Pierce County school districts report hundreds of COVID-19 cases amid first weeks of school
School districts across Pierce County collectively have reported hundreds of COVID-19 cases in the first few weeks of school.
The cases are not unexpected, as schools across Washington state were required to provide full time in-person education for all interested students this school year, according to an order by Gov. Jay Inslee.
State Superintendent Chris Reykdal told the public in a seminar in August not to be surprised if there were infections and quarantines.
“People are going to get sick — they do every year,” Reykdal said in the seminar. “They’re going to be OK, but that is going to be normal.”
In Pierce County, districts are tracking COVID-19 cases and displaying that information on their websites, but the methods are sometimes vastly different and can be difficult to find.
Some districts update their data at different times than others. Some choose to separate positive COVID-19 cases by student or teacher. Others clarify whether positive COVID-19 cases were generated from outside or inside a school.
In Tacoma Public Schools — Pierce County’s largest district with nearly 30,000 students and more than 50 schools, 67 positive COVID-19 cases have been reported across more than 30 different schools for the month of September so far.
That’s about double the 35 cases reported in June when Tacoma students were attending school on a hybrid schedule, with both in-person and online school days each week.
The Puyallup School District — enrollment about 22,000 — has reported 45 positive COVID-19 cases so far in September, with 11 cases recorded Sept. 2-3 and 34 cases reported Sept. 6-10. Puyallup also reported 39 student quarantines and six staff quarantines in September so far, and eight classrooms directed to quarantine. Puyallup updates its data every Wednesday.
Comparatively, for the week of April 19 last school year, Puyallup recorded 10 students and staff testing positive, with 33 directed to quarantine.
The Bethel School District — enrollment around 20,000 — has recorded six COVID-19 cases originating from inside school facilities (meaning exposure occurred inside a school building as determined by contact tracers) and 58 cases originating from outside school facilities within the first two weeks of September.
Bethel also keeps a running tab of COVID-19 cases. Since Sept. 3, 2020, Bethel has recorded 42 COVID cases originating from inside school facilities, and 358 cases originating from outside school facilities.
The Sumner-Bonney Lake School District — enrollment nearly 10,000 — has reported 118 COVID cases in students and 13 staff cases in September so far. That compares to 55 student cases and eight staff cases in May 2021.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department tracks how many outbreaks have occurred in schools by region. An “outbreak” is defined by the department as two or more cases in a shared location in the last 28 days. Districts must report outbreaks to the health department.
As of Sept. 16, there were two outbreaks in the South Hill area including seven cases, three in the Tacoma area including 12 cases, and five outbreaks in “other” areas of Pierce County consisting of 17 cases.
Karen Irwin, spokesperson with the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, said health officials take all outbreaks seriously and monitor them closely.
“We work with schools to support preventative measures that minimize outbreak risk,” Irwin said. “In addition to masking, frequent hand-washing, social-distancing when possible and testing, vaccination for all eligible students and staff is the best way to stop the transmission of COVID-19.”
This story was originally published September 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
