By 6 p.m. Friday, the tenth class day of the school year, the Bulloch County Schools district reported that 350 people, including students and employees, had gone into quarantine as a result of 28 known positive cases of COVID-19.
These confirmed cases and precautionary quarantines have occurred in connection with 12 of the 15 schools, as well as with the school system central office or its support services annex, one after-school program and the Cedarwood center. Actually, just nine of the schools had confirmed cases, but three additional schools had students, staff or faculty members in quarantine, apparently as a result of contacts elsewhere.
Since there were 5,961 students designated by their families for traditional, on-campus learning and 1,570 on-campus school system employees, the 28 persons with confirmed cases comprise 0.0037, or a little over 1/3 of 1%, of a total in-school population of approximately 7,531.
But the 350 individuals having to quarantine make up approximately 4.6% of that same population.
“If a child or teacher has had direct exposure to an individual that tested positive, they will be contacted by the school and the Department of Public Health,” the school system notes on its real-time “COVID-19 Cases Reported” webpage maintained by Public Relations Director Hayley Greene.
She notes that a reported case does not mean that the individual was physically at a school or office on the day a case was reported.
A Friday afternoon update of the “Cases Reported” webpage included increases in the school enrollment and employee totals. These and additional case and quarantine numbers have been incorporated into this story since a Thursday night online version. The school system now has 10,767 students enrolled, but 4,806 are in at-home virtual instruction via interactive online lesson platforms.
Quarantined, not ill
Most of the 350 individuals placed in quarantine from the schools are not ill. Self-quarantine under Department of Public Health instructions is a precautionary measure for people who have come into direct contact, as defined by the DPH, with someone confirmed to have the novel coronavirus.
Those who show no symptoms will be able to return to school or work after 14 days. So, some of those quarantined last week could return to school beginning the middle of next week.
Students who were attending in-person but have to go home to quarantine while well are provided “distance learning,” continued lessons from their teachers via services such as Google Classroom.
As of 6 p.m. Friday, these were the numbers of cases and quarantined individuals by location and date reported:
Brooklet Elementary School
➤ No case; 1 quarantined on Aug. 26.
Cedarwood Educational & Therapeutic Support
➤ No case; 1 quarantined on Aug. 28.
Central Office & Annex Locations
➤ 3 cases; 5 quarantined Aug. 27.
Julia P. Bryant Elementary School
➤ 1 case; 15 quarantined Aug. 27.
Langston Chapel Elementary School
➤ No case; 1 quarantined Aug. 27.
Langston Chapel Middle School
➤ 1 case; 25 quarantined Aug. 19.
➤ No case; 1 quarantined Aug. 19.
Mattie Lively Elementary School
➤ 1 case; 7 quarantined Aug. 19.
➤ No case; 7 quarantined Aug. 27.
Mattie Lively Elementary Afterschool Program
➤ 1 case; 1 quarantined Aug. 25.
Mill Creek Elementary School
➤ No case; 3 quarantined Aug. 28.
Nevils Elementary School
➤ 1 case; 19 quarantined Aug. 19.
Portal Elementary School
➤ 1 case; 7 quarantined Aug. 19.
➤ 2 cases; 24 quarantined Aug. 20.
➤ 1 case; 14 quarantined Aug. 26.
➤ 1 case; 14 quarantined Aug. 27.
Sallie Zetterower Elementary School
➤ 3 cases; 50 quarantined Aug. 26.
➤ No case; 1 quarantined Aug. 28.
Southeast Bulloch High School
➤ No cases; 2 quarantined Aug. 26.
➤ 1 case; 18 quarantined, also Aug. 26.
➤ 1 case; no quarantines on Aug. 27.
➤ 1 case; 14 quarantined, Aug. 28.
Southeast Bulloch Middle School
➤ No cases; 2 quarantined Aug. 26.
Statesboro High School
➤ 1 case; 16 quarantined Aug. 24.
➤ 1 case; 12 quarantined Aug. 27.
➤ 1 case; 27 quarantined Aug. 28.
Stilson Elementary School
➤ 2 cases; 29 quarantined Aug. 24.
➤ 1 case; 16 quarantined Aug. 26.
➤ 3 cases: 18 quarantined Aug. 27.