Two Holland-area schools on outbreak report as COVID-19 cases rise

For the first time since the end of January, a pair of Holland-area schools have been added to the state’s School-Related Cluster and Outbreak Report for COVID-19 outbreaks.

Hamilton High School and Holland Language Academy were both added to the report in the Monday, May 23, update. The report lists school buildings with at least three cases within a specified core group, such as a classroom or athletics team.

Hamilton High is listed as having nine related cases, all students. At Holland Language Academy, there are three related cases, which includes students and staff.

In Holland's most recent dashboard update, posted May 13, two cases were reported at HLA. Hamilton has not updated its district dashboard since Feb. 21.

These are the first local schools to be added to the report since the Jan. 31 update, a run of 15 straight weeks without a reported outbreak. There had been outbreaks in Ottawa and Allegan counties in recent weeks, including Ottawa Area ISD buildings in Grand Haven and Allendale.

Grand Haven’s Mary A. White Elementary was also added this week. In Allegan County, Otsego’s middle and high schools were added earlier this month, while the district’s early childhood center was added this week.

School COVID-19 cases for the 2021-22 school year
Infogram

The local outbreaks come as case counts are trending up in West Michigan and across the state.

Through the May 23 Ottawa County dashboard update, there had been an average of 70.7 cases per day in May. The county averaged just 30.8 cases per day in April and 20.5 per day in March. There have been more cases in Ottawa County this May than in March and April combined.

At the state level, there were 29,267 new COVID-19 cases reported for the week of May 12-18, an average of 4,181 per day. The CDC moved 16 Michigan counties to the “High” Community Level earlier this month.

More: Michigan reports 29,267 new COVID-19 cases, 78 deaths over past week

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Despite the increases, Ottawa County remains in the “Low” COVID Community Level. Hospitalizations and deaths remain low as well.

“COVID-19 case rates, reported test positivity and wastewater signals have been trending up recently in Ottawa County,” OCDPH Communications Specialist Alison Clark stated in an email to The Sentinel. “Although we have remained in the CDC’s ‘Low’ Community Level for the last few months, it is possible that we will increase to the ‘Medium’ level in the weeks ahead.

“The good news right now is that hospitalizations and deaths currently remain low and regional hospital capacity is strong.”

Clark added that COVID-19 transmission has been “relatively low” over the past two summers and OCDPH is hoping for a similar trend this year.

The OCDPH continues to offer free COVID-19 testing, vaccines and boosters throughout the county. It encourages the community to prepare and implement prevention strategies, including staying up to date on vaccine and booster doses, planning for testing in the event of exposure and talking with your healthcare provider about eligibility for treatments in the event of infection.

— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @SentinelMitch. 

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland, Hamilton schools added to COVID-19 outbreak list