Statement From Andover's Director Of Public Health On Decision Regarding Remote Learning

Press release from Andover Public Schools:

December 18, 2020

"The ultimate decision to move to a fully remote model for next week was the School District’s to make, but one that I support, and that was done with our input. According to the district’s dashboard, as of yesterday there are 47 active cases among district students and staff, 40 of those from within actual school buildings. In the general population, we are finding that during case interviews, somewhere between 10 and 20 close contacts are identified as needing to enter quarantine, meaning that there are even more people impacted than shown on the dashboard.

We have seen very little in-school transmission, but each time we have moved to remote learning in a school prior to this, it has been due to a shortage of staff needed to operate the building safely. In this case, we all agreed that the best response was to implement a three week pause within the schools with the hope of starting fresh upon return in January. There is another impact that comes into play as well; the school nurses have taken on the in-building contact tracing for each positive case, because they know and understand best what happens in their buildings. It is important that they have the opportunity to complete that work prior to the holiday break so that they too can enjoy some much needed down time.

This data will be released officially later today when I complete my community-wide review, but it shows the three week trend in cases across all ages; our biggest cohort for cases is in the age group for middle and high school students.

Our biggest source of spread is occurring within the household. In this three week look back, 52% of the cases are from 71 homes, showing an in-home spread, and many of these cases are asymptomatic. We are also starting to see indications that youth sports may be a problem again.

I understand that this decision creates logistical problems for families, and I know that the District does not take that lightly. From a public health viewpoint, it is a prudent move that hopefully will put the district on firmer ground when students return in January."

Thomas Carbone

Director of Public Health

Town of Andover

This press release was produced by the Andover Public Schools. The views expressed are the author's own.