Carlsbad Municipal Schools reported 35 new COVID-19 cases among students and staff, according to the district’s COVID-19 Rapid Response Dashboard for the week ending on Dec. 10.
On Dec. 3 the district also reported 47 cases since the Thanksgiving break.
Carlsbad Municipal Schools (CMS) has had 517 positive COVID-19 cases since school started on Aug. 10.
The district opened a drive-thru testing site for students and staff on Nov. 30 to aid the test-to-stay program which allows unvaccinated students to stay in school if they test negative for COVID-19 after they come in close contact with someone with the virus.
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The site closed temporarily on Dec. 13 after running out of testing kits but reopened the following day on Dec. 14.
“With the new test to stay program we are able to keep students off quarantine and in school where they need to be,” said CMS Superintendent Dr. Gerry Washburn during his weekly announcement.
Since the testing site opened CMS has identified 168 close contacts, 108 of those students were able to remain in school after taking part in the program, Washburn said. The remaining 60 chose to opt out of the program and were required to quarantine.
All of Carlsbad Municipal School District’s 11 schools reported at least one positive case in the last 14 days of the report.
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State health officials announced the first case of the COVID-19 omicron variant in New Mexico as the number of cases continues to increase throughout the state.
Between Nov. 29 and Dec. 13, Eddy County had 467 new COVID-19 cases, according to data from the New Mexico Department of Health.
On Nov. 27 the county had a seven-day average of 17 cases, by Dec. 12 it jumped to 29 cases.
According to data from the DOH, 1,146 children in Eddy County tested positive for COVID-19 since the beginning of the school year. The total number of positive COVID-19 cases among children in the County rose from 1,457 on Aug. 11 to 2,603 on Dec. 13.
Vaccinations are the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to state health officials but Eddy County lagged behind the rest of the state in COVID-19 vaccination rates.
As of Dec. 13, 54.4 percent of adults in Eddy County are fully vaccinated and 62 percent had received at least one shot, according to the DOH COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard.
Meanwhile, 75 percent of New Mexicans were fully vaccinated and 87 percent had at least one dose.
COVID-19 case count in the last 14 days
- Carlsbad High School: 3 rapid responses, 21 cases
- Alta Vista Carlsbad Intermediate School: 2 rapid responses, 11 cases
- PR Leyva Carlsbad Intermedia School: 4 rapid responses, 12 cases
- Cottonwood Elementary School: 2 rapid responses, 6 cases
- Desert Willow Elementary School: 0 rapid responses, 3 cases
- Early Childhood Education Center: 0 rapid responses, 3 case
- Carlsbad Early College High School: 3 responses, 6 cases
- Hillcrest Preschool: 0 rapid responses, 2 cases
- Monterrey Elementary School: 2 rapid responses, 6 cases
- Ocotillo Elementary School: 2 rapid responses, 5 cases
- Sunset Elementary School: 4 rapid responses, 10 cases
A rapid response is initiated after at least one or more people from the school test positive for COVID-19 within a 24-hour timeframe. The school is required schools identify and test anyone they came in contact with.
Claudia Silva is a reporter from the UNM Local Reporting Fellowship. She can be reached at [email protected], by phone at 575-628-5506 or on Twitter @thewatchpup.
