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Elementary schools in San Bernardino County could meet state criteria as early as next week, which would allow them to begin reopening, county officials said on Tuesday, February 9.
The county has 33.2 new cases of coronavirus per 100,000 population, an adjusted rate of 32.7 after taking into account the number of coronavirus tests in the county, according to state data.
That number has improved dramatically in recent weeks – the adjusted rate was 50.2 cases per 100,000 as of Tuesday, February 2. The trend suggests it may soon reach an adjusted rate of 25. Riverside County’s adjusted case rate is 44.9 cases per 100,000.
Once the rate has been 25 or less for five consecutive days, school districts can begin the process of reopening kindergarten through sixth grade for in-person instruction, said Corwin Porter, director of public health at the San Bernardino County.
“If our numbers continue to drop, we could be really close by the end of this week,” Porter told San Bernardino County supervisors.
The projection assumes that rates aren’t going up because of the Super Bowl rallies. The effects of the Super Bowl are expected to be seen next week, Porter said.
The decision to reopen if it meets the state’s criteria rests with each school district, he said.
“We’re consulting them on this process, but it’s ultimately the decision of the school district,” Porter said.
Previously, the county had granted waivers allowing elementary schools to reopen in parts of the county with lower rates, but the state ended the waiver process on January 14.
The number of new positive cases is declining rapidly since the winter push, Porter said.
But the county is encouraging people to keep getting tested, which – in addition to helping people avoid spreading the disease – reduces the percentage of positive tests. And if the number of people tested drops too low, the county’s case rate will be adjusted upward – making it harder to meet reopening benchmarks – rather than downward, as is currently the case. .
“Testing has dropped as the number of cases has declined,” Porter said. “We encourage people to keep getting tested, even if they have been vaccinated, so that we can reduce the positivity rate and continue to red (level).”
The county reaches the red level, allowing more businesses to reopen, if it has an adjusted case rate of 7.0 or less and positivity rates for the entire county and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods of less than 8 , 0% for two consecutive weeks.
“We should have a more serious case in a couple of weeks about going red,” Porter said.
At present, the City of San Bernardino Unified School District has no plans to reopen elementary schools, even though it has been given the green light to do so.
In November, the school board voted in favor of continuing distance learning for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year.
“Another meeting should take place so that the board can even reconsider,” the plan, spokeswoman Maria Garcia said on Tuesday.
The California Department of Public Health is planning an interactive map on its website that will show each school district’s reopening status, safety plans, and COVID-19 cases, but as of February 9, the map was not not yet available.
Editor Beau Yarbrough contributed to this report.
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