Positive Test Rate Drops Among Students, Staff, Schools Continue Implementing Safe In-Person Learning Strategies

With most schools open for in-person learning, recent Public Health data Jan. 19, showed test positivity rates dropped among students and staff while the number of schools reporting cases increased sharply coinciding with the re-opening of LAUSD campuses. 

For the week of Jan. 9 through Jan. 15, there were 1,032 K-12 schools reporting positive cases; this represented a 55% increase since the first week of December 2021, when 665 schools reported positive cases.  

Also, for the week ending Jan. 15, there were almost 595,000 tests administered to students and staff at K-12 schools. Of those, 11% were positive, down from 15% the prior week. Although an estimated 65,000 students and staff tested positive last week, only three new outbreaks (2 elementary schools and 1 in high school) were identified, signaling that most of the recent cases represent high rates of community transmission. 

To help ensure safety at schools, more than 140 school-based vaccine clinics are scheduled this week and nearly 500 school-based vaccine clinics are scheduled in February. School vaccine clinics offer pediatric doses for those 5-11 years of age, as well as boosters for eligible students 12 years of age and older. Vaccines continue to provide the best protection against illness and hospitalizations and are the safest way to keep kids in school and other activities. 

Public Health has identified a total 2,343,821 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County. Today’s positivity rate is 16.9%. 

There are 4,799 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized. Testing results are available for more than 10,725,900 individuals, with 20% of people testing positive.   

To keep workplaces and schools open, residents and workers are asked to: 

• Adhere to masking requirements when indoors or at crowded outdoor spaces, regardless of vaccination status.
• Remain home when sick, isolate if positive and quarantine when in close contact.

Residents are legally required to be isolated if they have a positive COVID test result and vaccinated.  Close contacts with symptoms and unvaccinated close contacts need to be quarantined. 

Details: www.publichealth.lacounty.gov