(New Orleans – January 24, 2022) - NOLA Public Schools is pleased to announce that the positive test rates among its students and staff continue to decline after the surge related to the Omicron variant, indicating that COVID safety measures are doing their part to preserve in-person learning.
The NOLA-PS school community tested more than 15,000 individuals last week, yielding a positive test rate of approximately 5 percent - a significant drop from the rates of 13 percent in early January and 7 percent the week before.
To keep this trend moving in a positive direction, NOLA-PS Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. is reminding the community that Feb. 1 is the deadline for all students 5 and up to be fully vaccinated. Vaccinations remain the best tool to keep COVID-19 from disrupting students' educational journeys.
"Being vaccinated not only protects you, but it protects your family, your schoolmates, and your community," Dr. Lewis said. "The best thing you can do to fight this pandemic and keep everyone safe is to get your shots. Our schools are doing their part by hosting vaccination events to give students access to this life-saving care."
Working with its medical advisors, NOLA-PS continues to assess its safety guidelines based on the information provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH). These updates can be viewed here.
For information on vaccination opportunities, please contact your school or visit www.nolapublicschools.com/vaccinations or www.ready.nola.gov for details on testing and vaccination sites.
This week's COVID Tracker provides an update for the week of Jan. 17-21.
The District is currently tracking 665 total cases of COVID-19 (97 staff; 568 students) among 54 schools in our school community, resulting in 1,058 individuals in quarantine. From January 17-21, NOLA PS completed 15,191 COVID-19 tests with a positive test rate of 5 percent.
As we've been doing since the start of the pandemic, NOLA-PS will continue to monitor the data that measure the impact of COVID-19. Our goal is to continue to preserve in-person learning.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, the LDH, and the New Orleans Health Department have analyzed the data, and all agree the best place for children to be is in the classroom. The benefits include developing social and emotional skills, access to healthy meals and activities, and access to mental health support that cannot be offered through virtual learning.
With that in mind, NOLA-PS will continue to publicly share each week the number of confirmed cases and precautionary quarantines that our schools self-report. We will also continue to remain in close contact with the LDH and our health advisers as we navigate the 2021-2022 school year.
NOLA-PS' COVID-19 Case Tracker provides cumulative data of self-reported cases in our public schools since this reporting began on Sept. 21, 2020. Last school year's data is archived and available for viewing on our website.
The NOLA-PS COVID-19 Case Tracker reports the number of active and cumulative positive cases of COVID-19 by school site, the number of quarantined individuals and the number of positive cases of COVID-19 reported over time for the district and by school site.
The case numbers above reflect data the District has received from schools. In some cases, there may be a lag time in reporting due to the timeframe in which families notify their schools regarding test results among students.
All schools are required to report positive cases to the LDH and the District. The District is continuing to stay on top of updates, collaborate with state and local agencies, and work closely with our school leaders, task force, and community stakeholders to ensure a safe 2021-2022 school year.
To learn more about our quarantine and isolation process for the 2021-2022 school year, please refer to NOLA-PS' COVID Guidance for the details.
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About NOLA Public Schools: NOLA Public Schools is the public school district for Orleans Parish. It includes the district's administration and elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board. NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 76 public schools and is led by Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr.
For more information, visit www.nolapublicschools.com. For updates, follow NOLA Public Schools on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps and Twitter @NOLAPSchools.