Another South Mississippi school closes for 14 days due to COVID-19 spread
Another South Mississippi school is closing due to COVID-19.
Students at Stone High School in Stone County are being sent home at 1 p.m. on Wednesday and will learn virtually for 14 days. They’ll return to campus on Aug. 26, the district announced in a Facebook post.
“We will be following the Mississippi State Department of Health recommendations to move to this virtual learning schedule for 14 days for the health and safety of our campus and to interrupt transmission by quarantining all students and to allow time for additional cleaning of the facilities,” the district wrote on Facebook.
It is not clear how many cases have been recorded at the school and how many students had been asked to quarantine because of exposure.
In a briefing on Wednesday afternoon, state epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said he anticipated that more kids will get COVID-19 as the delta variant continues to spread across the state, and that some of that transmission may happen inside schools.
“We do know that there’s been a significant impact on the school setting so far,” he said. “The more cases that we have in younger folks, there is the potential that we could have more hospitalizations.”
Byers said he would advise parents of high-risk kids under age 12, who aren’t eligible for vaccination, to make sure everyone in their household who is eligible gets the vaccine. He also said parents should advocate for their districts to promote vaccination among their staff. And kids should wear a mask indoors, he said.
This year, many school districts across the state are offering no virtual option, whereas last year most districts allowed anyone to opt into distance learning at the start of the year. In most districts on the Coast, at-home learning is available only to students with a documented medical issue and will not include live instruction.
“Much of it is going to be a personal decision about what the options are at your school,” Byers said. “I would suggest the parents who are concerned speak to their school about that.”
The state health department recommends schools consider closure if three or more COVID-19 outbreaks are reported at the same time, or if so many staff and students are in quarantine that absences are “impacting the learning environment.” An outbreak is defined as three or more cases in a group setting, like a classroom, sports team or bus.
When the state health department released its first report on COVID-19 cases at schools on Tuesday, covering the week Aug. 2-Aug. 6, no Stone County schools were included. Harrison County schools, across the county’s five districts, were also not included.
On Tuesday, parents at South Hancock Elementary were informed that school will also be closed for 14 days because of COVID-19 cases at the school.
This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 12:55 PM.
