Nearly 1,500 MS Coast students in coronavirus quarantine ahead of Thanksgiving break
The latest report from the state health department showed nearly 1,500 Coast students were in quarantine due to possible COVID-19 exposure last week, a figure only slightly lower than last week’s even though several districts didn’t report numbers because of the Thanksgiving holiday.
This week, 635 schools statewide, down from 880 last week, reported COVID-19 case and quarantine figures to the state.
No schools in Stone County reported data to the state. Other Coast school districts not reporting were Jackson County, Ocean Springs and Pass Christian.
Across districts that reported in five South Mississippi counties, between 56 and 196 students tested positive for COVID-19, along with between 32 and 160 staff. Precise figures aren’t available because when a school reports a number of new cases below six, the state reports it as 1-5 “to protect personal identity.”
At schools that reported, 1,456 students were in quarantine, along with 122 staff or teachers. The week before, 1,513 students and 81 teachers were in quarantine.
At North Gulfport Middle School, 12 students and one to five teachers tested positive. As a result, 287 students were quarantined. Shortly after school started in August, 122 North Gulfport students were quarantined after possible COVID-19 exposure.
Statewide, 325 teachers and 702 students tested positive for COVID-19. There were 927 staff in quarantine and 10,299 students.
Here is information about COVID-19 cases at schools by county:
George County
New cases among students: 4-20
New cases among teachers: 4-20
Students in quarantine: 186
Teachers in quarantine: 19
Hancock County
New cases among students: 3-15
New cases among teachers: 4-20
Students in quarantine: 180
Teachers in quarantine: 6
Harrison County
New cases among students: 28-92
New cases among teachers: 13-65
Students in quarantine: 832
Teachers in quarantine: 68
Jackson County
New cases among students: 15-39
New cases among teachers: 5-25
Students in quarantine: 174
Teachers in quarantine: 8
Pearl River County
New cases among students: 6-30
New cases among teachers: 6-30
Students in quarantine: 84
Teachers in quarantine: 21
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Schools update released Nov. 17
More than 1,500 South Mississippi school kids are in quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19, according to the latest figures on coronavirus cases in schools released by the state health department on Tuesday.
Statewide, 523 teachers and 1,023 students across 880 schools tested positive for COVID-19 during the week of Nov. 9-13.
It was by far the largest one-week total of new cases the state has seen since school started in August. The week before, Nov. 2-6, 320 teachers and 579 students tested positive.
Statewide, the number of students in quarantine was 14,027; teachers was 1,464. In the six counties of South Mississippi, 1,513 students and 81 teachers were in quarantine.
Precise numbers of positive cases at schools on the Coast aren’t available, because if a school reports the number of cases for either students or teachers under five, the state lists the number as 1-5.
In Mississippi’s southernmost six counties, the number of students who tested positive last week was somewhere between 65 and 261; for teachers, it was 49 to 193.
Most schools last week reported fewer than five new cases for teachers and students.
One exception was D’Iberville High School in Harrison County, which reported 10 new cases among students. Ninety-five students were in quarantine.
The school figures align with the rapid spread of coronavirus cases across the state. At his press conference Monday, Reeves called last week “our worst week since probably late July or early August.”
Beds are in short supply at intensive care units in hospitals around the state. Last week, only 14 of 71 ICU beds at four Coast hospitals that treat COVID-19 patients were open. The hospitals were treating 24 COVID-19 patients.
On Monday night, Fox13 Memphis reported that a teacher’s aide at an elementary school in DeSoto County had died due to complications from COVID-19.
With case levels similar to what the state saw in August, Mississippians are preparing to celebrate two holidays that traditionally bring together large groups of family and friends, indoors.
At a press conference on Tuesday, state health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs warned that the holidays presents “a perfect storm” for an explosion of new cases.
“We will see deaths, absolutely, around holiday gatherings,” he said.
Last week, Dobbs said schools should consider “a virtual break” if they’re seeing outbreaks, defined as at least three cases in the same group setting, like a classroom or sports team.
But the state’s figures show that a school can report significant numbers of cases without ever having an official outbreak, if the cases are widely distributed across the school. D’Iberville High School, for example, reported no outbreaks despite its 10 new student cases.
Of the 143 schools in South Mississippi that reported data to the state, 68 saw cases among either students or teachers last week.
Here is information about COVID-19 cases at schools by county:
George County
New cases among students: 2-10
New cases among teachers: 8-16
Students in quarantine: 166
Teachers in quarantine: 13
Hancock County
New cases among students: 7-35
New cases among teachers: 8-12
Students in quarantine: 121
Teachers in quarantine: 9
Harrison County
New cases among students: 26-90
New cases among teachers: 15-75
Students in quarantine: 567
Teachers in quarantine: 23
Jackson County
New cases among students: 18-90
New cases among teachers: 14-70
Students in quarantine: 370
Teachers in quarantine: 10
Pearl River County
New cases among students: 4-20
New cases among teachers: 2-10
Students in quarantine: 113
Teachers in quarantine: 23
Stone County
New cases among students: 8-16
New cases among teachers: 2-10
Students in quarantine: 176
Teachers in quarantine: 3
This story was originally published November 19, 2020 at 5:50 AM.
