With COVID-19 cases rising steeply, some school districts are encouraging masking as many kids return to classes after the holiday break. Boston, Newton, Arlington and Cambridge school districts are all strongly recommending masking in schools through Jan. 13.
In Greater Boston, wastewater detection levels for the virus have practically quadrupled since mid-November, before holiday gatherings and travel started.
“We have been seeing the wastewater data exponentially growing in our community,” said Derrick Neal, chief public health officer at the Cambridge Public Health Department, “and that’s an indicator of the level of virus and a level of community spread that’s going on. … And so we want to make sure that we mitigate that spread in school to keep our children as safe as possible.”
