Last week, city and county public schools welcomed students back for five-days-a-week, in-person instruction for the first time since March 2020. Both districts have already reported COVID-19 cases among students, but say they still feel confident in their health and safety precautions.
After the first day of classes, two city schools students reported symptoms, and Assistant Superintendent Jim Henderson sent a message to families.
“This week, we have had several students report COVID diagnoses, including two who spent time at our schools. These situations are unfortunate but, in a pandemic, they are not unexpected,” Henderson wrote on August 25. “We are doing our part by following all CDC recommendations. We continue to tweak our implementation to keep everyone as safe as possible.”
“The health department remains confident in our mitigation measures,” wrote CHS Principal Eric Irizarry after the first day. “While we anticipate that this incident is contained, it’s a good reminder for all of us to promote healthy behaviors.”
At press time, city schools reported 13 total student coronavirus cases and nine staff cases so far this year.
Albemarle County Public Schools report that 18 students and eight staff had confirmed COVID cases between August 23 and August 30. Those were concentrated in elementary schools—Agnor-Hurt and Stone Robinson have reported five and six student cases, respectively.
In the area, roughly 70 percent of children aged 12 to 17 are vaccinated, according to the Blue Ridge Health District. The city schools require employees to be fully vaccinated by September 15, or they’ll be required to show a weekly negative COVID test.
City school board member Lashundra Bryson Morsberger expressed some frustration with the state of COVID preventions in schools and the commonwealth. COVID is “worse than last August,” she wrote on Twitter last weekend. “We have less flexibility, and the kids are back in class…It feels like we’re in the twilight zone. This is crazy.”
On Grounds
Meanwhile, at UVA, the first two weeks of classes have seen 114 cases among faculty, staff, students, and contract employees. As of Monday, the university reports 84 active cases.
Early-semester COVID case spikes were to be expected. Last fall, the rolling seven-day average of total new cases peaked at 26.9, in late September, before declining and leveling off until the beginning of the spring semester.
The seven-day average for new cases at UVA right now is 10.4. On August 29 of last year, it was 12.7.
As of August 29, UVA hospital had 50 COVID-positive patients in the building for treatment, including three who had been newly admitted on the 29th.
A little further afield, Liberty University has put a campus-wide quarantine in effect, just four days after students returned for the fall semester. Unlike other Virginia schools, such as UVA and William & Mary, Liberty didn’t require students to get vaccinated before returning to Lynchburg, and the university reports 159 active cases as of August 25.
