COVID-19 Cases In Greenwich Schools Continue To Decline

GREENWICH, CT — After a surge of COVID-19 cases to begin the new year, numbers in the Greenwich Public Schools district are coming back down with each update.

According to the district's COVID-19 tracker, there were 23 cases reported on Tuesday. The high for any update this school year was 392 on Jan. 4.

There are currently 20 active cases in the district affecting nine schools. Of the 20, 17 are students, two are service providers and one is a teacher.

Earlier this week, Gov. Ned Lamont announced that the school mask mandate will be in effect until Feb. 28. After that date, masking in schools will be left up to individual school districts and daycare centers.

Lamont's emergency powers expire Feb. 15. He urged legislators Monday to extend the mandate until the end of the month.

Greenwich Board of Education Chair Kathleen Stowe said in an emailed statement to Patch that the board is waiting for the legislative process to be complete before meeting to discuss policy.

"Currently, we are waiting for the legislative process to be complete (with the House on the 10th and the Senate on the 14th) to see if they will vote to extend the mask mandate and where the authority will lie regarding masking; with local authority, the Department of Public Health, and/or State Department of Education or some combination therein," Stowe said in an email. "Our board has committed to holding a special meeting on masking as soon as local authority is established with proper notice to families."

Stowe said a meeting could be held even during winter recess next week.

"I cannot speak for my colleagues and we should hear from the relevant public health officials, but I can tell you where I stand. I pushed to get the kids back to school by using all the recommended health measures at the time," Stowe added. "Greenwich and our students have responded well to this pandemic, we have achieved high vaccination rates and I think that should give us the flexibility to make masks optional for our students."