COVID rates are declining in Sacramento-area school districts. Here are the numbers

Schools in the Sacramento region have seen far fewer COVID-19 cases in recent weeks compared to the start of the school year, according to data dashboards. And health officials are hoping newly approved vaccines for children will help stave off COVID-19 surges as winter months approach.

Nick Mori of the Sacramento County Public Health office’s schools team said there have not been any recent major outbreaks among students inflating the numbers.

Over the past month, children made up about 23% of new infections, a trend that has remained consistent since the start of the school year.

COVID numbers in Sacramento County schools

Elk Grove Unified currently has 45 active cases of COVID-19 with 163 students and staff quarantined. More than half of those are at the elementary school level. The current case rate is 12.57 per 100,000, a slight increase from the previous week and a significant decrease from the 21.75 on Sept. 1.

The Sacramento City Unified School District reported the most COVID-19 cases in September when students and staff returned to school. There are 68 active cases this week with 323 quarantines. More than half the cases are in elementary schools across the district.

New Joseph Bonnheim, John F. Kennedy High and Hiram Johnson High had the most positive cases across the district.

San Juan Unified has 59 positive student cases and 10 staff cases.

Folsom Cordova Unified has 24 positive student cases and four staff cases. About 190 students are currently quarantined.

Washington Unified, which serves about 7,500 students has only two positive cases among students.

Natomas Unified currently has 46 current positive cases and 40 quarantines.

The majority of positive cases and quarantines are in high schools, where students spend their day making contact with dozens if not hundreds of students as they switch classrooms.

Just over half of Sacramento County’s 12- to 17-year-olds are fully vaccinated, slightly under the statewide vaccination rate for eligible children of 59%. About 59% of students have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Will COVID increase in winter?

Sacramento County health officials sounded optimistic on Thursday, stating that continued mask wearing and vaccine clinics will help avoid another winter surge as colder weather translates to more indoor activities and gatherings.

The state’s test positivity rate increased from 2% to 2.2% in recent days, according California Department of Public Health.

But with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention granting emergency use authorization to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds, school outbreaks could be minimized. The state mandate for children’s vaccines will take effect in 2022, which would require California’s 6.5 million K-12 students to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

County health official Dr. Olivia Kasirye said there are no concerns about vaccine shortages this time around, and the county is working with pediatricians and pharmacies to bring doses to school sites.

“We hope that children will get vaccinated to stave off that winter surge,” said Public Health Immunization Program Manager Rachel Allen at a Thursday media briefing. “You need the two doses and another two weeks for full immunity. The sooner we can get this population vaccinated the better.”

This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 5:00 AM.