Students and teachers in schools across San Mateo County should expect to continue in-person learning as they return from the winter holidays, according to a news release from the San Mateo County Office of Education.
The news comes as COVID-19 daily cases in the county continue to rise and as the United States set a new record of daily cases on Wednesday due in part to the new omicron strain.
The San Mateo County Office of Education said its working with San Mateo County Health, the Governor's Office and the California Department of Public Health to "support safe in-person learning for both students and staff."
The California Department of Public Health has sent rapid tests to the San Mateo County Office of Education for student use in the first weeks after the winter break, according to the news release. These tests have been received and the office is working to distribute them to the county’s public school districts as the students return to campuses.
“San Mateo County school leaders and staff have diligently and effectively followed the pillars of COVID safety for schools throughout the course of the pandemic, including masking, health screenings, COVID-19 testing, and contact tracing,” said San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools Nancy Magee in a statement. “They will continue to follow these protocols to create a safe and smooth return to in-person learning and instruction.
“The importance of in-person learning for the academic and social development of all our students cannot be overstated,” Magee added.
Vaccination records show that in the county vaccination rates are above 90 percent among education staff. Further bolstering these efforts is the ongoing campaign to vaccinate 5-11 year-olds and the increase in COVID-19 testing after the holidays, the release said.
In the past month, the county reported 308 new COVID-19 cases in Redwood City and 38 in North Fair Oaks. According to data from the California Department of Public Health published by the L.A. Times, 80% of the cases in Redwood City, and 84% in North Fair Oaks, occurred in the last two weeks.
The California Department of Public Health has also confirmed the presence of the new omicron variant in the county using genetic sequencing, according to Merchant. However, it’s unclear whether the rise in COVID-19 cases in the county is due to omicron or how many cases have been caused by the new strain.
“Through wastewater testing and data from our neighboring counties, we have known for several weeks that omicron is prevalent in the region, including in San Mateo County,” he said, noting that wastewater testing was conducted by the Stanford-based Sewer Coronavirus Alert Network. “We continue to send samples to the state lab for genetic sequencing as part of regional disease surveillance.”
San Mateo County Health encourages families to vaccinate their children who are eligible and has arranged several school-based vaccination clinics in January and February. Information can be found on the MyTurn and County Health websites.
Leah Worthington contributed to this report.
