Community
MA schools see over 10,000 new virus cases this week; Fall River, New Bedford have most in Bristol County among all residents
COVID-19 cases among Massachusetts schools increased yet again this week.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, a total of 8,576 new COVID-19 cases were reported among K-12 students from December 16th to December 22nd. 1,544 were reported for staff making the overall total in Massachusetts schools for the past week at 10,120.
In the period from December 9th to December 15th, the state saw 8,376 cases with 7,223 among students and 1,153 among staff.
6,879 new COVID-19 cases for students were reported from December 2nd to December 8th. 1,105 were reported for staff making the total 7,984.
Back in March, new student numbers were in the 400s for the week with staff cases under 200.
Here are the statistics from some area cities and towns from December 16th to December 22nd.
Acushnet: 2 students and 2 staff
Attleboro: 55 students and 6 staff
Dartmouth: 60 students and 11 staff
Fairhaven: 17 students and 0 staff
Fall River: 80 students and 27 staff
New Bedford: 91 students and 33 staff
Plymouth: 130 students and 13 staff
Seekonk: 18 students and 4 staff
Somerset: 15 students and 2 staff
Swansea: 27 students and 4 staff
Taunton: 42 students and 12 staff
Westport: 21 students and 3 staff
Fall River schools saw an improvement in ranking and ranked 15th in new student cases in the report this week despite seeing an increase in new cases. Just seven weeks ago, Fall River had 6 new student cases and none among staff. The city has seen over 20,395 cases among all residents and is currently seeing an average of just over 102 cases per day the last two weeks, second in Bristol County. Last week the two-week average was just over 97.
New Bedford dropped this week as the city had the 12th most new student cases in the state compared to 6th last week. New Bedford has totaled over 22,166 cases among all residents with a current average of just over 105 cases per day the last two weeks which leads Bristol County. Last week the two-week average was just over 98.
Tasha Fuller
December 25, 2021 at 7:58 pm
Kinda almost sounds like you’re keeping track of how many kids and teachers catch a cold in the winter…. If there’s no deaths and no serious side effects, why do we care about cases again?
We are so done hearing about this. Case count does not matter.
Ken Paiva
December 25, 2021 at 8:33 pm
The Department of Education does not release deaths or hospitalizations. Massachusetts among all residents according to the Board of Health sees 0 deaths from colds a day, about 3 from the flu a day and this month has seen between 16-41 deaths each day from covid which thankfully is less than the 100+ a day we were seeing at one point, but higher than what we were seeing in the summer.