COVID-19 testing soon available at Grafton schools; town has seen 114 new cases since January 1
Every time the Grafton schools email parents about the latest COVID-19 cases in the classrooms, Superintendent of Schools Jay Cummings is accused of “being alarmist.”
“Just about everyday, we’ve had cases but hopefully, knock on wood, we’re past the post-holiday spike,” Cummings told the School Committee Tuesday.
In the current week, Grafton has had four new cases, bringing the total since the start of the school year to 94. None have been the result of in-school transmission, according to contact tracing.
Grafton has been listed as a high-risk community by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for weeks, rising to 684 confirmed Covid cases since the start of the pandemic last March, 114 of those since the start of 2021. Eleven people have died in Grafton, 1,658 have died in Worcester County, and 12,996 Massachusetts residents have died.
The schools soon will have more tools at hand. BinaxNOW testing will be available in the schools to immediately test, with parent permission if it’s a student, anyone showing Covid symptoms.
And in February, teachers are included in the Phase 2 rollout of the vaccine.
“Early spring, maybe even March, I expect to see an increased desire to return in person,” Cummings said. The current mandate of a three foot minimum between students and limited ridership on school buses would make that difficult, he added. “Even if we wanted to have everyone back, we can’t do it.”
Cummings saved his biggest praise for the school nurses, praising nursing coordinator Jackie Davis’ leadership.
“Our nurses are fantastic,” he said.
