Hartford Public Schools will continue to offer an in-person learning option for at least two more weeks. Since September, there have been 52 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city’s schools but only one probable case of in-school transmission, officials said.
Mayor Luke Bronin said this week that Hartford had 125 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 1.8%, down from 199 cases the week before.
“What we have seen over the last week is that we have seen continued stabilization and a very slight decrease in the number of cases week over week,” said Bronin.
Based on new guidance from the state, data will be evaluated biweekly. If Hartford reaches an average of 10 new cases per day or cases of in-school transmission, officials said they will reevaluate their decision.
To provide additional support for families, Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez said officials have made over 500 home visits.
“Those entail making sure that we do wellness checks, ensuring that our families have those extended supports, perhaps it’s a housing insecurity issue, perhaps it’s that they need mental health support,” she said.
In-school testing will continue at eight Hartford Public School locations. Local Health Department Director Liany Arroyo said contact tracers will continue to work at the school and city levels.
“We know that we have densely populated communities, we have multigenerational housing, and we have a majority-minority community, where 85% of the residents of our city are African American or Latino. We need to keep all of those circumstances in mind,” said Arroyo.
The next update will be Nov. 2.
The original story misidentified one speaker. Her name is Liany Arroyo.
Brenda León is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms.
