At the end of the first week of classroom instruction in the Cobb County School District, nine of the 67 elementary schools have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students and staff.
At each of those nine schools, fewer than 10 cases have been reported, according to figures posted Friday on the CCSD website.
Five of the nine schools are in East Cobb, but more specific numbers for each school have not been disclosed.
The parents of roughly 60 percent of the district’s enrolled elementary students—or nearly 27,000 in all—chose what’s called the “face-to-face” option, after several weeks of all-online instruction to start the school year.
The schools that have reported confirmed cases to Cobb and Douglas Public Health include the following:
- Blackwell ES in East Cobb
- Eastvalley ES in East Cobb
- Milford ES in Marietta
- Nicholson ES in East Cobb
- Nickajack ES in Smyrna
- Pickett’s Mill ES in Acworth
- Powers Ferry ES in East Cobb
- Sanders ES in Austell
- Shallowford Falls ES in East Cobb
The case totals are combined for students and staff throughout the district. Before this week’s classroom return for K-5 and special-education students, CCSD indicated that 287 students and staff had tested positive for COVID-19 since July 1.
That overall number, which is updated on Fridays, now stands at 324 cases, an increase of 37 during the first week of elementary school classes.
A Cobb school district spokesman said that no classes or schools have been shut down as a result of the confirmed cases.
The school-by-school case totals also will be updated every Friday, the spokesman said.
The district also will be posting school-by-school figures at the end of the first week of each phase of classroom reopening. Middle school students who have chosen to return to school will do so on Oct. 19, and the high school return date is Nov. 5.
The district explained that in accordance with student and health privacy laws, “the Georgia Department of Public Health recommends refraining from publicly publishing numbers of cases or quarantined students or staff that are less than 10 unless the number is 0.”
Cobb and Douglas Public health will “communicate confirmed cases to affected students/staff/ parents,” according to CCSD protocols.
Those guidelines also state that those who test positive “will isolate until 10 consecutive days have passed from their positive COVID-19 test and they are asymptomatic.”
Students who are quarantined are those who test positive, are suspected of having the virus due to symptoms or who are “in close contact with someone who has a suspected case for COVID-19 due to the presence of symptoms.”
The “close contact” definition is someone who is within six feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes, or who has had direct contact (hugging, etc.) with someone who’s infected, or who is sneezed or coughed upon by an infected person.
Quarantined students will continue remote learning until returning to school.
The district details those protocols in this FAQ and encourages parents to follow a daily well-being checklist before sending students to school. More health and safety information can be found here.
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Re: the fear and panic porn associated with this pandemic.
The CDC’s FluView Interactive site provides data regarding pediatric INFLUENZA deaths from 2004/2005 to 2019/2020. For those 16 flu seasons, total deaths are 2,000, the average is 125/season, the max/min in any season are 288/37, vaccines notwithstanding.
Sidebar: the max number of pediatric influenza deaths of 288 occurred in 2009/2010, when Obama was President, and do you remember the outrage? Neither do I.
Furthermore, according to a joint report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association, Version 09/10/20, cumulative COVID pediatric deaths in the US were 105.
Therefore, if the fear-mongers are consistent, the schools will remain closed when flu season arrives. In fact, our children must never return to school, if it can save one life.
Our society cannot survive this.
I do not deny in any way that every death is a tragedy to the friends/family who lost someone. However, we’re talking about public policy and in matters of public policy, there are no solutions; there are only trade-offs. Said differently, public policy cannot be guided by individual cases, public policy must consider population averages.
Let’s look at this another way in the context of motor vehicle fatalities. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the US experienced 36,560 fatalities in 2018. So, as a society, we have accepted that we can live with that many deaths annually in return for a speed limit of 70 mph on interstate highways, 55 on state highways, and 25-45 around town. That is ANNUALLY, folks. EVERY YEAR.
Without a doubt, we could save lives if the speed limit were cut to 15 mph for all roads/highways, based on the physics of mass/velocity. It’s a trade-off. If put to a national vote, what would be the outcome?
Likewise, as insensitive as this sounds, AS A SOCIETY, we have accepted that pediatric influenza deaths averaging 125/season is an acceptable trade-off for keeping schools open.
OPEN…
THE SCHOOLS!
NOW!
You and people like you are the reason things are as bad as they are. It is you who has lost the ability to think critically. Listen to yourself, you are insinuating that a global pandemic was staged to test how subservient we are. You would dismiss the advice of experts to support your crazy conspiracy theory. Human Corona Virus is not new, thats about the only intelligent thing you’ve said. The strain that is currently causing a global pandemic IS new however. It hasn’t been studied for decades. The lie you are perpetuating that wearing a mask makes your immune system weaker is laughable. Think about all the medical personnel and first responders who have a weak immune system now *rolls eyes. It’s painfully obvious that you haven’t experienced or witnessed anyone around you suffer from it. I hope that never happens to you but maybe thats what needs to happen for you to take it seriously and stop spreading bad ignoant advice.
How many people have surrendered their critical thinking skills in lieu of fake news and political shenanigans. Turn off the news and your social media and turn on your brains. You will quickly realize you are being manipulated and worse tested to see how subservient you are. We have immune systems people. Human Corona virus is not new. It’s listed on every Lysol can. Wearing masks makes your immune system weaker, not stronger. We are not designed to breathe our own exhaust. Stop listening to politicians and slanted media who both have agenda’s. Are we going to start hiding from the flu and the common cold now as well?
Forbes – When asked about the effect of conspiracy theories on public health efforts to combat the spread of the virus, Fauci said: “The examples of people not wanting to wear masks, or not believing that if you just go in a crowd you’re not going to get infected or if you do get infected it’s going to be meaningless because it’s a trivial outbreak. Well, how could it be a trivial outbreak if it’s already killed 210,000 people in the United States and a million people worldwide?”
You’re an idiot.
Every Friday, the school district releases a total of cases since July 1. You have to know the total numbers each week and subtract. I have been writing the numbers down since 9/8:
9/8 – 191, 9/11- 216, 9/18- 244, 9/25 -268, 10/2- 287, 10/9 – 324.
So between 9/8 and 9/11, there were 25 new cases. Then 28, 24, 19 and 37 the following weeks.
This story makes no sense in light of the number of positive cases report in July. It appears we are not being fully and truthfully informed of what is happening in our schools regarding accurate number of Covid cases
So your statement says there were 287 positive cases since July 1. Does that mean that on July 1 there were 287 positive cases. The next statement says that number increased 37 in the first week of school. Is that 37 cases since July 1? What were the # of positive cases on 10/1? Is it 37 cases from July 1 to 10/9?
There have been 324 total cases that have been reported by Cobb schools since July 1. The district had been giving only a single weekly figure every Friday until elementary students came back this week.
The 37 new cases were reported over the last week, since last Friday. The district releases only confirmed cases, nothing about a percentage of positive tests.
Thanks. I think I’m still confused though.
For 14 weeks there were no new cases until this first week at school.
July 1 ” 287 students and staff had tested positive for COVID-19″
Fri July 3rd to Fri Oct 2nd – no students and staff had tested positive for COVID-19. I’m inferring this since it is jumps from a number on July 1 to a number on this Friday of the first week of school.
First Friday back to school – 37 students and staff have tested positive for COVID-19. And we don’t know how many were student and how many were staff?
No positive cases in 14 weeks especially with 111,750 students and 13,370 employees?
The district initially didn’t provide a weekly update but started when the school year began.
Hello I work in a daycare and I also have a child in 8th this is so so scarcely and frustration Cause as Parents and teachers we need to know I been Praying and trusting God something have to be done amen