COVID outbreaks at school in New Jersey drop to 39. Total staff, student cases double in 1 week.

School COVID-19 outbreaks in New Jersey rose to 39 on Tuesday, as the total number of student, teacher and staff cases more than doubled to 219 in one week, according to updated figures on the state dashboard.

Outbreaks – which are defined as cases where three or more unrelated people have tested positive after contracting the virus at school – include a single outbreak in Passaic County that has infected 50 staff and students.

It is not known how many students and school staff have tested positive since the start of the school year.

The definition of School Outbreak State is narrowly defined to only include cases of three or more coronavirus infections that may be linked to transmission in school through contact tracing. The New Jersey Department of Health does not publicly report all positive tests for staff and students, although some districts provide this information locally on their websites.

Districts are supposed to report the data to local health authorities and notify students who are considered “close contacts” or those who have tested positive.

Cases associated with extracurricular activities such as team sports at school or social gatherings involving several students from the same school.

Last week, the state reported 23 outbreaks and 102 infections among staff and students. New Jersey surpassed one million total COVID-19 cases on Tuesday during the pandemic’s 18-month period.

State officials are not disclosing the names of schools with outbreaks or details of how students and teachers caught the virus at school despite COVID prevention measures, including a warrant that almost everyone in schools wears masks.

Schools in New Jersey are not required to publicly disclose how many students or teachers have reported having the virus.

Outbreaks and cases at school as of Tuesday include:

• Mercer County: 6 outbreaks involving a total of 30 cases
• Atlantic County: 5 outbreaks involving a total of 16 cases
• Monmouth County: 5 outbreaks involving a total of 23 cases
• Essex County: 4 outbreaks involving a total of 16 cases
• Bergen County: 3 outbreaks involving 15 cases
• Camden County: 2 outbreaks involving 6 cases
• Cumberland County: 2 outbreaks involving 12 cases
• Hudson County: 2 outbreaks involving 9 cases
• Somerset County: 2 outbreaks involving 14 cases
• Morris County: 2 outbreaks involving 8 cases
• Passaic County: 1 outbreak involving 50 cases
• Gloucester County: 1 outbreak involving 7 cases
• Sussex County: 1 outbreak involving a total of 4 cases
• Cape May County: 1 outbreak involving 3 cases
• Hunterdon County: 1 outbreak involving 3 cases
• Union County: 1 outbreak involving 3 cases

There are no school outbreaks in Burlington, Middlesex, Ocean, Salem and Warren counties.

Last school year, New Jersey experienced 281 school outbreaks involving 1,263 positive tests among students, teachers and school staff, according to the state’s COVID-19 Dashboard.

However, the definition of a “school epidemic” has changed. Last year, the state defined an outbreak in schools as cases where two or more students, teachers or school staff contracted the virus at school. This year, the definition was changed for three or more students to align with how the federal Centers for Disease Control counts outbreaks in schools, state officials said.

The epidemic numbers only include cases where contact tracers believe people caught the virus in school. They do not include students, teachers and school staff who have tested positive, but who have contracted the virus at home or during other activities outside of school.

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NJ Advance Media editor Kelly Heyboer contributed to this report.

Jeff Goldman can be reached at [email protected].