Rising COVID-19, Flu Cases Causing Disruptions In Salem Schools

SALEM, MA — When the Salem School Committee voted on a two-week holiday break for this academic year one of the key points in favor of putting the extra days off at the start of January was School Committee member Dr. Kristin Pangallo's caution that there were indications even nine months in advance of yet another COVID-19 surge coming around the holiday season.

That is appearing to be the case with surveillance data in Salem showing a sharp rise in coronavirus detected in wastewater — which has typically foreshowed a rise in positive tests among residents — and Salem Public Schools dealing with increased absences among students and staff ahead of the extended break.

"As we begin the winter season, we have seen a significant rise in illness across the Salem Public Schools," Superintendent Steve Zrike said in his weekly newsletter to SPS families. "Many students and staff have been absent from school due to COVID, strong strains of the flu, and/or respiratory illnesses.

"This has resulted in daily adjustments to staffing and programming to ensure appropriate supervision of our students."

Salem's weekly COVID-19 dashboard released on Friday showed the latest seven-day average of local wastewater surveillance identified 1.537 million copies per liter of COVID-19, a 34.1 percent increase over the previous week.

There were 116 documented cases in the city over the past two weeks — a number skewed by at-time tests that are not counted as official cases — and an 8.23 positive-test rate among nasal swab PCR tests.

"We appreciate everyone's flexibility as we navigate through the winter months," Zrike said. "All schools except for Carlton have an extra week of winter vacation and we hope this will help keep our case numbers down. It remains important that members of our community stay home when they are not feeling well and, of course, follow health protocols provided by the state.

"We strongly encourage everyone to get their flu shot and their most updated COVID shot/booster at their doctor's office or local pharmacies."

The School Committee in March voted to extend the Christmas/New Year's holiday break through Jan. 6, 2023, during this school calendar — essentially another full week off — which includes the Dia de Reyes holiday that many district families celebrate.

The city is making up to five boxes of the rapid at-home COVID-19 test kits available to any resident or person who works in the city.

The Curative PCR mobile testing site at Riley Plaza will remain open through the next two weeks before shutting down operations on Dec. 31.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)