COVID cases in New Orleans’ public schools dropped again last week, but quarantines were back up, according to data released Monday.
More than 1,470 students and staff were in quarantine as of Friday after 384 people — 53 staff and 331 students — tested positive for COVID between Jan. 24-28. Cases were spread across 47 of the district’s 76 schools.
Schools reported 1,058 quarantines and 665 cases for the week of Jan. 17-21 and 3,670 quarantines and 1,603 cases the week before that when the omicron surge caused the district’s numbers to skyrocket.
The highest number of cases and quarantines last week were reported at Edward Hynes Charter School: Lakeview where 34 cases were identified and 222 staff and students were in quarantine.
The second highest number of cases were reported at Bricolage Academy where 25 cases were identified and 213 people were in quarantine. James M. Singleton Charter School had the second highest number of quarantines, at 220, and reported 19 cases.
While cases have continued to decrease, quarantines are still a significant issue. Thousands of students have been required to isolate this year, preventing them from attending in-person classes.
The district mandated the COVID-19 vaccine for all students 5 years and older in mid-December in order to keep them safe and better preserve in-person instruction, district Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. said.
If a student is fully vaccinated, CDC policy allows them to forgo quarantine and continue learning in-person even if they’re identified as a close contact. The deadline for students to be fully vaccinated is tomorrow.
“We are urging all families to contact their schools about getting vaccinated or requesting a waiver for their child,” Lewis said in a statement Monday. “This is no different than the annual approach to immunizations for other illnesses. It is time we all come together to vaccinate as many children as possible to keep COVID-19 at bay.”
District schools have also increased their testing efforts in recent weeks, with nearly 20,800 tests completed last week with a positive test rate of 2.8%.
Nearly 15,200 tests were completed the previous week with a positivity rate of 5%.
Louisiana’s surge in omicron cases may have peaked last week, officials at Ochsner Health said during a press conference last Monday, citing a decline in COVID hospitalizations. Ochsner is the largest health system in the state.
