Posted on 05/11/22
| News Source: WMAR2NEWS
COVID-19 cases are increasing in our community again, but Baltimore City leaders said the numbers are still considered low.
There were outbreaks at some area schools this week.
Some students within Baltimore City Schools were pushed to virtual learning Tuesday after dozens of students and staff tested positive for COVID-19.
Baltimore City School officials said there was a grade-level outbreak impacting sixth-graders at Roland Park Elementary Middle School.
“There’s a certain number of students in that grade who have all come down with COVID within a 14 day period, and there’s a chance that those cases are epidemiologically linked,” said Cleo Hirsch, the Executive Director of the COVID response team for Baltimore City Schools.
Hirsch said research shows the spread was likely traced back to an event that happened over the weekend.
“The students were on a field trip and so we’re quite certain that it was a result of the field trip that led to the cases spreading between students," Hirsch said. "They also had a spring festival and a community festival at the school, so the following day, it was a little bit of a perfect storm."
Hirsch said although COVID-19 numbers had slowed down, they never stopped testing and practicing their mitigation strategies within city schools.
“ We know COVID did not go away but we also know that we are prepared and we’re more prepared today than we ever have been before," Hirsch said. "We have very robust testing protocols. We’ve got the staff dedicated to this to ensure schools get the support they need, students get the testing they need."