COVID Surge Places Strain On Medford School Nurses

MEDFORD, MA — School nurses in Medford are feeling the crunch of the latest COVID surge, as they juggle an uptick in positive cases – some of whom have arrived to school symptomatic – with regular testing, vaccination clinics and other medical needs among students.

"When we say this is unsustainable...we all knew the surge was coming, but it's skyrocketing, the amount of work these nurses are doing daily," Supervisor of Nurses Avery Hines told the school committee on Monday.

Hines said 111 students came to school with symptoms last week, seeking a COVID test amid long lines at state testing sites and low availability of at-home rapid tests. This is despite constant messaging from the district urging students to stay home if they are sick.

"As much as we would love to provide a free testing site for everyone, individuals are coming into school with symptoms and exposing others for the sake of a free and fast test," Hines said.

The Medford Public Schools conducted 3,271 PCR tests last week, 233 of which came back positive. There were an additional 126 people who self-reported outside positive tests. The results of in-school surveillance testing amounted to a 7.1 percent positivity rate, the highest the district has seen all school year, Hines said.

There were 326 people who reported an exposure last week, and 1,769 visits to the health offices, which included medical treatment and needs outside of COVID.

"It's still shocking to see the numbers, even though we know we should’ve expected this," Hines said.

But changes will soon be coming to the schools' testing and isolation protocols. Assistant Superintendent David Murphy told the school committee the district will transition back to pooled testing before the end of the month and decrease the size of pools, in order to maintain the program's sustainability.

In February, the district expects to switch from surveillance testing, which tracks COVID spread at a population level, to diagnostic testing, which is done at an individual level only when someone is experiencing symptoms or is a close contact of a positive case.

"We've been asked several times when we'd move to test and stay," Murphy said. "We've been very clear that we want our vaccination rates to be higher before we make that transition. It was sort of a principled position we adopted earlier in the school year, and we think it was the right decision at the time."

Based on the latest CDC guidance, the district will transition to a five-day isolation period starting Jan. 17. This will also coincide with the acceptance of a negative at-home rapid test to allow students to return to school, rather than a PCR test.

Murphy said there was a "higher than usual" absentee rate last week, mostly concentrated among students. The district is expected to release those exact figures later this week.

"[Absences] are higher than normal, but not debilitating," Murphy said.

More than 150 vaccinations were conducted at the student clinic last Wednesday. There were 35 first doses given to 5-11-year-olds, seven first doses given to 12-18-year-olds, 45 boosters given to 16-18-year-olds and 35 boosters given to students 18 and older.

There are 218 appointments for this week's clinic on Jan. 12.