SOUTHWICK- The Southwick Board of Health discussed the upcoming school year during its remote meeting Aug. 20 as the number of COVID-19 infections in the area remain low.
Health Director Tammy Spencer said there was just one new confirmed case of COVID-19 in the town, which is its only active case. The total number of cases in Southwick is now 69.
“The trending for weekly cases is really good and our percent positive test rate is really low,” said Spencer.
In the previous two weeks the Town of Southwick has had 350 COVID-19 tests with just one positive result, giving the town a positivity rate of just .29 percent.
With the beginning of the new school year just a few weeks away, Spencer said that she has been in constant contact with the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School Department to discuss protocols and to discuss the weekly COVID-19 risk numbers released by the state.
“There were a lot of questions for protocols for cases and contacts but the state has been slowly rolling out direct requirements so we have a better idea of what to do,” said Spencer.
She mentioned the new requirement by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health that all school-aged children must receive the influenza vaccine this year unless they have a religious or medical exemption. In addition to COVID-19, the regular flu season this year is expected to be particularly bad.
Spencer said that she thinks the state is trying to get the message out now to get vaccinated and decrease the number of respiratory illnesses going around at the same time as COVID-19.
She also said that Southwick remains in the lowest risk category in the state. Per state guidelines, should the town enter the “moderate” risk stage, students may have to go back to online learning. The moderate risk category means that a city or town has an average of 4-8 new daily cases per 100,000 people. Southwick has a low population of approximately 10,000, so the threshold may be slightly higher.
As of now, school is expected to begin for in-person learning on Sept. 15.
In Westfield, there were just four new confirmed COVID-19 cases and one additional related death. This brings the total to 511 cases and 56 deaths since the pandemic began in the city.
