Deer Lakes School District will not resume in-person instruction until Jan. 11 at the earliest in response to the surge in covid-19 cases.

“Our county continues to remain in a substantial level of transmission as we see dramatic increases in positive cases and hospitalizations,” Superintendent Janell Logue-Belden wrote in a letter to district families on Tuesday.

“Like other districts, we have also experienced an increase in cases and also in quarantines of staff members,” she added.

The Allegheny County district includes West Deer, East Deer and Frazer. Last month, the district decided to switch to fully online learning because Allegheny County fell within the “substantial” range for covid-19 transmission risk. It remains in that range this week, with an average incidence rate over the past seven days of 280.8 cases per 100,000 people and a test positivity rate of 9.7%.

Counties are deemed to have a “substantial” risk of transmission if their incidence rate is more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents or their test positivity rate exceeds 10%. The state’s health and education departments recommend that schools in counties with a “substantial” risk pivot from in-person learning to hybrid or remote learning.

Officials from the region’s health care systems have said the latest surge of covid-19 cases has prompted a 500% increase in hospitalizations when compared to the spring stage of the pandemic. State health professionals have warned people that recent record high case counts could overwhelm hospitals.

Students originally were going to engage in hybrid learning — a mix of virtual and in-person instruction — from Dec. 8 through Dec. 18, but officials are recommending that districts remain fully remote until the risk transmission level is “moderate” for two weeks.

Counties deemed to have a moderate risk have an average covid incidence rate of 10 to 100 cases per 100,000 residents or a test positivity rate of 5% to 10%. Districts in counties that are moderate are recommended to engage in hybrid or fully online learning.

Students will be on holiday break from Dec. 19 through Jan. 3.

“We are disappointed about the new changes, but understand that this is the safest scenario for our students, staff and families,” Logue-Belden said. “Our plan is to have in-person learning resume Jan. 11.”

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