Cobb schools suspected COVID cases Archives

The Cobb County School District said late Thursday afternoon that “approximately 100” students and staff have what it terms “suspected” cases of COVID-19.

The district isn’t saying anything more, including a breakdown of those suspected cases between students and employees or identifying which schools may be affected.

Valerie Crow, a spokeswoman for Cobb and Douglas Public Health, said those suspected 100 cases have been confirmed as positive COVID-19 cases.

A Cobb school district spokeswoman sent a statement to East Cobb News saying that “to protect the medical rights of those involved, further detail will not be provided by the District. Questions involving confirmed cases should be directed to DPH.”

She did not respond to a question from East Cobb News about how many staffers are not at work as a result of having a suspected case of the virus.

Citing federal health privacy laws, Crow she said she could not disclose the exact breakdown numbers of students and staff who have tested positive, nor would she reveal the schools involved.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, a suspected COVID-19 case can be someone who has tested for the virus but has not yet received results. That definition also includes those who may have been exposed to someone with the virus and who may be in the process of being tested.

The Cobb school district statement said that “anytime a Cobb student or staff member reports a suspected case, DPH confirms (through testing), contact traces anyone else who may have been impacted, and provides guidance to each affected person. If a case is confirmed, their guidance recommends the person affected quarantine for 10 days and we strictly enforce their guidance.”

Cobb school teachers and staff reported to their schools last week for preplanning, ahead of an online-only start to the school year that begins Aug. 17. The case reporting dates back to July 1. Athletes in some sports have been participating in on-campus workouts. In June, there was a confirmed COVID-19 case within the Pope football team.

In announcing his decision to start virtually, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said last month that the level of “community spread” of the virus in Cobb County remains too high to safely begin in the schools.

One of the metrics that’s being followed is confirmed cases per 100,000, with anything more than 100 cases per 100,000 considered high community spread. As of Thursday, Cobb’s figure is around 1,609 cases per 100,000 population; however, that figure has dropped to 373 cases per 100,000 in the last two weeks.

Cobb County has a population of around 760,000. As of Thursday afternoon, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported that there have been 12,718 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Cobb County, with 2,950 in the last two weeks alone.

A total of 313 deaths have been reported in Cobb since the outbreak began in March.

Crow said that when an individual is tested for the virus, they are asked for employment and school information, although it’s not required.

She said that “many of these cases were reported to CDPH BY the school system because the case informs the school before public health even has the lab report by the provider.”

Crow added that “we speak to the school nurses nearly daily, they know of these cases very quickly after we do, and many times they are the ones reporting cases to us.”

On Tuesday, Ragsdale outlined plans for a return to classroom instruction but didn’t give any dates, saying that would be determined by analyzing public health data, including relating to community spread.

Once classroom learning begins, the plans call for K-5th grade students to return first, followed by middle school and then high school students in a phased approach.

Gwinnett, the largest school district in Georgia, starts online-only Aug. 12. Earlier this week, it was reported that 260 staffers have tested positive for COVID-19 or have been exposed to someone who’s been infected and are not at work.

Other school districts opened in metro Atlanta this week, including Cherokee County, where confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported in four schools.

Cherokee and Paulding opened for classes Monday with both in-school and remote learning options. Marietta City Schools also started Monday, but online-only.

Cobb, Gwinnett, Atlanta and Fulton are among the districts in metro Atlanta starting online-only.