West Seattle High School students asked to mask up amid COVID surge

SEATTLE — This week, students at West Seattle High School are being asked to pack their masks once again as COVID-19 case counts begin to rise.

"The precautions the principal is taking at the school are done with a focus on the health, safety and welfare of all students and staff," said Tim Robinson, a spokesperson for Seattle Public Schools (SPS).

According to the SPS COVID-19 dashboard, 120 cases have been reported at West Seattle High School for the 2022-2023 school year.

Roosevelt, Lincoln, and Ballard high schools have also reported more than 100 cases. In all, 3,440 cases have been reported across the district for the 2022-2023 school year.

That's a significant drop from this time last year when Seattle schools reported 7,541 cases among staff and students.

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Seattle and King County recently dropped vaccine mandates for workers outside of the health care system.

The White House said both the national and public health COVID emergencies are set to end on May 11.

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Governors will be given a 60-day notice when that will happen but looking at the SPS dashboard, that's when Seattle schools saw another spike in their case count last year.