During the week that ended Nov. 11, there were 191 new coronavirus cases among students and 157 among school staff members reported to the state, according to education officials.
State officials estimate that about 450,000 students across the state are attending some form of in-person learning, and about 75,000 staff members are working in buildings.
Thursday’s figures include any cases reported to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education between Nov. 5 and 11. State education officials are not tracking when the cases occur, only when local school officials report them to the state. A weekly summary on positive cases reported at schools is published by the state each Thursday.
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Starting the week that ended Oct. 21, local school districts are required to report their coronavirus cases to state education officials. The first three reports released by the state did not require districts to report their cases.
Combined, a total of 934 cases among students and 573 among staff members have been reported to the state.
Education officials had said until this week that they were not aware of any coronavirus transmission happening within schools, but a spokeswoman for the state said Thursday that there has been limited transmission in school buildings.
Governor Charlie Baker also said Thursday during a press conference that there may have been one incident of transmission in a school. He did not say where the potential in-school transmission occurred.
There have been “very small numbers with respect to infections, and none of which, for the most part, originated in the schools, and I think maybe one example of an in-school transmission, maybe not even,” Baker said, trailing off as he turned to Education Commissioner Jeff Riley for confirmation. He spoke to the media after touring the K-8 Carlisle public school on Thursday.
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The state is only tracking cases involving students and staff members who have been inside school buildings, unless the staff member was not inside a school building for seven days before the case was reported. Coronavirus cases among those who are learning or teaching remotely are not included in the data.