There have been 7 COVID-19 outbreaks at Pierce County schools, according to new data
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department now is reporting regions where COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred in schools, and Tacoma Public Schools has begun reporting cases at its schools.
Neither agency delineates whether the cases are among students, staff or a combination.
The health department updated its website for schools Friday to show a total of 16 cases stemming from seven school outbreaks across the county for the past 28 days as of Nov. 6.
Two of those outbreaks have occurred in the Puyallup region and include four total cases. Another two of those outbreaks have occurred in the South Hill region, involving six total cases. Other cases tied to schools are listed as “other regions,” sites with only one outbreak, of which there are three with six cases.
The health department on its website said it organized listings that way to “balance transparency of location and patient confidentiality.”
The listings come one week after the department announced it would work with rural school districts on devising a “rapid testing” pilot program to aid in returning to in-person instruction. The program is being financed via a $7.8 million CARES Act grant.
The new school listings portion includes community disease activity in relation to the state’s Decision Tree on school operations in the pandemic. The measurements used include the 14-day case rate per 100,000, the trend in percent of COVID-19 tests that are positive, the trend in new cases by day and the trend in hospitalizations.
It also includes links to supporting documents, such as health department communications to schools, school response toolkits and downloadable instruction guidelines for child care, as well as an online form for schools to report cases.
Tacoma Public Schools is sharing its list of COVID-19 cases in schools on its website in the “interest of transparency,” spokesperson Dan Voelpel said Friday.
The list shows the date the case was reported, the building location, the number of positive cases and the number of people quarantined. The list shows all cases within the district since Oct. 1.
So far, Lincoln, Wilson, IDEA high schools; Stewart, Gray, First Creek middle schools; and Jennie Reed, Browns Point, McCarver and Fern Hill elementary schools have had a positive COVID-19 case. The district’s facilities and central administration buildings are also listed as having positive cases.
The state Department of Health defines an outbreak as two or more related COVID-19 cases
Jennie Reed Elementary, Stewart Middle School and Gray Middle School are the only schools listed as having two positive cases. Only one of those — Stewart Middle — is considered an “outbreak,” because the cases were related, Voelpel said.
The list is updated every day that a new case is reported, Voelpel said. The latest cases were reported on Thursday at Jennie Reed Elementary and Browns Point Elementary.
It should be noted that all Tacoma students, aside from small groups with the highest need permitted by the state Health Department’s decision tree, are learning remotely. Some staff are also working on site.
Volepel said the district notified staff and families about the chart by e-newsletter and posted it to Facebook on Oct. 31. The information can be found at tacomaschools.org/departments/health/covid-19.
This story was originally published November 7, 2020 at 7:30 AM.
