The number of new COVID-19 cases reported in Lawrence Public Schools Tuesday more than doubles the district’s recent single-day high of 53.
Latest updates to the district’s COVID webpage show 108 new cases. That brings the total cases for the 2021-22 school year to 681 — 361 of which, or 53%, have been reported so far in January.
Numerous districts around the state have announced plans to close schools amid similarly rising numbers of cases and shortages of substitute teachers. As of the time of publication, the Times was not aware of any such closures in Lawrence.
Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health did not release a full update of its COVID-19 statistics following the holiday, but the rolling 14-day average number of new daily cases hit a new high of 333.71, and the rate of positive COVID-19 tests rose again to 24.5%. For comparison, those numbers peaked at about 82 cases per day and 12.3% positivity in November 2020. Those were county records until late December 2021.
In Lawrence Public Schools, about 84.3% of COVID cases the district has reported throughout the school year have been in students.
About 51% of the district’s reported cases have been in students and staff at the elementary level, 25% at the middle school level and 22.5% in the high schools, with the remainder at district administrative offices.
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More coverage: COVID-19 in K-12
Lawrence Times graphic
Suzanne Perez / Kansas News Service
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