The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on Thursday reported its first decline in coronavirus cases since the beginning of March, with 9,803 cases among students and 2,926 among staff for the week that ended Wednesday.
The 12,729 total cases represent a drop of 6,239, or nearly 33 percent, from those reported last week, according to data published by the state.
The change comes after multiple Massachusetts districts recently reinstated their masking policies, or strongly urged students to begin masking again. The state at the end of February previously lifted its mask mandate, leaving it up to individual districts to determine whether to keep them in place. While most lifted their mandates, a few, including Boston, kept them in place.
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Here’s other data highlights from this weeks school coronavirus report and reported state data:
Percentage of positive students: 1.1
Percentage of positive staff members: 2.1
Number of participating schools: 1,789
Number of pooled tests: 39,792
Pooled test positivity rate: 6.17%
District with the highest number of cases:
- Boston
- Springfield
- Newton
Number of active K-12 school clusters: 7
Cases among children (from May 8 to May 23):
- From birth to age 4: 3,007
- 5 to 9 years old: 3,559
- 10 to 14 years old: 3,871
- 15 to 19 year old: 3,636
Hospitalizations among people under age 20: 78
Deaths among people under age 20: 0
Adria Watson can be reached at adria.watson@globe.com. Follow her @adriarwatson.