5 omicron COVID cases at West Sacramento high school in region’s first outbreak
Five students at a West Sacramento high school have contracted confirmed or likely cases of the COVID-19 omicron variant, school district and Yolo County health officials said Thursday, in what appears to be the Sacramento region’s first known omicron outbreak.
The cases were detected at River City High School, Washington Unified School District spokesperson Giorgos Kazanis confirmed to The Sacramento Bee in an emailed response Thursday. Kazanis said the cases “are presumed to be the omicron variant.”
“We have two confirmed cases, and three presumed cases based on initial testing,” Yolo County health officer Dr. Aimee Sisson said in an emailed statement. “Four of the students were in one classroom and the fifth a family member of one of the four.
“The Health Department and Health Officer have declared this an outbreak with more than three cases in one classroom.”
Sisson said two of the five students were fully vaccinated but had not had booster doses, and none had recently traveled. All five cases are mild or asymptomatic.
“This is consistent with data coming from rest of the world that vaccines are less effective at preventing omicron infection,” Sisson wrote.
Yolo County in an update later Thursday said another family member who is not a student tested positive, bringing the outbreak to six total cases.
The health officer called the situation “dynamic,” with additional test results expected the rest of this week.
Sisson recommended that all River City High students and teachers get tested for COVID-19. She said the high school is providing additional testing, “and sending students and staff home with testing kits for use before they return to campus in January” from winter break, which begins next week.
In a prior weekly update to its COVID-19 data dashboard on Dec. 8, Washington Unified reported no active coronavirus cases among its 7,574 students and 778 staff members across all 15 of its sites. It said it had detected 170 total cases districtwide between Aug. 5 and Dec. 8.
This story was originally published December 16, 2021 at 10:57 AM.
