Delta variant-led surge among schoolkids concerns health officials
Cases of active COVID infections in Millard County broke 100 for the first time in many months last week, according to the Central Utah Public Health Department.
The number of active cases has steadily increased in the area as the more contagious delta variant of the novel coronavirus continues to impact communities across the nation, particularly in places with low vaccination rates and scant public health measures.
With the start of the new school year only a few weeks old, health authorities appear very focused on the spread of the virus in schools.
As of Sept. 3, 17 students in the Millard School District tested positive and 30 were quarantined. None of the cases were linked to transmission inside schools, according to the district’s figures.
The Utah Department of Health has started updating the public about the number of student infections across the state, something it did not do consistently last year.
According to figures available online, 1,775 new COVID cases reported in the state within the last two weeks were traced back to school settings. Only 108 of those were related to teachers, while 1,547 were associated with students. Another 120 cases in schools were not traced to specific people or causes.
Vaccination rates for eligible children age 12 to 17 in Central Utah—health authorities don’t break these numbers out by county—remain near the bottom compared to most portions of Utah. In the six-county area including Millard, the rate of children fully vaccinated was reported to be only 16.8 percent as of Labor Day. Only the TriCounty area in the far northeast corner of the state reported a lower rate—15.7 percent. Only Summit, Davis and Salt Lake counties reported vaccination rates over 50 percent among school-aged children.
The total vaccination rate in the state has barely budged, remaining at about 50 percent for some time. The total vaccination rate in Central Utah has changed little as well in the past few weeks, remaining close to 32 percent of eligible people fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, across the country, the seven-day average of daily new cases hovers near 160,000. The rate of new cases has slowed over the past several weeks, perhaps even peaking now only to fall in the coming weeks.
Fatalities, which are a lagging indicator, have risen sharply during the same time period, averaging more than 1,500 a day lately. They are expected to remain high for the foreseeable future, particularly as individual healthcare systems struggle to care for the growing number of extremely sick, including many children in some locales. Multiple media outlets in the state reported an unvaccinated teen girl from Salt Lake County, who had no underlying health conditions, was among the state’s most recent deaths.
The death toll in Millard County rose to 19 in the past few weeks. Utah’s overall fatalities has remained quite low compared to most other states. That figure was 2,658 as of Labor Day. The nationwide death toll will likely this week pass 670,000 dead from COVID.
Utah was among a handful of states to receive a warning from federal education authorities last month regarding prohibitions on masks in schools. The governor signed HB1007, which prohibits mask mandates in public schools and the state’s higher education system, in May.
That prohibition prompted the U.S. Secretary of Education to send a letter to Gov. Spencer Cox and State Superintendent Sydnee Dickson. While the letter doesn’t specifically warn the state of any consequences from HB1007, it does mention that any bans on masking in schools runs counter to rules set forth in the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, suggesting that new federal funding as part of that law could be withheld from the state’s public schools. From a local perspective, these federal funds amounted to $3 million in one-time grant opportunities for Millard School District.
“The Department is concerned that Utah’s actions could limit each LEA’s (local education agency’s) ability under the ARP Act to adopt a plan for the safe return to in-person instruction and continuity of services that the LEA determines adequately protects students and educators by following CDC guidance,” the letter reads. “The Department stands with the dedicated educators who are working to safely reopen schools and maintain safe in-person instruction.”
Cox has previously said the state has left masking rules up to local school districts in consultation with area health department authorities.
Concerns raised by state health department officials led to a recent meeting among Cox, state legislative leaders, the state’s superintendents and health authorities. Millard School District Superintendent David Styler said he participated in the wide-ranging discussion, but nothing of consequence came out of the conversation.
“They just wanted to hear our input pertaining to those ideas,” he said. “And frankly, from the superintendents who were there, it was kind of across the board, so there wasn’t a lot of clear direction. Just a lot of different opinions and things… nothing of clear consequence came out of it.”
Styler said he was sure the state’s health department was concerned about children under 12, who aren’t eligible yet for the COVID vaccine. Mandating masks for those children would offer a level of protection otherwise not available. That decision ultimately remains in the hands of parents, however.
Styler said the district continues to adhere to health department guidance, urging students and teachers who have symptoms to stay home from school. Still, while the district’s policies were set before the start of the school year, some circumstances call for different approaches to testing and masking.
For example, a student exposed at home still has to quarantine for 7-10 days, per health department guidance. Seven days if the student receives a negative test at the end of a week and 10 days if the student is not tested after an exposure. However, a student who is exposed at school or during school activities can return to campus so long as they wear a mask for seven days with a negative test at the end of a week or 10 days in a mask with no testing.
“So basically what it is saying is you are welcome to come as long as you wear a mask. But if you start showing symptoms, you’ve got to remain home,” he said.
Guidance adopted last year remains in effect as far as the threshold of infections required for significant impacts to an entire classroom, team or school. On Saturday in Grand County, school district officials there reported they were closing the area high school for a week, canceling classes and extracurricular activities due to a COVID virus outbreak. The Salt Lake Tribune reported the district will also institute a 30-day mask mandate for all grades, regardless of vaccination status as a result.