LYNNFIELD — As she sat in front of the School Committee on Tuesday night, Nurse Coordinator Toni Rebelo said the increase of COVID-19 cases in the Lynnfield Public Schools was more than she expected.
“There are 84 total active cases — we have 26 at LMS, (Lynnfield Middle School) 25 at LHS, (Lynnfield High School), 18 at Huck (Huckleberry Hill Elementary School) 13 at Summer Street and two at the preschool,” said Rebelo. “That’s a lot of cases, the largest we have had by far,” Rebelo said.
Less than 24 hours later, according to the school district’s website, the total number of cases rose to 91. Cases at the middle school rose to 29, cases at the high school rose to 30 and cases at Huckleberry Hill increased to 19.
In her update to the School Committee, Rebelo attributed the increase in cases to the holiday season. The holiday surge in cases has resulted in detrimental effects on the school system, she said.
Some of these effects include vaccinated students testing positive for COVID-19 at the same rate as unvaccinated students, increases in teacher absences and a change in bus routes due to drivers becoming sick.
School Committee member Phil McQueen expressed concern about rising cases and the number of tests that are being administered.
Rebelo assured him that there are enough tests, and the town will conserve tests by reducing contact tracing and the test-and-stay program at the middle and high schools. She explained that a majority of cases come from home and the elementary-school levels, and she said they didn’t see the benefit of close-contact tracing at the middle and high schools because the contacts were not coming back with positive-test results.
“Our efforts are best focused on symptomatic children,” said Rebelo. “Those are the ones testing positive.”
Despite a robust testing program at the Lynnfield Public Schools, Rebelo said the best course of action for students or staff who do not feel well is to stay home.
“At this point, the best thing we can do is if your kids are home or staff members are sick, stay home,” said Rebelo. “At this point, I think that’s the best thing we can do, but yes, we have enough tests.”
She mentioned that some of the rapid tests were experiencing a two-to-three day lag even if someone was showing symptoms beforehand.
Rebelo also notified the School Committee that the district had changed its isolation and quarantine rules to adhere to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. Those infected with COVID-19 are to be isolated for five days rather than 10 days. Those who come into contact with someone who is COVID-19 positive now must quarantine for five days, rather than seven. And those who do not experience symptoms for five days may cease isolation or quarantine protocols.
Rebelo said she thinks these guidelines make sense to keep in-person learning active, but cautioned against students returning to school too quickly, even with the shortened quarantine and isolation timeline.
“Just because the timeline has shortened does not mean that the virus has,” said Rebelo. “We just want, from a health perspective, to take your time. This illness is different for everybody.”