More than 1,200 Nashville students tested positive for COVID-19 last week — a new record
For the second week in a row, Metro Nashville Public Schools is reporting record-high numbers of new COVID-19 cases among students and staff.
The district reported 1,222 new confirmed COVID-19 cases among students as of Sunday — the most new cases in a single week since the start of the 2021-22 school year.
This week's report shows cases among students are up 25% since last week's 983 new cases marked a record. Another 746 students were reported to be in quarantine or isolation as of Sunday.
Waiver requests: Suburban, rural Tennessee districts dominate waiver requests to take schools virtual
The district also reported at least 293 new COVID-19 cases among staff members — also the most so far this school year. As of Sunday, 171 staff were in quarantine or isolation.
Since Jan. 1, the district has reported at least 2,298 new cases among students and 846 cases among staff.
It is of little surprise Nashville schools are reporting record infections considering the virus is spreading across Tennessee faster than ever among both children and adults.
The state averaged 2,700 new infections per day among school-aged children in the week ending on Jan. 15, the latest date for which infection numbers are available, according to The Tennessee Department of Health. This is about 15% higher than the worst weeks of the delta surge, which previously set the bar for infections among this age group.
Virtual learning: Tennessee grants seven districts permission to switch to virtual learning — for all of their individual schools
The uptick among Metro Schools students and staff comes as schools across the state shutter due to high student absences and staff shortages.
The Tennessee Department of Education gave permission for all of the schools in seven districts to pivot to remote learning for up to five days last week. State officials previously said entire districts could not switch to virtual learning but said last week there is no change in policy. The districts sought waivers for individual schools and there is no limit to the number they can seek permission to switch to virtual instruction, a spokesperson said.
Reporter Brett Kelman contributed to this story.
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Meghan Mangrum covers education for the USA TODAY Network — Tennessee. Contact her at mmangrum@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How many Nashville students tested positive for COVID last week? 1,222
