Marin School Tied To Coronavirus Outbreak: Report

NOVATO, CA — A small Novato parochial school is being investigated as the possible origin of a coronavirus outbreak, The Marin Independent Journal reports.

Health officials are investigating Our Lady of Loretto as the possible source of 10 cases according to the report.

The originator of the outbreak has not been identified but is believed to be a vaccine-eligible person who was unvaccinated, Marin County Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis told the IJ.

“All the cases are unvaccinated individuals,” Willis told the publication.

“That includes people who were eligible to be vaccinated but were unvaccinated and people who were not eligible to be vaccinated, by virtue of age.”

The K-8 school serves around 235 students, the majority of which are under 12 and not yet eligible for vaccination.

The Novato Unified School District has reported no cases but 23 students who may have been exposed were ordered to quarantine, Superintendent Kris Cosca said according to the report.

The report of the outbreak comes as Marin is nearing “community immunity,”Willis told the county’s Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

Marin is the nation's most vaccinated county per capita according to analysis of CDC data conducted by The San Francisco Chronicle.

Marin is expected to clear 75 percent threshold for community immunity before the state's announced June 15 reopening, Willis told the board.

According to WebMd: "Herd immunity, or community immunity, is when a large part of the population of an area is immune to a specific disease."

"If enough people are resistant to the cause of a disease, such as a virus or bacteria, it has nowhere to go."

As of Thursday 73.3 percent of Marin residents at least 12 years of age have completed their vaccination series and 86.3 percent have received at least one dose according to the county's vaccine dashboard.

The CDC considers people who are two weeks out from completing their series to be fully vaccinated.

That essentially eliminates the possibility of Marin choosing to keep COVID-19 restrictions in place after the state reopens on June 15, Willis said.

"The reason we feel ready to move beyond the blueprint in Marin County is first and most importantly that we are achieving a level of community immunity," Willis said.

"Being the most highly vaccinated community in the nation will offer us the ability to gain the freedoms that are made possible through moving beyond the blueprint."

Read more in The Marin Independent Journal