Sharon Public Schools Report 2 New Coronavirus Cases

SHARON, MA — Sharon Public Schools reported on Monday that a student and a staff member at East Elementary School have tested positive for coronavirus, the district's sixth and seventh new cases since Jan. 5.

According to a letter to families from Superintendent of Schools Meg Dussault, the individuals who tested positive have not been in close contact with anyone in the school community.

"We have been informed of two positive cases of COVID at East, one a staff member, and one a student," said the district in a Twitter post. "The cases are completely unrelated and neither person was in school to infect others."

In the last two weeks, Sharon Public Schools have reported seven new COVID-19 cases, including three at East Elementary School, two at Cottage Street Elementary School, one at Heights Elementary School, and one at Sharon High School.

Sharon Public Schools released data from the first pool of their COVID-19 testing initiative on Wednesday, reporting that all tests came back negative. The second round of pool testing will begin on Jan. 25.

The district also announced the official launch of a partnership with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which will enable the district to use BinaxNow tests to diagnose symptomatic or antigen positive students and staff free of charge.

According to the latest statistics released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Sharon has experienced a total of 526 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 91 reported in the two weeks leading up to Jan. 14. The town has an average daily incidence rate of 35.6 and a 4% positivity rate, an increase from last week's average daily incidence rate of 31.3 and a decrease from last week's 4.14% positivity rate.