Gov. Phil Murphy
announced at Wednesday’s COVID-19 briefing that New Jersey school
districts will be required to report all testing and vaccination data
among students and staff on a weekly basis beginning Oct. 26.
The news comes as the virus continues to spread in schools across the
state. Two weeks ago, there were
over 100 COVID-19 cases linked to schools statewide. Today,
the number has jumped to 379 total cases.
Thirty new outbreaks have been confirmed in the past week, bringing
the total up to 69 outbreaks spread across
62 districts. More than 300 of the related cases are among students.
Passaic County is at the top with 62 school-related cases, followed by Mercer County with 39 and Camden County with 37.
“It definitely concerns me
because it could spread to here, that really freaks everybody out but we’re
doing a lot in school to prevent the numbers from going up,” says Clifton High
School freshman Athena Fruat.
Fruat says most kids at the
school are very much aware of social distancing rules and are pro-mask.
“It’s
a major thing, but I’m just trying to keep my kids safe as much as I
can, like wearing masks all the time,” says Ahmed Nouh. “I know it’s bothering
them, but they have to.”
Health
Commissioner Judith Persichilli says the data will include information
from testing conducted by the schools, their testing vendors, and cases
reported by parents, teachers and staff.
The data that is
collected will be shared on the state's COVID-19 dashboard.
The data that is collected will be shared on the state's COVID-19
dashboard.