New Orleans Public School leaders say their COVID mitigation efforts are working despite over 3,000 people in quarantine.
At his weekly COVID update, NOLA-PS Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. says although their data shows a high number of students and staff in quarantine, it shows the mitigation efforts are doing their job.
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According to the latest data from NOLA-PS 3,004 students and staff are in quarantine and the school is monitoring 299 active COVID cases.
“We have what looks like a high quarantine rate among our schools. These counts are due to families doing what is right, getting students tested if they aren’t well,” said Dr. Lewis. “These quarantines, these counts show our schools are following the procedures laid out in our COVID Care Guidance and it ensures that an entire community remains safe.”
Dr. Ben Springgate, medical adviser for NOLA public schools, says, so far, they have not had any COVID outbreaks and that testing and vaccinations are available across the school system.
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“While we have identified 299 cases as of Monday’s case tracker report, we have seen little direct evidence of spread in schools,” said Springgate. “This time we do not see uncontrolled or unmitigated transmission in schools and LDH have not called for any school closures as a result.”
Springgate also stressed the need for other mitigation measures such as requiring students and staff to wear a mask in school.
Dr. Lewis also said that the school system has no plans to go back to virtual learning.