89 more Salem-Keizer students positive for Covid among 39,000 attending in-person
Open windows at Liberty Elementary School on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
The number of Salem students and educators with Covid climbed last week, but remains a small fraction of the number of people attending classes in-person.
Across the district, 89 Salem-Keizer students were newly diagnosed with Covid last week, according to a new district dashboard showing Covid infections and exposures. The dashboard shows 10 new cases among school employees.
The district previously reported 48 students with Covid between the start of classes on Sept. 7 and Sept. 16.
That’s among about 39,000 district students attending classes in-person this year.
McNary and North Salem high schools are tied for the most reported student Covid cases, with seven each last week. The schools with the highest counts are generally high schools.
The dashboard includes data for district charter schools and alternative programs as well as traditional schools.
The number of students exposed to Covid through close contact with someone else infected also increased last week. The district recorded 244 students and six employees exposed. Those numbers only include people exposed to Covid at school, district spokesman Aaron Harada said, not people who may be quarantining because of exposure from another source.
Not everyone exposed to Covid has to quarantine at home. Under state and federal health guidelines and school district policy, people fully vaccinated against Covid can remain in school unless they show symptoms of illness. The district’s dashboard doesn’t show how many people are quarantined because of exposure.
Harada said he’s not aware of any additional classrooms moving to online classes because of Covid exposure or quarantine. Last week, the district reported a kindergarten class at Chapman Hills Elementary School moved online for a week after one student tested positive for Covid. That was because enough classmates were close contacts that it was both safer and more practical to move the entire class online, Harada said.
Harada said the dashboard will be updated weekly over the weekend.
-Rachel Alexander
