Hundreds of school students, staff absent this week because of virus

Hundreds of Eastern Iowa students and staff reported testing positive for COVID-19 and were absent from school this week, the first week of classes after the holiday break.

The Cedar Rapids Community School District, which requires students and staff to wear a mask, reported Friday that 197 students and 49 staff members had tested positive for COVID-19.

Other school districts also reported higher numbers of students and staff testing positive for COVID-19 this week than before the winter break:

Staff vaccines

School districts also are considering implementing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Emergency Temporary Standard, which requires companies with 100 employees or more — including school districts — to require staff get vaccinated against COVID-19 or get tested weekly.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on the rule Friday.

Currently, employers can give workers the option of being tested weekly if an employee has a medical or religious exemption for vaccination. The rule requires unvaccinated employees to wear masks indoors.

The Cedar Rapids school board is voting Monday, at 5:30 p.m., on whether to adopt the vaccine mandate and COVID-19 testing requirements.

The Iowa City school board will discuss the new requirements during its meeting Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Record cases

Linn and Johnson counties are seeing record and near-record numbers of new cases of COVID-19 this week, with both counties reporting seven-day positivity rates above 20 percent.

Also this week, omicron became the dominant coronavirus strain in Iowa. Health officials expect the number of omicron infections to continue increasing and peak around late January or early February.

As of Friday, the seven-day positivity rate in Linn County was 27 percent and 22 percent in Johnson County, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.

The positivity rate in Cedar Rapids schools is less than 1 percent. But, as of Thursday, the 17 and under age group represented 17 percent of the new COVID-19 cases in Linn County.

As of Wednesday, Linn County reported an additional 2,095 new COVID-19 cases in the past week.

Johnson County saw a record number of new COVID-19 cases this week, reporting 1,711 positive tests as of Friday, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Health officials say those totals are likely underreported since people using at-home rapid COVID-19 tests are not counted, unless they follow up with a laboratory-confirmed PCR test.

Mask mandates

The Linn-Mar and College Community school districts ended their mask requirements on Monday since the COVID-19 vaccine has been available for 5 to 11 years olds for more than 60 days.

Masks are still required on school buses to comply with federal requirements.

A new Iowa law that prohibits school districts from imposing mask mandates is being challenged in court, where a federal judge prevented the law from being enforced. The state has appealed that ruling to the federal 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Cedar Rapids schools reinstated a mask mandate for all students, staff and visitors on Sept. 15, 2021.

If the federal restraining order is changed or lifted, masks will not be required, according to district metrics for removing the mask requirement.

Other metrics the district can consider in determining when mask requirements for students and staff can safely end are:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend indoor masking for everyone age 2 and older, including students, teachers, staff and visitors in school buildings.

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