How many coronavirus cases have been reported in Staten Island schools? – SILive.com

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. All New York City public school students returned to classrooms last month for full, in-person learning, and data collected and examined by The New York Times shows that coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in school buildings through in-school testing have been low citywide.

The average weekly positivity rate in schools among students is 0.25%, which is well below New York Citys overall daily average rate of 2.43%, according to data collected by the media outlet.

Several health and safety strategies have been in place since schools reopened, including mandated mask-wearing, improved ventilation in classrooms, a vaccine mandate for school staff, and weekly coronavirus testing of the school population. And The Times reported that the measures appear to be working, as there are low positive COVID-19 cases in all 32 school districts citywide, and there have been no significant outbreaks.

According to the data collected by The Times, there have been 446 total coronavirus cases among students and staff in schools during in-school testing across the five boroughs since the school year began.

Of those, 56 total cases were reported on Staten Island, leading to an average weekly positive rate of 0.34%. Forty-four of those 56 cases on the Island were among students, the data shows, according to The New York Times.

Across New York City, an average of 302 students per 10,000 are tested on average in schools on a weekly basis. On Staten Island, 434 students per 10,000 students, are tested, The Times data showed.

While the city randomly tests 10% of unvaccinated students in schools each week, some experts have said they believe that the city could ramp up this testing model to detect outbreaks before they start, according to The New York Times. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said the citys current level of testing is fine for tracking infections, but is not enough to keep infection numbers low.

The Times also reported that about 300 of the citys 1,600 public schools (not including charters) fall below the 10% testing target.

About 550,000 of the citys students are considered unvaccinated, as they are either not eligible or havent submitted proof of vaccination. But only 45,000 of those students, or 8%, are eligible to be tested, according to the media outlet, because many city families havent given consent for their child to be tested.

Other experts have said that the city should include vaccinated students and school staff in the testing program, as it currently only tests unvaccinated students, The New York Times reported.

Testing vaccinated students as part of routine surveillance still has a role given breakthrough infections among the vaccinated, Thomas Tsai, an assistant professor in the health policy department at Harvard University, told The Times.

And the city, he added, is using COVID-19 tests that take up to three days to return results, according to the media outlet. That delay could limit how quickly schools can take action to reduce transmission in their buildings.

Still, city officials have said they hope that cases will continue to decrease in schools following the staff vaccine mandate that went into effect earlier this month, as well as the forthcoming vaccine available for students ages 5-11 years old.

Currently, only children ages 12 and older are eligible to get the shot.

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How many coronavirus cases have been reported in Staten Island schools? - SILive.com