January 28, 2022
Dear Smithfield Staff and Families,
This 21st edition of the Back to School report includes our weekly report on COVID cases, vaccination clinic reschedule, COVID home tests and town data.
A Weekly Report on COVID Cases
This past week saw some reduction in COVID cases in the district. We have had an additional 70 confirmed COVID cases in one week. This brings our total since our school year began to 784 cases. There were 19 cases identified at SHS, 12 cases identified at Gallagher, 12 cases at Pleasant View Elementary, 11 cases at LaPerche Elementary and 15 cases at Old County Road Elementary. There was also 1 case at our administration building.
COVID Vaccination Clinic Rescheduled
The COVID vaccination clinic scheduled for Saturday, January 29th, at Old County Road School has been rescheduled due to the impending winter storm. It will now be Saturday, February 5th, also at Old County Road School from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm. If you had an appointment for this Saturday, you are all set for the 5th. You can still register at vaccinateri.org.
COVID Home Tests
The district has made available to all students an at-home COVID test. This test is for risk assessment and should not be used to diagnose COVID. If you test positive on an at-home COVID test, please schedule an in-person antigen or PCR test to verify the positive result. Without a confirmatory in-person antigen or PCR test, an unvaccinated person is not eligible for the 90-day post-positive quarantine exemption.
Town Data
The number of weekly new cases in Smithfield for the week ending January 22nd again fell to 319 cases, from 548 the week prior. The number of cases in the state has also decreased to 18,378 cases for that same week. The town rate corresponds to a weekly rate of 1450 new cases per 100,000 residents, which is still considered a high rate of transmission as classified by the CDC. This data is available at https://bit.ly/2PxCgDM.
Sincerely,
Judy Paolucci, Superintendent