COVID outbreaks more than doubled in WA state schools in April and May, report shows
A total of 301 COVID‐19 outbreaks occurred in K‐12 schools between August 2020 and May, according to the latest report updated by the Washington State Department of Health on June 30.
A total of 1,139 cases was associated with the outbreaks.
Outbreaks have more than doubled since the March 31 update by the health department, which showed 134 COVID-19 outbreaks in K-12 schools between August and February.
In the newest update, April and May had the highest number of COVID-19 outbreaks, with 63 and 57 outbreaks reported, respectively.
More students began returning to in-person learning around this time, coinciding with Gov. Jay Inslee’s Children and Youth Mental Health Crisis Emergency Proclamation that required in-person education for K-12 schools starting on April 5 and April 19.
“Prior to April, school districts were in different phases of re-opening, and there was significant variation in the number of schools open and the proportion of students receiving in-person instruction by jurisdiction,” according to the report. “These differences will account for some of the variation in the number of outbreaks reported by local health jurisdictions.”
King County had the highest number of outbreaks at 66, involving 242 cases. Pierce County followed at 45 outbreaks involving 112 cases, and Spokane County at 43 outbreaks involving 232 cases.
A majority of the outbreaks — 70 percent — involved two or three cases, and 65 percent of COVID-19 cases were students aged 18 and under.
For race, 46 percent of the people were non-Hispanic white, 8 percent were Hispanic, 10 percent were listed as “other” and the remaining 37 percent were unknown. Eleven COVID-19 cases were hospitalized overnight, and there were zero reported deaths. Fifty-three percent were female and 47 percent male.
Among the 1,139 COVID-19 cases, the median age was 16 years.
Of the 301 outbreaks, 71 occurred at private schools and 230 at public schools.
The next DOH school outbreak report will be released in September.
In early May, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expanded the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for ages 12 to 15. Previously, only ages 16 and up were authorized to receive it.
On Tuesday, Washington state reached a milestone of administering at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines to 70 percent of the population ages 16 and older, according to health officials.
The 16 and older category reflects a higher percentage than the state’s vaccine rate among its total population, which is just over 56 percent of residents initiating first dose, according to the Department of Health’s vaccine dashboard, which was last updated on Monday. Just over 51 percent of Washington’s total population is fully vaccinated.
The DOH defines an outbreak as occurring if:
There are two or more laboratory‐positive (PCR or antigen) COVID‐19 cases among students or staff,
The cases have a symptom onset within a 14‐day period of each other,
The cases are “epidemiologically linked,” or the patients had contact with one or more persons with COVID-19,
The cases do not share a household, and
The cases are not identified as close contacts of each other in another setting.
This story was originally published July 16, 2021 at 6:00 AM with the headline "COVID outbreaks more than doubled in WA state schools in April and May, report shows."
