The Austin school district is experiencing higher numbers of COVID-19 cases so far this school year compared with the first month of school last year.
The district has tracked 1,064 COVID-19 cases among students and employees through the first four weeks of classes, which ended last Friday. That’s a 56% increase from the 681 cases recorded through the first four weeks of last school year, according to district data.
That increase isn’t shocking to officials.
“Masking, social distancing barriers, that was all in play back at that time,” said Alana Bejarano, director of health services with the Austin school district. “People were being more cautious as well last year, so that’s a big implication. And omicron (BA.5) is now here, which is really transmissible.”
The Austin district ended its masking policy in March.
Students make up the largest portion of the coronavirus cases, Bejarano said, with more cases generally appearing in younger elementary children.
With the rise in the use of at-home testing, Bejarano said she believes the district’s case numbers are fairly accurate because they are based on self-reporting. People are directed to a Google form, which is then used to track the number of cases within the district.
While most COVID-19 precautions are no longer in effect, she said the district is still recommending that students who feel ill stay home. Anyone who tests positive for the coronavirus is required to stay home for five days and wear a mask for another five days, which mirrors guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Austin school officials also are still using air purifiers and scrubbers in some rooms, and are encouraging people to regularly wash their hands and get vaccinated, Bejarano said.
“I hate to say we threw the baby out with the bathwater,” she said. “We’re fortunate to still have those strategies, and then the reporting strategies are still in play (and) vaccinations are highly encouraged.”
COVID cases in other districts
The Round Rock school district tracked 964 cases through the first four weeks of classes, which is only a slight increase from the 944 cases recorded during the same time period last year.
Other districts, such as Pflugerville and Hays, have discontinued COVID-19 dashboards.
When school started last year, children ages 5-11 were not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, but that changed in November. Children ages 12-15 became eligible for vaccination in May 2021. People ages 16 and up were included in the original vaccine eligibility from December 2020.
The Austin district regularly offers vaccine clinics at different schools and locations, which Bejarano said continue to be booked. Using data from those clinics, she said 50%-60% of the roughly 11,000 employees and 73,600 students are vaccinated. However, that percentage could be higher as it does not account for people who received vaccinations from other providers.
Austin Public Health estimates about 40% of children ages 5-11 in Travis County are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 with both doses, while nearly 74% of children ages 12-15 are fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 vaccinations urged
Austin-Travis County Public Health Authority Desmar Walkes said there’s a notion that children who contract COVID-19 will experience a milder case and don’t need to be vaccinated. This is not accurate, she said, and there are cases of children in Travis County with no underlying health conditions being admitted to a hospital.
COVID-19 “is something that can affect a child and cause serious illness if they’re not vaccinated,” Walkes said. “And we know that vaccines are decreasing the severity of the disease.”
The CDC classifies Travis County at a low COVID-19 risk, based on hospitalizations and the numbers of positive cases, which means masking is optional for people who are up to date on vaccines.
Oluwaseun Egbelowo, a postdoctoral researcher at the COVID-19 Modeling Consortium at the University of Texas, said it’s important for everyone to get vaccinated to prevent further spread, which could lead to a new variant.
“This virus is not done with us,” he said.
