Massachusetts schools across the state on Thursday reported 431 new cases of the coronavirus among students and staff.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released the numbers Thursday in its weekly COVID-19 report. A total of 178 students with district building access within seven days of the report tested positive from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6, as did 253 school district staffers.
It’s a decline of 518 total cases from the previous report. The last report reflected 552 in-person/hybrid students and 397 district staff who tested positive, for a total of 949 cases.
School districts this fall have had the option between in-person learning, remote learning or a hybrid of the two.
State officials announced in early November that all Massachusetts communities in the gray, green and yellow COVID risk categories are expected to have students learning in-person. They added that those in the highest-risk red category should consider a hybrid model instead of going fully remote.
While the number of positive cases in schools has fluctuated, the estimated number of students and staff in public school buildings has remained the same over the past three weeks.
See the full report at the department’s website.
