83 kids or teachers caught COVID-19 in N.J.’s largest reported school outbreak, state says – NJ.com

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At least 83 students or staff members caught COVID-19 at one Essex County school in what appears to be the largest outbreak reported in a single New Jersey school building, according to new state data.

State health officials did not release the name of the school, the municipality or any other information about the outbreak, citing the need to protect the privacy of students or teachers who tested positive. It is unclear if the outbreak was in a public or private school.

An Essex County spokesman also said he had no additional information. Unlike some other New Jersey counties, health investigations in Essex are conducted by health officers in the county’s 22 municipalities instead of through the county health office.

New Jersey defines school outbreaks as cases where contract tracers determined two or more students or school staff caught or transmitted COVID-19 in the classroom or during academic activities at school. Cases where people caught the virus during sports practices, at other extracurricular activities or from their families or people outside school are not included in numbers.

There have been 108 school outbreaks involving 546 students, teachers and staff since the school year began in late August, according to the state COVID-19 dashboard updated Wednesday.

Though the state has released minimal information about the cases, most of the outbreaks have involved 10 or fewer people catching the virus at each school. In November, an unidentified Union County school reported an outbreak in which at least 23 people got sick.

The 83-person outbreak at the Essex County school is the first reported in the county since the state started tracking the data. It was one of three new outbreaks reported during the last week, as most schools began shutting down for winter break.

The other new outbreaks were in schools in Passaic and Sussex counties. Each involved two cases in which students either transmitted or caught coronavirus at school.

The 108 school outbreaks reported so far include:

Atlantic County: 5 school outbreaks (total of 14 cases)
Bergen County: 21 school outbreaks (total of 99 cases)
Burlington County: 7 school outbreaks (total of 24 cases)
Camden County: 13 school outbreaks (total of 66 cases)
Cape May County: 8 school outbreaks (total of 23 cases)
Cumberland County: 3 school outbreaks (total of 7 cases)
Essex County: 1 school outbreak (83 cases)
Gloucester County: 6 school outbreaks (total of 37 cases)
Hudson County: 2 school outbreaks (total of 10 cases)
Hunterdon County: 1 school outbreak (3 cases)
Mercer County: 2 school outbreaks (total of 12 cases)
Middlesex County: 1 school outbreak (3 cases)
Monmouth County: 6 school outbreaks (total of 19 cases)
Ocean County: 5 school outbreaks (total of 34 cases)
Passaic County: 5 school outbreaks (total of 25 cases)
Salem County: 10 school outbreaks (total of 37 cases)
Somerset County: 3 school outbreaks (total of 9 cases)
Sussex County: 4 school outbreaks (total of 9 cases)
Union County: 1 school outbreak (23 cases)
Warren County: 4 school outbreaks (total of 9 cases)

Morris County is the only county that has not reported any school outbreaks since the start of the school year, according to the state data.

Some critics have said New Jersey’s school outbreak data is misleading because it excludes students who caught the virus at sports practices and other after-school activities. The flaws in New Jersey’s contact tracing system, which has a low number of people cooperating, and parents withholding information about positive tests from schools may also be keeping state officials from getting an accurate count of outbreaks.

Before winter break, 320 school districts were providing all-remote learning and 362 districts had hybrid plans combining in-person and virtual classes, state officials said. Only 82 districts were open for all in-person classes. The remaining 47 districts had some mix of all-remote, in-person or hybrid learning depending on the school building or grade.

Those numbers include only public schools, charters and private schools for students with disabilities. Catholic schools, private prep schools, yeshivas and other private K-12 schools are not included in the state’s totals.

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Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com.