrease from the previous week, when schools reported 1,603 cases and more than 3,670 quarantines spread across 71 schools.
Nearly 15,200 COVID tests were completed last week as part of the district’s surveillance testing program with a positivity rate of 5%. That’s down from a rate of 7% the week before and 13% the week before that.
City-wide cases are still high but have also shown a decline in recent weeks.
The district said in a statement that it was pleased to report a decline in cases after experiencing a significant surge in omicron cases – that coincided with the end of winter break.
While the district maintained in-person instruction throughout the surge, some schools moved online temporarily. All district schools are expected to serve students in-person this week.
The district’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate takes effect next Tuesday and all students ages 5 years and older are required to be fully vaccinated or submit an exemption form by then. Louisiana families are allowed to opt out of mandatory vaccines by claiming a medical, religious or philosophical exemption under state law.
“The best thing you can do to fight this pandemic and keep everyone safe is to get your shots,” NOLA-PS Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. said in a statement. “Our schools are doing their part by hosting vaccination events to give students access to this life-saving care.”
New Orleans is the only school district in Louisiana with a COVID vaccine mandate and possibly the only district in the county with a policy that applies to students as young as 5 years old.
The district and city’s latest vaccination events for children can be found here.
Weekly COVID cases reported by schools state-wide increased from 6,214 for Jan. 3-9 to 10,454 for Jan. 10-16. More than 6,719 cases among faculty, staff or volunteers and 40,312 among students have been reported since the start of the school year.
LDH reports 18,683 new #COVID cases out of 52,750 tests that have been reported to the state since Friday, 1/21. Of new COVID cases, 2,320 are reinfections (defined as a positive viral COVID-19 test in an individual with a previous positive test at least 90 days prior). pic.twitter.com/ksB9PnGgwb
— Louisiana Department of Health (@LADeptHealth) January 24, 2022
New cases were concentrated among younger age groups, with 19% of cases reported among ages 5-17, 17% among ages 18-29 and 17% among ages 30-39.
The Louisiana Department of Health reported 18,683 new cases out of 52,750 tests Monday, identified since last Friday. More than 2,300 cases were identified as reinfections, meaning the positive individual had also tested positive at least 90 days prior.
