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COVID-19 cases in Henrico County Public Schools buildings have dipped yet again, with 44 cases reported last week.
Since the school division transitioned to a once-weekly COVID-19 update in late September, cases have gone down almost every week. HCPS remains the largest school division in Virginia that updates cases on its public website weekly instead of daily.
Since Sept. 1, HCPS has reported 1,039 positive cases in schools and school offices. There are about 48,000 in-person students and about 7,000 staff members in HCPS, according to the most recent estimates provided by the school district.
In elementary schools, there were 26 cases last week resulting in 77 close contacts. Since Sept. 1, there have been 536 cases and 2,006 close contacts in elementary schools.
For those who are not fully vaccinated, like all elementary students at this time, an exposure to a positive case requires a quarantine. But soon, the number of students needing to quarantine will likely decrease because the Pfizer vaccine earned final federal approval for children ages 5-11 last week. Two HCPS schools will host COVID-19 vaccination clinics this month and next for children 5 to 11, and additional clinics are planned in Richmond.
In middle schools, five cases and 35 close contacts were reported for last week. The majority of the exposures, 25, occurred at Fairfield Middle.
There were 13 cases reported among students and staff in high schools last week, along with 58 close contacts. There were 32 exposures reported at Godwin High and 15 at Highland Springs.
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Anna Bryson is the Henrico Citizen's education reporter and a Report for America corps member. Make a tax-deductible donation to support her work, and RFA will match it dollar for dollar.
