Ten TCSS students have tested positive for COVID-19; 275 total students in quarantine
Published 2:02 pm Wednesday, August 26, 2020
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Ten days into the school year, the Troup County School System has had 10 students test positive for COVID-19 and 275 total students are in quarantine.
The school system has also seen an increase in virtual learning students. At the start of the school year, 32 percent of students had registered for the TCSS Virtual Academy. That number has now increased to 39 percent of the student body, according to Public Relations Director Yolanda Stephen.
In a COVID-19 update as of Wednesday at 4:20 p.m., TCSS also said two staff members have tested positive and 20 total staff members are in quarantine.
Superintendent Brian Shumate said TCSS is taking it a day at a time as new cases pop up.
“If you look at the numbers, there’s a handful of people who are positive and then a whole bunch of people who are quarantined because of direct contact with some of those folks,” Shumate said. “We’re not making any drastic changes at the moment. It’s a day-by-day thing.”
In all, TCSS reported that 18 total schools and departments have been impacted. Those schools and departments include Callaway Elementary, Clearview Elementary, Ethel Kight Elementary, Franklin Forest Elementary, Hillcrest Elementary, Hogansville Elementary, Hollis Hand Elementary, Long Cane Elementary, Rosemont Elementary, West Point Elementary, Callaway Middle, Gardner Newman Middle, Long Cane Middle, Callaway High School, LaGrange High School, Troup High School, THINC Academy and the TCSS Transportation department. Not all of those locations have a student or staff member case. That list includes schools that have someone in quarantine due to direct contact with a positive case.
Any time a student or staff member tests positive, Stephen said TCSS contacts anyone who has been in direct contact and follows all cleaning protocols for the building and/or buses.
“Most of the cases were individual students who had direct contact with an adult in their household who was positive,” Shumate said, mentioning the importance of quarantining and social distancing to mitigate the spread when there is a positive case.