Year-round schools in Cumberland County report COVID-19 cases – The Fayetteville Observer

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Some of Cumberland County Schools year-round schools have reported COVID-19 cases that have led to some students and staff being forced to quarantine at home.

The news comes as tens of thousands of students prepare to return to class on Aug. 23.

The school system operates four year-round schools, which opened for students on July 26. They are E.E. Miller Elementary School; Anne Chesnutt Middle School; and Reid Ross Classical Middle and High schools.

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E.E. Miller has had seven positive cases among four weekly reports starting July 15, according to the school systems COVID-19 dashboard. Five of those were from the Aug. 5 report. Sixteen people have been quarantined.

In the same time period, Anne Chesnutt had twocases, 16 quarantined. Reid Ross Classical Middle and High schools had zerocases. The high school had oneperson in quarantine.

There have been no reported clusters. According to the N.C. Dept. of Health & Human Services, a cluster in a school setting is defined as a minimum of five confirmed casesthat are linked together, within a 14-day period.

Cumberland County Schools did not have a cluster in the 2020-21 school year.

The COVID-19 dashboard numbers encompass all students, faculty and other personnel affiliated with the school system. In the report dated July 30-Aug. 5, there were 42 positive cases in the system and 70 people in quarantine. Both figures were a leap from the previous report, dated July 23-29, which was 13 cases and 29 in quarantine.

Lindsay Whitley,a school spokesman, said the length of quarantine for a student or staff member varies based on a variety of factors, such as COVID-19 testing status or whether the individual exhibits symptoms.

The CCS Office of Health Services works with each case in collaboration with the Health Department and responds appropriately, he wrote in an email response to questions.

Whitley said he did not know if the jump in cases between the July 29 and Aug. 5 reports was driven by the highly contagious Delta variant.

In North Carolina, the Delta Variant has been the most commonly circulating variant since the week ending June 26, 2021, he wrote.

But he said county Health Director Dr. Jennifer Green, at a schoolboard committee meeting last week, said there is no county-level data regarding the Delta variant.

In March of last year, Cumberland County Schools students went into remote learning to protect against COVID-19. Most students returned to class late in the spring term of 2021, after parents were given the option of sending their children to school.

As all students prepare to return, some key metrics for COVID-19 in the county and region have health and hospital officials concerned.

Earlier this month, Greenreported at a county Board of Commissioners meeting thatthe case positivity rate was 15%, double what it was three weeks prior. Shesaid 94% of new COVID-19 caseswere people who wereunvaccinated.

On Friday, Cape Fear Valley Health system reported there were 122 COVID-19 patients at its main medical center on Owen Drive, 22 in Intensive Care Units and 21 on ventilators, according to health systemspokeswoman Roxana Ross. All represent spikes from just a few weeks ago. There is one pediatric patient.

The system reported an additional 28 in-house patients at Hoke Healthcare and 45in-house patients at facilities it runs in Bladen and Harnett counties.

On Friday, FirstHealth of the Carolinas, which is headquartered in Moore County, said in a news release it was experiencing strain,withmore than 100 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the system.

The year-round students in Cumberland County Schools wear masks, and on Tuesday night, members of the county school boardvoted unanimously to continue the mask requirement for indoor settings and school buses, in all grades.

Officials with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state Health & Human Services are recommending masks in grades K-12 because of the spread of the Delta variant and the fact that children under 12 are not eligible for a vaccine. There have been heated debates at school boards across the country over the issue of mask mandates. Around 15 people showed up to protest outside the Cumberland County school board meeting on Tuesday.

The boards vote made it one of nearly 60 school districts out of 115 in North Carolina that will require masks for students.

Opinion Editor Myron B. Pitts can be reached at mpitts@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3559.

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Year-round schools in Cumberland County report COVID-19 cases - The Fayetteville Observer