Number Of Weekly COVID-19 Cases Rises To 45 In Maplewood/South Orange Schools

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — As COVID-19 cases rise around the state amid the highly transmissible omicron variant, the COVID dashboard for the Maplewood schools showed that cases doubled in the last week over the previous two weeks, and nearly tripled from weeks in November.

The weekly case tracking chart shows 45 cases as of Friday, which is more than all cases in November combined.

Earlier this month, the district announced that everywhere in the state is now deemed an area of high transmission by the state Department of Health. That means any unvaccinated District student or staff person who is exposed to COVID-19 must now quarantine for 14 days. They will receive remote instruction.

With the new omicron variant spreading quickly around New Jersey and people gathering for the holidays, cases have climbed. The vaccines are said to drastically reduce hospitalization and death.

However, officials caution that the omicron variant could still be deadly to some, particularly when spread to more vulnerable groups.

In America, as of Sunday, 806,000 Americans have died of COVID since the start of the pandemic. The daily death rate is highest right now in Michigan, Montana, Arizona, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Read the state rankings here.

READ MORE: Omicron Variant Makes Up 13 Percent Of NJ/NYC COVID Cases

Other COVID Information

• Scientsts studying the new Omnicron variant — identified first in a sample in South Africa last month — say it's more transmissible than some variants but are unsure so far how effective vaccinations are against it. More studies will be done.

• The CDC estimates that more than 140,000 children have lost a close caregiver to the virus.
• Vaccinations now been recommended by the CDC for adults and for children 5 and over.
• Read the statement about Omicron and find links to get tested or vaccinated in New Jersey with this link.

New Jersey has launched a "vaccine appointment finder," which can be found here.

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