Nearly a dozen Manatee County schools add to list of COVID-19 cases
At least nine Manatee County schools reported COVID-19 cases between Friday and Tuesday. While the total number of affected students and employees was not publicly known, the district also reported 40 exposures and quarantines at a handful of schools.
Braden River High School, Williams Elementary School, Southeast High School, Lee Middle School and Barbara A. Harvey Elementary School sent notices to families on Friday. Each reported a single case of COVID-19, along with “direct exposures” to the confirmed cases.
The term “direct exposure” describes close and prolonged contact with an infected person, meaning less than six feet of separation for at least 15 minutes. District guidance states that employees and students should isolate and monitor their symptoms for 14 days after exposure to a COVID-19 case.
“Please be assured that if your child was exposed to this current case of COVID-19, you would have been contacted earlier this evening,” Barbara Harvey Elementary said in its notice. “Enjoy the long weekend and stay healthy!”
Abel Elementary School and Southeast High School sent notices during the Labor Day weekend. In a message sent to parents and employees on Sunday, the elementary school reported “a case of COVID-19” and “direct exposures” to the infected person.
Southeast High reported “another case of COVID-19” and direct exposures to the infected person, according to a notice sent on Monday.
“Please note that we continue to take mitigation measures at our school including taking temperatures, wearing masks, asking symptom-related questions of all students and staff daily and limiting access to our campus,” Abel Elementary said in its notice. “In addition, our custodial staff cleans and sanitizes our campus on a daily basis.”
Three other schools sent notices on Tuesday. Parrish Community High School and Prine Elementary School each reported “a case of COVID-19” at their campuses, while Braden River Middle School cited “another couple of cases” in its notice.
All three schools said “there were direct exposures” to the cases, without specifying the number of affected people.
“Most importantly, if a student or staff member feels sick, believes they have symptoms or has had a test for COVID-19, please stay home until you are symptom free or you are cleared to return to school,” Prine Elementary said in its notice.
The School District of Manatee County began publishing case numbers on its website last week. The spreadsheet of cases and affected campuses, dubbed the “COVID-19 Cases Dashboard,” launched with no information about campus exposures.
A new document — “Detailed Weekly COVID Updates” — appeared on the website Tuesday. It offered the number of exposures at five schools in a report dated Sep. 8:
- Abel Elementary — 14 people quarantined after exposure to an infected employee.
- Braden River Middle — 13 people quarantined after exposure to two infected students.
- Parrish Community High School — six people quarantined after exposure to one infected student.
- Prine Elementary — three people quarantined after exposure to one infected student.
- Southeast High — four people quarantined after exposure to one infected employee.
The new document listed only the exposures tied to six recent cases. When asked about the number of exposures since the start of school, Barber said the district was “working on pulling that information together.”
Since the return of students on Aug. 17, the district has recorded 49 cases between 27 traditional campuses:
- Abel Elementary — one case.
- Ballard Elementary — two cases.
- Bayshore Elementary — one case.
- Blackburn Elementary — two cases.
- Braden River High — one case.
- Braden River Middle — three cases.
- Gullett Elementary — one case.
- Harvey Elementary — three cases.
- Lakewood Ranch High — one case.
- Lee Middle School — one case.
- Lincoln Memorial Academy — one case.
- Manatee High School — four cases.
- Manatee Technical College, all campuses — five cases.
- Mills Elementary — one case.
- Moody Elementary — one case.
- Nolan Middle — two cases.
- Palma Sola Elementary — two cases.
- Palmetto Elementary — one case.
- Palmetto High — two cases.
- Parrish Community High — two cases.
- Prine Elementary — one case.
- Samoset Elementary — two cases.
- Southeast High — two cases.
- Sugg Middle — one case.
- Tara Elementary — two cases.
- Williams Elementary — three cases.
- Willis Elementary — one case.
“The School District of Manatee County remains committed to the safety of students, teachers, staff members and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Barber said in Tuesday’s update.
This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 5:44 PM.