Ashland Schools Reporting 57 New COVID Cases; Majority of Cases From Rapid Home Tests

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ASHLAND – Ashland Public School District reported 57 new, positive COVID-19 cases over the last 48 hours.

“I want to emphasize that except for three positive cases, none of these confirmed COVID-positive students were in school today, and the last time any of them would have been in school would have been Thursday, January 6, 2022. The data includes positive results from yesterday, January 9,” said Superintendent of Schools Jim Adams. “We appreciate families using at-home tests, reporting these results to building nurses, and keeping their child(ren) home when not feeling well. Today, families reported 40 positive cases.”

The superintendent said 66.67% of the new cases are individuals who are vaccinated.

Below are the new cases over the last two days:

“Positive students are reminded they have the responsibility to notify anyone they believe would be a close contact. Please do your part in keeping our community safe,” said the Superintendent.

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“To reiterate, except for three students whose classmates’ families have been contacted separately, NO other reported COVID-positive students were present in school. Still, given the extraordinary number of cases reported today and yesterday, we are unable to email each affected classroom,” said Supt. Adams. 

The public school district announced Sunday it would no longer be doing contact tracing or participate in the “test and stay” program.

The Town of Ashland has seen a surge in COVID cases since the holidays.

In the last 2 weeks, the Town of Ashland reported 389 new COVID cases, according to Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

The rate of positivity over the last 14 days increased from 4.59% to 11.34%

Ashland to deal with this surge in cases has decided to limit access to municipal building, including Town Hall, the Community Center, and the Library.

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