With the number of positive Covid cases dropping, Brookfield Central School planned to return to full in-person instruction this week.
BCS Superintendent Jim Plows said at last week’s virtual Board of Education meeting that 30 percent of students and several staff members were quarantined early this month. That caused BCS to go to remote instruction for the second two-week stint since September.
Members of the Madison County Health Department also attended the meeting. As of the meeting the county had 222 active cases of coronavirus.
That is the highest number of active cases Madison County has seen in a while; concern was given for the upcoming holidays of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas and potential increases in infections.
County officials said positive cases are not coming from transmissions in schools, but in households. Last week the county also had two more deaths from Covid, with one person between the ages of 18 and 24.
With a 5 percent infection rate, Madison County, along with all of Central New York, has one of the highest infection rates in New York state. Officials said young individuals are testing positive at a higher rate than before.
One percent of those testing positive have had a vaccine. Madison County’s two hospitals are at capacity as patients from the Syracuse area and Oneida County have been sent to Oneida and Hamilton hospitals.
County officials said they continue to promote getting vaccinated, wearing facemasks and maintaining physical distances to prevent the virus from spreading. Also, those who do not feel well should stay home and get tested if they have symptoms.
Plows said one BCS class had desks set at the required distance, but that particular group was not good about keeping their facemasks on. The district moved to quarantine the entire class; a few days later some positive…