(Updated on 10/14/21) There have been 34 positive Covid tests among students at Wakefield High School this school year, more than three times the number at any other Arlington public school.
Many of the cases were recorded recently. At one point last week, the Arlington Public Schools Covid dashboard reported 20 cases over the previous seven days at Wakefield.
Asked about a potential outbreak at the school, APS spokesman Frank Bellavia told ARLnow that “it’s 16 cases related to athletics/activities.”
The cases are among players of several sports, we’re told. Privacy concerns have previously prevented APS from providing more granular information than that contained in the dashboard.
The rate of new cases at Wakefield appears to be decreasing, with 10 cases reported over the past seven days as of this morning.
Drew Elementary and Washington-Liberty High School have the next-highest case total after Wakefield for the 2021-2022 school year so far, with 10 reported Covid cases apiece. Yorktown, Arlington’s other high school, has had six cases.
A geographic disparity is apparent in the APS Covid data.
So far this school year 80 positive cases out of the 185 total student cases across APS are linked to the 22204 zip code, which runs along Columbia Pike. The next-highest zip code — 22206, which includes the Shirlington and Fairlington neighborhoods — has less than a third as many cases, with 26.
Among the general population countywide, average daily cases have fluctuated this month, from a low of 29 to a high of 39.
Currently, the seven-day trailing average of new cases stands at 33. Nine Covid-related hospitalizations and two deaths have been reported since Oct. 1, according to the Virginia Dept. of Health.
