More than 100 students and teachers transmitted or caught COVID-19 in school outbreaks, N.J. officials say – NJ.com

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The number of New Jersey schools where health investigations determined students or teachers transmitted COVID-19 in school or during extracurricular activities rose to 25 this week, according to the state's covid19.nj.gov website.

Since the start of the school year, at least 111 New Jersey students and educators have either contracted COVID-19 or passed it on to someone else while in the classroom, walking around their schools or participating in extracurricular activities, state officials said Thursday.

The totals include three new outbreaks at schools in Camden, Hudson and Somerset counties with a total of 28 new cases since last week, according to the data.

We knew going in that there would be cases in our schools and our job has been to work fast to put a lid on any outbreaks, Gov. Phil Murphy said at his coronavirus press briefing.

The 111 cases were part of 25 confirmed school outbreaks that local health investigations concluded were the result of students and teachers catching the coronavirus at school not at home, at parties or other gatherings, according to the state COVID-19 dashboard.

The numbers do not include the positive COVID-19 cases reported among New Jersey students and teachers who are suspected to have contracted the virus outside school. The state has not released those numbers, though a database maintained by the National Education Association says more than 220 New Jersey schools have reported at least one coronavirus case.

Though every case is taken seriously, Murphy said state officials believe the school outbreak numbers are still low as classes continue to practice social distancing and follow mask requirements. There have been outbreaks in less than 1% of the states more than 3,000 public and private schools, though not all of them are offering in-person classes.

So far, so good, Murphy said.

Citing privacy reasons, the state has not named the schools where the outbreaks occurred, nor the dates or any of the circumstances that led to the in-school transmission. However, the state has identified the counties where the schools are located.

The 25 outbreaks include:

Atlantic County: 1 school outbreak with 2 cases.

Bergen County: 3 school outbreaks with a total of 9 cases.

Burlington County: 2 school outbreaks with a total of 6 cases

Camden County: 3 school outbreaks with a total of 33 cases.

Cape May County: 3 school outbreaks with a total of 10 cases.

Gloucester County: 2 school outbreaks with a total of 10 cases.

Hudson County: 1 school outbreak with 4 cases.

Hunterdon County: 1 school outbreak with 3 cases.

Ocean County: 3 school outbreaks with a total of 9 cases.

Passaic County: 1 school outbreak with 9 cases.

Salem County: 2 school outbreaks with a total of 10 cases.

Somerset County: 2 school outbreak with a total of 4 cases.

Sussex County: 1 school outbreak with 2 cases.

Eight counties have reported no school outbreaks. They are: Cumberland, Essex, Mercer, Monmouth, Union, Warren, Morris and Middlesex counties.

Under New Jerseys guidelines, schools can shut down and switch to remote learning for two weeks if two or more students test positive for COVID-19 in different classrooms with the possibility they transmitted the virus to each other. Schools are required to inform families when there are COVID-19 cases in their classrooms, but the rest of the community might not be notified unless local health officials think it is necessary.

Most New Jersey school districts are operating under hybrid plans with a mix of in-person and at-home classes. Several school districts, including Paterson and Newark, are offering all-remote classes and plan to keep their school buildings closed until early 2021 due, in part, to the rise in outbreaks.

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Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com.

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More than 100 students and teachers transmitted or caught COVID-19 in school outbreaks, N.J. officials say - NJ.com