The final week of the fall semester resulted in a new high for the Cobb County School District for reported COVID-19 cases.
On Friday the Cobb school district updated its COVID case count to show 346 new confirmed cases for students and staff.
For the first time, multiple schools reported more than 10 cases in a week, including Walton High School in East Cobb, where 23 new cases were confirmed by Cobb and Douglas Public Health.
That’s the highest single-week total for any school in the district since it began keeping a tally on July 1. And that’s with a shortened week of in-person learning.
Earlier this week Superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced that Thursday and Friday instruction would be online-only, due to rising COVID counts in Cobb County.
At a Cobb Board of Education meeting Thursday, he said the switch was being made “to prevent us from becoming a spreading environment.”
Since July, there have been 1,570 cases reported in the district. Before this week’s total, there were 241 and 252 cases in the previous two weeks.
Other schools with more than 10 cases this week include Kemp ES (17), Hayes ES, Vaughan ES (13) and Hillgrove HS (13). Wheeler High School in East Cobb and Campbell High School reported exactly 10 cases this week.
Another 81 schools reported 10 cases or less, including the following in East Cobb:
- Elementary Schools: Bells Ferry; Blackwell; Brumby; Davis; Eastvalley; Garrison Mill; Mt. Bethel; Murdock; Nicholson; Powers Ferry; Sedalia Park; Shallowford Falls; Tritt.
- Middle Schools: Daniell; Dickerson; Dodgen; East Cobb; Mabry; McCleskey; Simpson.
- High Schools: Kell; Lassiter; Pope; Sprayberry.
According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, the rate of community spread in Cobb County is at its highest point since the pandemic began in March, with a 14-day average of 554 cases per 100,000.
On Friday, 443 more COVID cases were reported in Cobb County, which for the second time in a week set a record for date of report case totals. On Dec. 10 there were 414 new cases, and on Thursday that figure was 411.
Cobb’s figures by “date of onset”—or when a case was confirmed by a county health agency—also has been rising in recent weeks, and steeply.
There were 331 cases reported on Nov. 30 in that category, and 338 on Dec. 2. The 7-day moving average of date of onset cases in Cobb was 270 a day on Dec. 4. By comparison, that figure was 156 on Nov. 26.
In his remarks at Thursday’s school board meeting, Ragsdale urged students, parents and school staff not to “let your guard down during this break.”
He said he’d like to see the 14-day moving average fall to near 200 cases per 100,000, but wasn’t very optimistic.
“I’m a glass half-full guy but my glass is empty right now,” he said.
The spring semester begins on Jan. 6, and a slight majority of Cobb school parents have selected face-to-face learning. Another selection period will take place during the spring semester, but details have not been released.
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