How many active COVID-19 cases in Harris County schools? Here’s this week’s report.
The Harris County School District has been releasing updated COVID-19 numbers each week in an effort to inform parents and students about possible outbreaks.
As of Monday, 4,172 students are attending classes on campus, and 1,334 students are learning virtually. The district has 740 employees.
HCSD cites CDC guidelines to define close contact as being within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes two days before illness onset or, for asymptomatic patients, two days before a positive specimen was collected.
“A person exposed to a close contact exposure should monitor symptoms but there is no need to quarantine unless they begin to exhibit symptoms,” according to a news release from HCSD.
Here are the latest COVID-19 case reports:
Sept. 29 through Oct. 5
Over the past week, HCSD received one report of an active coronavirus case among its students, the same as the previous week. That student attends in-person classes.
But the number of close contact cases decreased from 16 to 12. Eleven of those students attend in-person classes.
Over the past week, HCSD received one report of an active coronavirus case among its employees, compared to none the previous week.
Close contact cases among employees decreased from two to one.
Sept. 22 through Sept. 28
Over the past week, HCSD received one report of an active coronavirus case among its students, compared to none the previous week. That student attends in-person classes.
There are 16 close contact cases among students, a decrease of eight from the previous week. All of those students attend in-person classes.
Over the past week, HCSD didn’t receive any reports of an active coronavirus case among its employees, compared to one the previous week.
Close contact cases among employees increased from one to two.
Sept. 15 through Sept. 21
Over the past week, HCSD reported no active COVID-19 cases among its students, compared to two last week. There are 28 close contact cases among its students, a decrease of two cases from the previous reporting week.
There is one active employee case, according to Tuesday’s update, the same as last week. Close contact cases among employees decreased from three to one.
Sept. 8 though Sept. 14
Over the past week, HCSD reported two active COVID-19 cases, one case each in virtual and in-person learning. There are 26 close contact cases in the district, a decrease of 20 cases from the previous reporting week.
There is one active employee case, according to Tuesday’s update. Close contact cases among employees decreased from seven to three.
Sept. 1 through Sept. 7
Four active COVID-19 cases, out of 5,473 students that attend school in HCSD, were reported. Three of these cases were reported among students attending class on campus. One COVID-19 case was reported among virtual students.
Forty-six close contact cases were reported in the school district.
Only one COVID-19 case among employees was reported. There were seven close contact cases, according to a release from HCSD.
August
The five total COVID-19 cases (two students and three employees) reported during HCSD’s first week of the semester Aug. 10-17 required 49 people (43 students and six employees) who had close contact with the infected people to quarantine at home for 14 days, according to the school district’s data.
On Sept. 1, HCSD reported for the week of Aug. 25-31 two active coronavirus cases (one student and one employee) and 43 people (42 students and one employee) in quarantine for close contact.
“While we are pleased that the numbers are staying low, we can’t stress enough that we continue to need parents and students to be diligent about the safety protocols at school and away from school,” HCSD spokeswoman Rachel Crumbley told the Ledger-Enquirer.
How to report
On Sept. 4, the school district introduced a COVID-19 self-reporting form. To report a coronavirus cases, use the online form at www.harris.k12.ga.us. The form is monitored evenings and on weekends, according to a HCSD press release.
Once the information is received, the district begins contract tracing.
This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 4:37 PM.
