Health department releases COVID-19 cases, outbreaks at Mississippi schools
Last week, thousands of Mississippi Coast students and teachers were in quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure and hundreds had tested positive, according to the state health department’s weekly release of school COVID-19 data on Tuesday.
The latest numbers reflect the situation at schools from Aug. 9-13. That week, about 800 of the state’s 1,200 schools reported.
Earlier Tuesday, state epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said more than 20,000 Mississippi students are under quarantine.
At Bayou View Elementary School in Gulfport, for example, 304 students were quarantined and 25 tested positive last week. Since school started, 73 students had tested positive.
Tuesday’s report was the second the Mississippi State Health Department has released since school started. It was also the first time most Coast districts reported; last week, no district in Harrison County reported cases.
Schools in Mississippi are legally required to report COVID-19 cases and outbreaks among students and staff, as well as quarantine numbers, each week.
View the full schools report from Aug. 9-13 here: https://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/resources/15393.pdf
This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 4:24 PM.
