Both Wiscasset Elementary School and Wiscasset Middle High School were forced to temporarily transition to distance learning beginning on Friday, Jan. 28, due to an increase in COVID-19 cases.

“We have been notified by the CDC that we are currently in outbreak status due to the number of students absent from both schools due to illness,” Wiscasset School Department Superintendent Terry Wood wrote in a Jan. 27 letter to families. “At this point in time, we will transition into remote learning for both schools beginning tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 28, 2022 through Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022.”

Wiscasset Elementary School went from having 13 cases during the week of Jan. 21 to reporting just seven cases last week, according to the district’s website. Wiscasset Middle High School, on the other hand, jumped from reporting six cases during the week of Jan. 21 to having 27 COVID-19 cases last week.

Wood said school officials will “reassess the situation” Tuesday and determine whether students can return to in-person learning.

Wiscasset schools have had to pivot to remote learning multiple times since the academic year began.

In October 2021, Wiscasset Middle High School, which teaches grades 7-12, switched to full remote learning for a week after two students and a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. The following month, both Wiscasset schools COVID-19 cases were detected in both schools, leading the district to move to remote learning for about a week and a vaccine clinic at the elementary school was postponed.

The Maine Department of Education reported 37 Maine schools have been in outbreak status within the last 30 days. Schools across the state have collectively reported 11,526 COVID-19 cases within the last 30 days.

Since March 2020, 567 Wiscasset residents have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Sunday, according to the Maine CDC.

Within Lincoln County, 3,679 people have tested positive and 19 have died as of Sunday, the Maine CDC reported.

Statewide, 174,225 Mainers have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Sunday and 1,738 have died, the Maine CDC said.