COVID-19 Cases Rise Quickly In Amherst

Amherst Regional Public Schools Report Small Number of Infections

The number of active COVID-19 cases in Amherst rose sharply in the last few days, leaping from 78 on Thursday to 146 on Friday, Sept. 10. The numbers appear to be driven largely by infections among off-campus students at UMass, but infections have also cropped up at Amherst College and the public schools.

UMass-Amherst reported 149 cases from Sept. 1 through 7, (including 127 among off-campus students, 19 on-campus, and three staff members). A total of 3,863 COVID-19 tests were given to UMass students and staff during the seven days, with a positivity rate near four percent. As a rule of thumb, five percent is considered too high to relax gathering rules, according to the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. 

UMass reports that 97% of students and 95% of staff are vaccinated. 

In a letter to UMass faculty and staff on Thursday, the Public Health Promotion Center stated it is closely monitoring COVID-19 test results. “During the past week, we have seen an increase in positive cases mostly among vaccinated off-campus students,” said center co-directors Ann Becker and Jeffrey Hescock. “All cases have been of short duration resulting in mild-to-moderate illness and no hospitalizations. The uptick…is predominantly among off-campus students…connected to indoor social activities, including visits to crowded downtown bars and attendance at parties.”

The Amherst College COVID-19 Dashboard for fall 2021, last updated on Friday, Sept. 10, shows 18 total cases, with four listed as active. The total cases include 12 among staff and faculty, and six students. 

The school district’s COVID-19 case dashboard shows six cases between Sept. 1 and Sept. 7, including three at Wildwood Elementary School, one at Amherst Regional High School, and one each at Amherst Regional Middle School and Fort River Elementary School. Another case reported at the high school was later removed from the dashboard. 

School Superintendent Michael Morris told the Indy via email on Thursday that the reported cases included both staff and students, but he did not provide details. When asked if the three Wildwood cases were a cluster, Morris didn’t answer directly, but said that based on contact tracing, “none of the current cases stem from school-based transmission (which is an important point.)” 

Morris was asked how many school staff or students were contacted, tested, or advised to quarantine as a result of the cases, and wrote “not very many, given the distancing protocols we have in place.”  An email inquiry to the Town’s Acting Health Director, Jennifer Brown, on Thursday asking how many close contacts were identified in the schools had not been returned at publication time on Friday.

ARPS Will Resume Email Notifications About Positive Cases 
In the weekly ARPS update on Friday, Morris stated that the district will “return to the practice of sending an email to all staff and families within any school building that has a positive case.” The practice, Morris said, was being resumed under guidance from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE.)

“As you have probably noticed, contact tracing has usually been completed already when the letter goes out, so you would most likely have already received a call if anyone in your family was a close contact,” he stated. 

Morris said the district will maintain its own COVID-19 dashboard “at least until DESE has their tracking dashboard up and running.”

State officials announced this week that public school districts will be required to resume reporting of COVID-19 case numbers on Sept. 13. (See a related article here.)

Board of Health to Require COVID Vaccines For Students 

On Thursday night, the Amherst Board of Health passed a motion to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of those required for attendance at public schools once full U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals are granted. The vote followed a letter of inquiry about the health board’s plans. The letter was submitted unanimously by the Regional School Committee, which cited the rising number of positive cases of school-aged children, both in Massachusetts and nationally. 

The health board’s motion, which passed unanimously, stated: “The Board of Health adds vaccination against COVID-19, using vaccines that have received full FDA approval, to the list of vaccinations that are required (except for medical or religious exceptions) for students to attend public schools in Amherst.”  Posting on Twitter, Morris said the RSC will discuss the mandate further at a meeting Sept. 23.

The Baker administration is unlikely to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for all Massachusetts school children, Morris noted when the RSC met this past Wednesday. “The governor believes it is best made as a local decision,” he said.  

Currently, the Pfizer vaccine is fully approved for children ages 16 and up, while emergency use authorization allows children 12 and over to receive the vaccine. No vaccine has been authorized or approved yet for use in children under 12.  

The state already requires numerous vaccines for attendance at public schools including diptheria/pertussis, polio, measles/mumps/rubella, hepatitis B, and varicella, along with the meningitis vaccine for older students. Medical exemptions are granted with proof that a particular vaccine would be harmful to a child, and in the absence of an emergency or epidemic, exemptions are also granted based upon a parent’s “sincere religious beliefs.” (The relevant state law is here.)

On Sept. 23, the RSC is also supposed to vote on a vaccination mandate for staff.  A draft circulated this week is here,  

RSC member Kerry Spitzer said Wednesday that it is important that the district protect its children who are too young to be vaccinated from possible COVID-19 exposure. “I’m very concerned as the parent of unvaccinated kids,” she said.

The “draft for discussion” includes an Oct. 31 deadline, and would apply to all school personnel and those working under contract in ARPS buildings. Proof of vaccination would be a COVID-19 CDC Vaccination Card, and  “all personnel must adhere to this policy as a condition of employment,” the draft states.  The mandate would include exemptions for medical reasons, and for individuals who have a sincerely-held religious belief.  However, some RSC members said they thought documentation from clergy should be required. “I think we should be pretty strict about it,” said Gene Stammell of Leverett. 

 If exemptions are are granted, “efforts will be made to reasonably accommodate the individual while maintaining a safe working environment,” including use of KN95/KN94 face mask at all times. 

Vaccination Rate Among Local Teens 
Morris said that the current vaccination rate among 12-to-15 year olds attending the middle and high school is 82%. Morris said he believes “it is safe to assume” the rate among 16 to 18 year olds is similar, but the number can’t be accurately gauged due to the state reporting system, which clumps together those ages 16 through 19, a group that could include high school graduates and college students. 

The district has applied to participate in a state program that would provide asymptomatic testing for staff and students, but it is not yet in place. “Our nursing staff is working with the state-appointed vendor on this front,” Morris said. “The state’s capacity to implement across the entire commonwealth has been a challenge.” 

Morris said that rapid COVID tests are available for symptomatic individuals. 

The Amherst Indy asked Morris how many COVID-19 cases in a single school would trigger temporary closure of that building. “There is no specific metric that has been recommended in this instance,” Morris stated, adding that districts are being asked to consult with their COVID-19 team, and DESE before making a determination. 

UMass Cancels Campus-Organized Game-Day Events on Saturday
The UMass Public Health Promotion Center directors stated that while there is presently no prohibition against UMass students gathering to socialize, they are reinforcing the message that masks should be worn at indoor gatherings, and even outdoors when social distancing is impossible. A decision was also made to cancel campus-organized, student game-day football activities next to McGuirk Alumni Stadium this Saturday.

Toni Cunnigham contributed to this article.