Since July, the Pima County Health Department has tracked about 1,400 school-related COVID-19 cases, a doctor said during a Friday press conference. Students made up about 87% of those cases.
Kids up to 11 years of age made up 671 of the cases; another 519 involved students ages 12-19.
“Most of these kids that are being reported to us from schools are actually getting infected in their homes, are getting infected in their communities, in their after-school activities. They’re not actually getting infected in classrooms," said Dr. Francisco Garcia with the county.
The rest of the COVID-19 cases are among Pima County school employees.
In addition, the county has only confirmed 50 school-related COVID-19 outbreaks this school year, which Garcia said further demonstrates that in-school COVID-19 transmission is rare.
The number of cases appeared to be plateauing in the last week, but Garcia said it’s too early to declare victory. Instead, he said he will wait to see if this downtrend continues.
