After a record-breaking start, new COVID-19 cases at Southwest Florida schools have plummeted

Public schools in Lee and Collier counties reported about 70% fewer coronavirus cases among students and staff over the last month, following a record-breaking start to the school year.

As of Monday, new cases in Lee schools dropped 67% since Sept. 10, while infections in Collier plummeted 80%, according to a News-Press analysis of data from each district’s website.

The opening of the school year on Aug. 10 coincided with an explosion of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths throughout Florida due to the rapid spread of the more contagious delta variant.

According to the Florida Department of Health, during the week of Aug. 20-26, just shy of 10,000 new COVID-19 cases were collectively reported in Lee and Collier counties, with each county setting pandemic highs for a seven-day span. The state also set a record that week with nearly 152,000 new infections.

By Labor Day, just four weeks into the school year, the Lee school district had reported more than 4,300 cases, surpassing its total from the previous year. About two weeks later, the Collier school district eclipsed its total from the 2020-21 school year.

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In the past month, however, new infections in both districts sharply slowed with Lee only adding about 1,600 cases and Collier a shade more than 360. That slide corresponds with a 63% overall decrease in Florida’s COVID-19 cases in the past four weeks.

It's a similar situation in Southwest Florida, where cases have tumbled since peaking in late August. In the past four weeks, Lee and Collier have combined to add slightly more than 13,000 new cases of infections, about 63% fewer than the more than 35,000 reported in the previous four weeks. 

Since school started, Lee and Collier public schools have reported about 8,800 COVID-19 cases, with nearly 7,700 identified as student infections. Faculty and staff make up the remainder. 

Elementary schools represent the highest percentage of cases in both districts: 38% of all Lee infections and 39% of Collier’s. Of the 44 elementary schools in Lee, 39 have matched or exceeded their total cases for the previous school year; in Collier, it’s 20 of 31.

High schools account for the second most cases in each county, comprising 34% of Lee's infections and 31% of Collier's.

Of the 25 middle schools in Lee and Collier, only one — Cypress Lake in Fort Myers — has not matched or exceeded its total COVID-19 cases for the previous year.

In addition, elementary school employees have been the most impacted by the virus, accounting for more than half the total staff cases in each district. In Lee, more than 700 staff cases have been reported to date, making up about 11% of all infections in the district. In Collier, staff accounted for about 17% of all district cases, with slightly less than 400 reported.

Because a COVID-19 vaccine has yet to be approved for children under 12, elementary school students are not yet eligible to receive one. Last week, Pfizer filed an application with the Food and Drug Administration requesting emergency use authorization of its vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. The FDA is reviewing Pfizer’s data and could make a decision around Halloween. 

In May, children ages 12-17 became eligible for the Pfizer vaccine. According to the Centers for Disease Control, a little more than 200,000 Florida children have been fully vaccinated since Aug. 20. However, about 792,000 children statewide remain unvaccinated.

Neither the CDC nor the DOH list vaccine data for children on a county level for Florida.

Last year, both Lee and Collier schools required students and teachers to wear masks. While Collier decided to make mask-wearing optional this school year, Lee opened with a policy that allowed parents to sign a form if they did not want their child to wear a mask. The opt-out was necessary to comply with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order barring school districts from mandating that students wear masks.

However, in response to the exploding number of coronavirus infections, Lee schools Superintendent Ken Savage implemented a 30-day mask mandate for all students and staff on Sept. 1. This decision followed a Leon County judge blocking DeSantis’ order, calling it an overreach of his powers as governor.

That mandate only lasted two weeks with Lee returning to its opt-out policy after an appeals court reinstated DeSantis' ban on masks in schools.

"I choose to believe that the vast majority of our community are reasonable, caring people who want this surge to end as quickly as possible and would willingly volunteer to wear masks as an additional measure to protect each other from harm," Savage wrote in a letter that announced the return to the opt-out masking policy.

COVID-19 cases in Lee and Collier public schools

Start through Sept. 10

Lee County

• Total cases: 4,946
• Student cases: 4,343
• Staff cases: 583

Collier County

• Total cases: 1,845
• Student cases: 1,520
• Staff cases: 325

Sept. 11 through Oct. 10

Lee County

• Total cases: 1,634
• Student cases: 1,498
• Staff cases: 136

Collier County

• Total cases: 365
• Student cases: 305
• Staff cases: 60

Note: Data is from the Lee and Collier school district COVID-19 dashboards and could change as cases are retroactively added. 

Connect with Dan DeLuca: @News-PressDan (Twitter), ddeluca@gannett.com.

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