Jackson County School District records 9 COVID-19 cases so far this week
The Jackson County School District has reported nine COVID-19 cases among students and staff so far this week, Superintendent John Strycker told the Sun Herald Tuesday evening.
On Monday, the district recorded five people, one student and four employees, that had newly tested positive.
On Tuesday, the total figure had swelled to nine, after positive tests from two additional students and two employees.
Strycker declined to say which schools have been affected, but that information will be available when the district updates the COVID-19 cases report on its website, which it will do every week. Anyone in contact with the people who tested positive has been notified, Strycker said.
The figures make Jackson County the third school district on the Coast to report positive or possible COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, following Gulfport and Ocean Springs.
Harrison County was notified on Monday that a student at West Harrison High had tested positive, WXXV-TV reported.
It is likely, however, that other districts also have recorded positive cases among students and staff. State health officer Thomas Dobbs has said “every school that opens” will eventually see coronavirus cases among students. But districts do not have to immediately notify the public every time they record a positive case.
Reporting requirements
‘The state health department will require districts to complete a survey about cases, contacts and outbreaks weekly; they must submit responses every Monday before noon. The survey asks for information regarding the number of new cases and their distribution across grade levels, as well as the number of people quarantined and the location of outbreaks, such as classroom, sports field or library.
Dobbs has said the state will publish the information about schools similar to the way it currently releases figures for long-term care facilities.
In the absence of announcements by school districts, rumors have swirled in Facebook groups for parents on the Coast.
While Gulfport announced the possible case and quarantine of 100 students in a press release, Ocean Springs confirmed that a kindergarten class had been sent home only after it received questions from the media.
At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Dobbs listed counties where cases have been reported so far. Jackson County was the only Coast county on that list, but the state just started rolling out its case-reporting form for school districts.
“Please, schools, make sure that you submit that data on a weekly basis,” Dobbs said. “We don’t want to have to track you down.”
So far, Dobbs said, 27 Mississippi schools have reported coronavirus cases: 17 among staff members and 25 among students.
Strycker did not have the number of students and employees in quarantine available Tuesday evening. But the district is following a less cautious approach to mandating quarantines than Gulfport took Tuesday, when it sent home 100 students who had recently been in class with a teacher who reported mild symptoms of COVID-19 on Tuesday morning.
“We will monitor these numbers daily for the safety of our students, report them weekly, and make our decisions according to that,” Strycker said.
This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 5:53 PM.
