Conn. schools report 4 times more COVID cases than at this time last year

There are, according to state data, 2,773 students with COVID in Connecticut schools, and 800 staff as of Sept. 22. Last year, on Sept. 22, 2021, there were 728 students with COVID, and 127 staff.

There are nearly four times as many COVID cases among students this year than the same time last year, a review of state data shows, and though the state is logging a decrease in cases overall, hospitalizations are about on par with last year.

There are, according to state data, 2,773 students with COVID in Connecticut schools, and 800 staff as of Sept. 22.

Last year, on Sept. 22, 2021, there were 728 students with COVID, and 127 staff. That’s a 281 percent increase in student cases year-over-year, and a 530 percent increase in cases among staff.

“Kids back to school, no masking mandates,” said Dr. Ulysses Wu, chief epidemiologist at Hartford HealthCare. “That’s why that’s happening. Most of them are probably not vaccinated.”

Overall, statewide data showed COVID cases are lower this year than last year, according to data maintained by the state Department of Public Health, although hospitalizations are higher than they were a year ago.

On Thursday, the state said there were 3,923 COVID cases reported over the previous seven days, and 400 patients in the hospital fighting a COVID infection, an increase of 74 from the previous week.

One year ago, on Sept. 22, 2021, the seven-day average of new cases was 913, with 269 patients in

the hospital with a COVID infection.

“The increased number

of cases in our school serves as a reminder about the importance of vaccination

in our children and school staff including the updated booster for eligible

persons, which protects against the variants that are currently circulating,” DPH spokesman Chris Boyle said in a statement.

Wu said that COVID cases appear lower because patients may not be reporting them, and hospitalizations may appear higher with more “incidental” COVID-related hospitalizations.

“The actual COVID cases that are published are going to be a lot lower than the actual true cases,” he said.

Brooks Walsh, an emergency room physician at Bridgeport Hospital, himself recently tested positive for COVID.

He said, anecdotally, that emergency rooms are seeing more COVID cases among younger patients, but also more viral infections overall.

“We’re seeing a huge increase in school-aged children coming in with all sorts of viruses,” he said.

Walsh said there is some “concerning” data emerging that suggests the latest COVID variants may not respond to commonly administered therapeutics such as Evusheld, but he has not seen that yet.

“There is theoretic access to all these tools, but it would be better if people didn’t get COVID,” he said.

Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media Pamela R. Lopes, of Woodbridge, a long-term COVID patient, walks on a treadmill with physical therapist Emily Ponce-Calloway at Griffin Health’s physical therapy and rehabilitation facility in Derby on Aug. 10.