Sharon Reports Student Coronavirus Case At Cottage St. Elementary

SHARON, MA — Sharon Public Schools reported on Wednesday that a student at Cottage Street Elementary School has tested positive for coronavirus, the district's fifth new positive case since Jan. 5.

According to a letter to families from Superintendent of Schools Meg Dussault, the student has not had any close contacts within the school community.

"This student has not been in our building during the period of contagion and no one at the school was put at risk," said the district in a Twitter post.

The new positive case comes just days after the district reported staff COVID-19 case at East Elementary School on Tuesday, a student COVID-19 case at Sharon High School on Thursday, a staff COVID-19 case at Heights Elementary School on Saturday, and a staff COVID-19 case at Cottage Street Elementary School on Wednesday.

Sharon Public Schools released data from the first pool of their COVID-19 testing initiative on Wednesday, reporting that all tests came back negative, and 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 475 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 80 reported in the two weeks leading up to Jan. 7. The town has an average daily incidence rate of 31.3 and a 4.62% positivity rate, an increase from last week's average daily incidence rate of 27 and 4.14% positivity rate.